Radio isn’t the same as 20 years ago – or even 10 years ago. It can’t be. There are so many other entertainment options, from wasting hours reading nameless, faceless people’s comments on social media to a gazillion channels on TV, You Tube, etc.

Radio listeners today have the attention span of a hummingbird. A couple of minutes (or less) and “click” – off they go.

This is why, as an air talent, you need to do something compelling or entertaining NOW. If there’s nothing going on for a few minutes, the listener is gone. The average “listen” is now less than 20 minutes, and people want to be engaged – or you’re dead in the water.

If you’re a PD, you’d better be encouraging everyone to be a full-blown Personality. This doesn’t necessarily mean trying to be funny. CONNECTING with the listener is what works. What do you and I have in common? Talk about that.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2023 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

When I was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame, several of the people attending got into a discussion of how we got there. It was surprising to me that many other inductees felt the same way I did, that at the start of our careers, we might have been the worst air talent at the station.

My big break came when I got out of college, after working at the local station there, and graduated to Top 40 monster KEEL in my hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana.

The morning guy was Larry Ryan, a legend in those parts, just as Ron Chapman (and later Kidd Kraddick and Terry Dorsey) were legends in my next stop, Dallas.

But at KEEL – BESIDES Larry Ryan, we had Howard Clark, long a mainstay at powerhouse Drake-consulted KFRC in San Francisco, Steve Kelly (who’s probably been on every concert promo you’ve noticed in the last 20 years), and a guy named Ronald F. Montgomery, maybe the most popular deejay on the staff.

Anyone in that lineup could have just slid into the morning slot if Larry Ryan left. (Howard did. And I eventually did mornings in both Dallas and Houston, which led to the Hall of Fame thing.)

Later, as Corporate Talent Coach for the 45 Paxson stations (now iHeart) in Florida, I encouraged every one of our PDs to hire PERSONALITIES in every single daypart. When you’ve got a whole staff of potential morning drive candidates, life gets a lot easier.

Two questions:
Is this your philosophy?
If not, why not?

“We don’t have the budget” is the typical excuse, but that’s why you hire people with potential and then TRAIN them.

This is why I went into coaching. I want every single person I work with to have an excellent, enjoyable career. And I want every one of them to be capable of stepping into a Morning Drive slot if that’s their desire.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2023 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

You hear this all the time – an air talent weighing in on something, drawing conclusions or espousing opinions without any clinical background.

Here’s a message for you: Stay in your lane. You’re a deejay (or Talk show host), not a psychologist or a psychiatrist. The EXPERT is the expert. You’re the conduit for putting the Subject on the air.

Don’t try to be what you’re not. Try to be the best at what you are.