Obviously, to become a sports commentator on the world stage and to do it successfully is not exactly a job that is packed with plenty of openings. However, there are still plenty of chances to enjoy the art of sports commentary on different media, as well as at live events around the world. If you are going to do this job successfully, you are going to need a few tips in your back pocket that you are ready to bring out at a moment’s notice. So, here are some of them that you can put into practice.
Listen to the greats
It makes sense that you are inspired by the people who are the best in the business, so you should certainly start off by choosing your favorite sports and listening to the top commentators. Different sports are bound to attract different styles of commentators, so take your time to learn as much as possible about them.
For example, you are going to learn something entirely different when you listen to the best baseball announcers compared to the top football commentators. While you do not want to copy their styles precisely, there is certainly nothing wrong whatsoever with becoming inspired by what they are doing.
Practice at home
Nobody dives straight into a live commentary event with no experience whatsoever. So, you certainly need to start off by practicing from the comfort of your own home.
Try putting on your favorite sport with the volume down and starting to provide some commentary on what you are seeing. The difficulty lies in not only describing what is happening in detail but also providing some analysis on what you have just seen at the same time.
You will also need to study up on a lot of the main details, such as ensuring that you are able to name and talk about each of the players in turn. One of the main difficulties that you are likely to encounter is being able to fill the silences, as these can easily start to mount up if you are not careful.
Volunteer at local events
While it is all well and good being able to practice from your own home, you can only take your learning up to a certain level. To really be able to excel, you are going to need to try and get some real-life experience.
Many budding sports commentators will cut their teeth at local events first in a volunteer capacity. The more of these events that you do, the more likely it is that you will be able to treat commentary like it is second nature and offer the sort of insights that are being sought after highly.
These three tips can help out significantly if you are hoping to progress into the world of sports commentary. Of course, you need to make sure that you are well-rehearsed and take as many opportunities to practice as possible.
Wishing you all the best in the sports commentary world! May you enjoy this new career and have much success.
A very good posting, with useful advices, Christy! But with sports i have nearly the same friendship like Winston Churchill. Lol xx Michael
I’ve done a little bit of this before. A good place to get some experience is at high school sporting events. If I would have chosen a different career, this might have been it.