Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #347 – It’s Always About the Story

It’s ALWAYS about the Story.

I remember a couple of seasons ago, a contestant on “Survivor” told about his getting back home after the show was taped just in time to see his mom before she passed away.  Time just STOPPED as I imagined that scenario in my own life.  (This is just one reason why Survivor has lasted so long.)

YOUR responsibility as an air talent is to make the story as concise and as easy and logical sounding as you possibly can.  Survivor is the best-edited show in the history of television; a perfect model for film editors and writers… and storytellers.

You’ll know a great break, a great story, when it takes virtually NO editing to make a promo out of it.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #346 – Never Fear Bombing

Years ago, when I was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame, I found myself sitting with an entire roomful of radio legends.  All sorts of “war stories” were flying around that room, and although there was an incredibly wide range of differing personalities, it seemed like we all had one thing in common:

Never Fear Bombing.

Every mistake you make will lead to getting better, because no one wants to make the same mistake a second time.

As a talent coach, I WANT you to jump, THEN see if there’s water in the pool.  “Playing it safe” is for people who don’t have very much talent.

Now obviously, you shouldn’t do something that will get you in trouble with a client or the FCC.  But those are the only cautions.  DO something!  TODAY.

Frost Advisory #492 – Celebrate What You Value

The beginning of a new year seems to me to be a good time to consider how we internalize the values in our organizations.

Andy Stanley suggests, “Just start celebrating what you value. People will value what you celebrate, and they will celebrate what you value.”

I’ve recently been reading, “Breakfast with Fred,” the conversations and ideas of Fred Smith, Sr, a mentor for many leaders such as Zig Ziglar, Philip Yancey, John Maxwell and my friend Steve Brown.

“When Fred was in his early twenties, he visited a cemetery and asked himself what he would want the epitaph on his tombstone to read. It was at that moment he chose the phrase that would set his life direction: ‘He stretched others.'”

That stretching led Fred to value conversations and the sharing of insights and wisdom. So much so that the “Breakfast with Fred” concept evolved as his health deteriorated as his breakfast meetings with a few moved online for many to read.

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Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #345 — The Opt-In World

My friend and partner John Frost posted this advisory recently:

Frost Advisory #491 – We live in an OPT-IN world

There is a phone in our home that we never answer.  Seriously.  A constant barrage of robo-calls and “Anonymous” caller IDs has left that phone to be no more than a nuisance.  In fact, we no longer even listen to the voice mails because of so much time wasted checking them.

We live in an OPT-IN world, defined by Merriam-Webster online dictionary as “to choose to do or be involved in something.”  If I didn’t give you permission to communicate with me then your efforts, automated as they be, will be met with an unanswered ring.

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