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Tommy Kramer has spent over 35 years in radio as an on-air talent, Programmer, and Talent Coach, and has worked with over 100 stations in all formats, specializing in coaching morning team shows. He was elected to the Texas Radio Hall of Fame in 2003. Contact
Tommy Kramer Coaching Tips The oddest thing seems to be happening both on TV and in radio these days. The phony, insincere, pukey deejay delivery is rearing its ugly head ... (read more - Tip #1) A lot of Program Directors, in trying to coach an Air Talent, jump too quickly to the second phase of coaching -- getting an aircheck, playing samples of "things done wrong," and making the process an uneasy one for the Talent right off the bat. No "foreplay." (read more - Tip #2) Think of how many times you’ve heard an Air Talent say--more often than not, with the sound of rustling paper or a page turning in the background--"I was reading an article in this magazine yesterday," or "I saw in the paper this morning that...." My problem with this sort of thing is ... (read more - Tip #3) I once put up a sign on the Control Room door that said: "I just got into town. I got into the car, turned the radio on, and hit the 'scan' button. It landed on your station. I don't know what station it is, what the format is, what the dial position is, or who you are. You have thirty seconds." I base everything I coach on "first time" listening (read more - Tip #4) |
"Fun" vs. "Funny" Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #5 (listen to the MP3 audio version of #5 by clicking here) You hear often that someone is "funny." "He's so funny." "I love to listen to his show because it's funny." But is it "funny," or is it "fun" that we're talking about? There is a difference, from a performance and planning point of view. "Funny" is certainly "fun," but "fun" doesn't necessarily have to be "funny." The Andy Griffith Show was a great example of being both. Because of the real-life morality plays that were the show's episodes--Opie raising the baby birds because he killed their mother, then having to set them free, Barney buying the motorcycle with the sidecar, and setting up his "Checkpoint Chickee" to stop speeders out on the highway (a lesson to all of us who take our work too seriously)--the Griffith show was always fun, because it mirrored the struggles inside all of us and touched values in us in an entertaining way. And, yes, Barney Fife, Floyd the barber, and Gomer could be funny, but much of the show's humor came out of situations, not punchlines. (Like Floyd talking wistfully about his love of being a barber--hearing the "clop........clop" of the swishing shaving cream in a cup as he stirred it, or Barney's famous "nip it in the bud" routines--"You check any book on child psychology that you want to Ange.....you'll find every one of 'em in favor of bud nipping".) All your listener needs is to have fun listening to your show. Avoid pressing for "jokes" or artificially set up (and easily predictable) "punch lines." Given that your show has the information elements and formatics in place to make it easy for diary recall, simply making it fun for the listener to win a contest or hear a great song--maybe a little situational humor if it presents itself--is all you need to succeed. Ron Chapman was at the top of the Dallas ratings wars for over 30 years, and yet no one would ever consider Ron to be particularly "funny." But his show, for his listeners, was always "fun." To the listener, there is virtually no difference between "fun" and "funny." They are one and the same. Simple formula for a great Team Show: one person who knows about having fun, and one person who's funny. © 2006 Tommy Kramer
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