Monthly Archives: September 2022

Tommy Kramer Tip

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #486: The Phone Rings

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To a degree, acting is part of what we do.  I talk a lot about this in coaching sessions, and give an example of a bad actor versus a good actor:

The bad actor “shades” toward the desk as he talks, knowing that the phone is going to ring.
The good actor just says what he has to say, and the stupid phone interrupts him.

When you’re on the radio, the “visual” is created by the listener.  But what you say and the way you sound paints the picture, too.  Be more than just “a voice saying words” or reading something off a computer screen.  Give me something genuine.

Frost Advisory

Frost Advisory #632 – A Timely Programming Lesson From The Weather Channel

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Having lived in Florida for almost thirty years I’ve learned that there four seasons: summer, summer, summer, and hurricane season.

It’s been said that the only colors that change in Florida are the colors of the license plates. As Ian develops into a hurricane up Florida’s west coast and into the Gulf, I figured if I’m going to stare all afternoon at the Weather Channel’s Cone of Uncertainty maybe there was something to be learned from them about programming.

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Tommy Kramer Tip

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #485: The Phonies versus The Realies

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There are things everywhere that apply to what we do.  For me, one of those was a line from an old “Peanuts” comic strip when the cantankerous Lucy turned to Charlie Brown after something had happened and said, “It’s getting hard to tell the phonies from the realies.”

That’s a quirky line, but honestly, in radio, it’s not that hard.  So, with apologies in advance for using the old-fashioned “he” pronoun, here’s a checklist: Continue reading →

Frost Advisory

Frost Advisory #631 – I Don’t Want To Be Alone

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A brown-eyed five-year-old looked in my eyes and said, “I don’t want to be alone.” This wasn’t in response to being left in aisle 7 at Costco for less than ten seconds. This wasn’t a response to some other recent event in his life. This was a reaction to the human condition: we don’t want to be alone.

The people in the white coats have a name for it. It’s called “monophobia.”

“Monophobia is the fear of being alone. This catch-all term includes several discrete fears which may or may not share a common cause, like the fear of:
  • Being apart from a particular person
  • Being home alone
  • Feeling isolated or ignored
  • Living alone
  • Loneliness
  • Solitude
verywellmind.com
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Tommy Kramer Tip

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #484: The Biggest Skill

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The best air talents I’ve ever heard, regardless of age, format, etc. all have one thing in common.  And I think it’s the “biggest” skill a person can develop.

They’re concise.  They always seem to get a point across in fewer words than someone else would use.

Yes, this does apply to Talk radio, too.  This isn’t about the length of a break (or a segment).

It’s simply been my observation that the person that ‘cuts to the chase’ is the one that gets quoted.  And remembered.

Tommy Kramer Tip

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #483: Everything You Say…

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This may be an uncomfortable thought, but everything you say reveals something about you – whether you want it to or not.

If you’re in touch with the reason TO say it, you have a good chance of its being received as genuine, and digested by the listener as something worth hearing.  If you’re not, and you’re just “trying to get done with it,” that will be felt by the listener, too.

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Frost Advisory

Frost Advisory #629 – A Labor Day Perspective: Laboring Through Programming Concepts

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Jeepers! The fact that there are even 629 of these Frost Advisories (every week for over a dozen years) might suggest that there is a lot to this programming stuff. I reckon’ that’s so, and I love discussing higher concepts with smart people, but I also know there are some simple truths.

A simple truth is that there are only two distinct elements to programming a radio station.

Music and words

These are the only tools we have to impact lives, achieve ratings, to make revenue goals, or to hang gold records in the lobby to show visitors that we are really, really a neat station.

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