Group Critiques

Group Critique 32: September 2019

The audio critique features football, basketball and baseball, while the one video we review this month is soccer.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

  • What you must do before breaks to avoid sounding hurried after them.
  • What must be included before and after each football play.
  • Why it’s important to vary your energy level.
  • Two pieces of info that should almost always be given together.
  • When to incorporate edginess into your broadcast.
  • A fundamental that is mandatory in TV play-by-play.
  • The times of your telecast when you MUST watch the monitor.

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Group Critique 31: August 2019

This month’s group critique session reviews six clips, including baseball, basketball and an interview.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

  • An important consideration when choosing the start of a demo segment.
  • An especially effective way to phrase an interview question.
  • The thing that must not be ignored when a runner is on base.
  • A two-word phrase that does not belong in your play-by-play.
  • The critical thing you must do on every basketball change of possession.

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Group Critique 30: July 2019

We have audio and video this month. The audio features basketball, baseball and softball. The video includes football and, for the first time ever, auto racing!

Among the things you’ll learn . . .

  • When it’s okay to use players’ first and last names in basketball . . . and when it should be avoided.
  • The piece of information that is even more important to give consistently than time and score.
  • A quick and easy way to immediately elevate the energy in your broadcasts.
  • How to make listeners who don’t care about either team still care about your broadcast.
  • The definition of a great home run call.
  • When to share stories during your baseball broadcasts.
  • When to leave the previous play and turn your attention to the next one.
  • The recurring instance in a football broadcast when you should say nothing.
  • How to borrow from other sportscasters without being obvious.

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Group Critique 29: June 2019

This month we critique football, basketball and for the first time ever, wrestling!

Here’s what you’ll learn:

  • The No. 1 way that insufficient preparation shows up in a broadcast.
  • Why it is important to get into commercial breaks quickly.
  • The point in a possession at which a basketball shot clock becomes relevant.
  • What it means to stay in the moment in a TV broadcast.
  • When to avoid sharing biographical and and historical information.

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Group Critique 28: May 2019

This month we are featuring radio critiques of basketball, baseball and an interview. The TV critique features basketball play-by-play.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

  • A simple exercise to help you immediately find your big play voice
  • What it means for a play-by-play voice to get out of the library and onto the roller coaster
  • Two words to eliminate from your play-by-play vocabulary
  • An example of a strong interview question technique
  • Something you can get away with radio but not on TV
  • Good example of word economy in TV Play-by-Play

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Group Critique 27: April 2019

Your April group critique includes an interview, plus play-by-play critiques of football and basketball.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

  • A helpful technique for asking good questions.
  • The interview equivalent of time and score.
  • Why it’s important to ask open-ended questions.
  • Right and wrong ways to give the score.
  • Various ways to convey energy and drama.
  • What basketball voices should be doing instead of narrating every pass.
  • Terrific examples of plots, subplots and character development.

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Group Critique 26: March 2019

Fitting that a month of March Madness should feature an all-basketball edition of the Group Critique with both radio and TV Play-by-Play up for review.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

  • Where pauses will quickly improve your basketball play-by-play.
  • The two most important differences between radio & TV play-by-play.
  • How to handle one of the biggest play-by-play challenges.
  • Suggestions for overcoming a nasally delivery.
  • A common word to avoid in your play-by-play.
  • When to mention which team has the ball other than after a change of possession.

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Group Critique 25: February 2019

Love basketball? Then this is the group critique month for you: Jon is reviewing four clips, three basketball and one football.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

  • A good example of how you can make your listeners care about your broadcast.
  • A “small investment, big reward” technique for conveying emotions of players and coaches to your audience.
  • Advice for controlling tempo in your basketball broadcasts.
  • The play-by-play fundamental that is similar to a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.
  • Great examples of how you can hear a smile on radio and why it matters in your broadcasts.

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Group Critique 24: January 2019

Ringing in the new year with a new round of radio critiques in the basketball and hockey departments.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

  • A common mistake in description that hurts more than it helps.
  • How to increase your energy without sounding over the top.
  • Examples of what basketball broadcasters should do instead of narrating every pass.
  • A unique, effective description to add to your basketball vocabulary

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Group Critique 23: December 2018

Ho ho hope you pick up some useful tips from this month’s group critique session. Radio critiques of basketball and football play-by-play plus a double helping of football TV play-by-play.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

  • When using the shot clock becomes a PBP crutch
  • How to tell if you’ve prepared well for your football broadcast
  • When to watch the field and when to watch the monitor

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