TV Play-by-Play

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 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 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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Group Critique 21: October 2018

It sounds like fall! This month’s radio group features plenty of football play-by-play critiques with a sprinkle of baseball. Meanwhile the TV play-by-play side digs into baseball and basketball.

What you’ll learn in the radio portion:

  • How your favorite words can quickly become cliche
  • Advice for using your voice to underscore drama
  • A habit you should develop for all scoring plays
  • The common three letter word to eliminate from your play-by-play vocabulary.

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Group Critique 19: August 2018

The final Group Critique for the summer of 2018 features radio and TV baseball play-by-play, with a solitary football radio clip to get you ready for the upcoming season.

What you’ll learn:

  • Ideas for baseball description beyond game mechanics
  • Why top level employers might think you didn’t prep enough for a football broadcast
  • An example of consistently weaving storylines into baseball PBP
  • Suggestions for coaching up your TV analyst
  • Are you falling into the single-camera webcast trap?

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Group Critique 17: April 2018

On the radio side Jon critiques basketball, football, and hockey play-by-play. TV critiques include basketball play-by-play and a sports anchor/reporter reel.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

  • A great example of basketball description
  • What to say while you work on ID’ing the tackler
  • How to use time and score to build drama on a TV PBP broadcast
  • Why your facial expressions add to your sportscast

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Group Critique 16: February 2018

It must be basketball season! This month’s session is almost exclusively basketball PBP (including a TV demo)… with a little sports talk hosting to spice things up.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

  • The phrase that might be softening your sports talk opinions
  • When the shot clock becomes mandatory info in basketball PBP
  • A good example of when it’s okay to fall a count or two behind
  • Types of description to leave out of a TV PBP broadcast

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Group Critique 13: August 2017

This month our Group Critique includes radio and TV demos. Under radio we have plenty of baseball PBP, football PBP, and an interview. On the TV side Jon reviews basketball and baseball play-by-play.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

  • The question you must answer to turn your broadcast into a story
  • One thing to track in football PBP
  • How often to reset an interview guest
  • How long to your questions should be during an interview
  • A good example of providing captions in TV PBP

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