If you have your heart set on a career as a sports broadcaster, where do you practice your skills? Before you take the plunge to attend a professional school, you can earn your way up the ranks by writing a sports blog, putting out a podcast, or doing a video blog (vlogging) about your local teams.

Before that, you can even practice your announcing skills at home.

Start at Home

Pick a sport you enjoy, so you start with some background about the team and game. Find it on television, and take over the job of play-by-play announcer or color commentator. Turn down the volume and practice making the game calls yourself.

Use player names, not numbers. Practice a list of different ways to say the same thing, so your audience does not tire of hearing you say, “He shoots, he scores.” Try these, for example:

• It’s in for three if it goes
• The shot is up and it’s in
• He goes up and under for two points

Blogging

Before you start blogging about a particular sport or team, make sure you have something to say. Then write, write, write and write.

As much as you admire long ball hitters, you probably forget the hours of batting practice they put in every day. Similarly, you have to practice writing to learn to write well and to write strong, short pieces.

Learn to craft three or four 400-word solid entries (they are actually harder to write well than a 2,000-word ramble) and you will gain an audience.

Podcast

A podcast is narrowcasting—which is, obviously, different than broadcasting. This can be a comfort if you are new to the process or nervous.

Plan, prepare, write a script, and rehearse. A general rule of thumb is every minute in a podcast needs around four minutes of preparatory work.

Vlogging

Just as some people have a face for radio, others have a voice for print. Ask friends if your voice sounds good enough to vlog. If it does, master basic vlogging skills, such as:

• Get a good camera and tripod
• Talk to the camera as you would to a friend
• Practice in private first

Set up a Youtube channel and get your name out there!

Media Schools

Once you are ready to step up your game and gain the necessary skills to become a professional sports broadcaster, contact us at the Media Schools. We can help get your career as a sports broadcaster started with a great education.

Contact the Media School nearest you today!

 

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