Talking
Talking-Esports-FINAL-2 Talking-Esports-FINAL-2
TEETHING ISSUESIn the early days, you will absolutely fall into some of the morecommon pitfalls of the role. It’s totally normal, and you’ll learnmore by ‘doing’ than anything else in those early weeks andmonths. Ask any experienced commentator and they will tell youhow bad they were to start with, but how much they learned on thejob by practicing.I’ve listed a few of the more common things you might run in to inthe early days in order to help you avoid or conquer them faster:Swearing - You’ll probably swear a lot to start with, but trynot to if you want to succeed as a professional commentator- you’ll impress the 12 year olds but perhaps not thosewho are looking to hire youCalling the wrong play - You aren’t going to see every singleplay ever, so you’re bound to make a few mistakes. It’sfine, you’re new, but learn fastOver projecting - A common issue for new commentatorsas they often try to inject an almost false level of excitementby being loud at the wrong moments. Focus on bringingas honest coverage as you can provide and over timeyou’ll understand when to project and at what points theyare valuableTalking too much! - This is the most common problem fornew commentators. Learning the art of ‘dead air’ makes apowerful commentator, but that’s for later. For now, justconcentrate on taking a breath sometimes!17
Using the same words over and over - Another problem that comesup a lot, especially for non-native speakers, and not only for newcommentators. The easiest way to get over this is to get a dictionaryand a thesaurus (or use the online ones!). Write down the mostcommon words you use for explaining things. Once you have a listof five to ten words, check them in a thesaurus and find some alternativewords that can be used instead. Write ten words down thatmean the same thing on a piece of paper and stick it to your monitorfor your next game. Challenge yourself to use as many of themas possible. When you’re comfortable with all the words, changethe note and add ten new ones (and so on)You also need to be having fun. So go ahead, let your hair down andhave some fun with the game, but remember to remain respectfulof the players and teams competing - it’s an important match tothem, even if you don’t think so.Likewise, interact with the people tuning in via chat or other messagingsystems, wherever your listeners are (via webcam chat, forexample). It probably doesn’t mean your cast would be bad if youdidn’t, but it really adds to the value of the commentary when youcan include people’s names from a chat window - people love nothingmore than to hear their name mentioned.Got an opinion on something? Share it with your audience and encouragethem to debate it in between the games - it really doeshelp the quality of the cast for everyone, including yourself. Don’tbe afraid of being controversial, but avoid being controversial forthe sake of it - you will soon get found out as a fraud.18
- Page 1 and 2: Talking EsportsA guide to becoming
- Page 3 and 4: CAMERAS! ..........................
- Page 5 and 6: INTRODUCTIONIt doesn’t matter if
- Page 7 and 8: HOW ON EARTH DID WE GET HERE?We’v
- Page 9 and 10: on a dedicated gaming channel (Xlea
- Page 11 and 12: BROADCAST ROLESBefore I jump in to
- Page 13 and 14: STREAMINGStreaming is an important
- Page 15 and 16: If you get stuck, remember that the
- Page 17: GOING PUBLICWhen you’re ready to
- Page 21 and 22: I could spend an age analysing why
- Page 23 and 24: THE KEYS TO SUCCESS ON ANY FORMATRe
- Page 25 and 26: I’ve included a recent spreadshee
- Page 27 and 28: GAME-SPECIFIC PREPARATIONIf you are
- Page 29 and 30: efore the tournament. Make sure you
- Page 31 and 32: Likewise, being professional doesn
- Page 33 and 34: So how do you deal with all these?L
- Page 35 and 36: self saving them occasionally, but
- Page 37 and 38: emember that very few people are an
- Page 39 and 40: THE VOICEI won’t lie to you here:
- Page 41 and 42: more expressive at the same time. Y
- Page 43 and 44: son as to why you should avoid alco
- Page 45 and 46: That said, stamping your own person
- Page 47 and 48: If you work on your own, it’s rel
- Page 49 and 50: STORYLINESAnother area often underu
- Page 51 and 52: a broadcast. That means, above all
- Page 53 and 54: HOSTING AND PRESENTINGOne of the mo
- Page 55 and 56: For large tournaments in arenas, it
- Page 57 and 58: GRAPHICS AND STORYLINESUp to this p
- Page 59 and 60: even four different cameras to use.
- Page 61 and 62: There is an old saying that you can
- Page 63 and 64: the conversation can often lead to
- Page 65 and 66: The simplest and easiest way to do
- Page 67 and 68: THROWSThe art of throwing is one th
Using the same words over and over - Another problem that comesup a lot, especially for non-native speakers, and not only for newcommentators. The easiest way to get over this is to get a dictionaryand a thesaurus (or use the online ones!). Write down the mostcommon words you use for explaining things. Once you have a listof five to ten words, check them in a thesaurus and find some alternativewords that can be used instead. Write ten words down thatmean the same thing on a piece of paper and stick it to your monitorfor your next game. Challenge yourself to use as many of themas possible. When you’re comfortable with all the words, changethe note and add ten new ones (and so on)You also need to be having fun. So go ahead, let your hair down andhave some fun with the game, but remember to remain respectfulof the players and teams competing - it’s an important match tothem, even if you don’t think so.Likewise, interact with the people tuning in via chat or other messagingsystems, wherever your listeners are (via webcam chat, forexample). It probably doesn’t mean your cast would be bad if youdidn’t, but it really adds to the value of the commentary when youcan include people’s names from a chat window - people love nothingmore than to hear their name mentioned.Got an opinion on something? Share it with your audience and encouragethem to debate it in between the games - it really doeshelp the quality of the cast for everyone, including yourself. Don’tbe afraid of being controversial, but avoid being controversial forthe sake of it - you will soon get found out as a fraud.18
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