3 Key Takeaways From 10 Years of The Sportscasters Club

How is it possible that The Sportscasters Club is already 10 years old?
Over the last decade, we have helped countless aspiring and established sports broadcasters expand their knowledge, learn more about the industry and develop a road map to succeed.
In this episode, we share the 3 Key Takeaways we have learned over the past ten years - the common threads that we've seen consistently from the broadcasters and sports fans we've worked with. You will probably be able to identify with these three key themes as well!

As an aspiring or established sports broadcaster, a podcast is a great way to help you improve your skill and get your work out to the public! At Sportscasters Club, we use Buzzsprout to host our online radio show, most importantly because it is the easiest and quickest solution out there.
If you are considering starting your own podcast, click this affiliate link to learn more. 

Much more - including our sports broadcasting books, our 7-hour online course and tons of free articles and sportscasting tips at SportscastersClub.com

Also, join our free Facebook group - search for the "Sportscasters Club Community"

Thanks for listening! (and for subscribing, liking, sharing, etc, etc, etc)

Much more - including our sports broadcasting books, our 7-hour online course and tons of free articles and sportscasting tips at SportscastersClub.com

3 of the absolute best sports broadcasting books to jump-start your career...
The Fastest Kid on the Block: The Marty Glickman Story
Call of the Game
Press Box Revolution: How Sports Reporting Has Changed Over the Past Thirty Years

As an aspiring or established sports broadcaster, a podcast is a great way to help you improve your skill and get your work out to the public! At Sportscasters Club, we use Buzzsprout to host our online radio show, most importantly because it is the easiest and quickest solution out there.
If you are considering starting your own podcast, click this affiliate link to learn more.
(You also get a $20 Amazon gift card for trying out Buzzsprout)

Thanks for listening, leaving a review and sharing this show with others!

Transcript

spk_0:   0:00
How is it possible that it's been 10 years since we started the Sportscasters Club 10 years? And in those 10 years as we look back on it, there have been a lot of lessons and things we've learned in this episode. We're going to touch on 33 of the key takeaways that we've learned in 10 years at the Sportscasters

spk_2:   0:22
Club. Welcome to the Sportscasters Club radio show, where it's all about becoming a better sportscaster on a better sports fan. And now your host, A man who began his sports broadcasting career wave back in 1993. Rick Shults. Welcome to the Sportscasters Club online radio show. I am Rick Schultz. Glad to have you with us for this scintillating episode. Wherever you check us out, whether you're on apple podcasts, stitcher Spotify. Whether you check us out at the Bus Sprout website

spk_0:   1:22
whether you see us on Twitter Facebook, however, you listen to the Sportscasters Club online radio show, Thank you for listening. Thank you for sharing. I appreciate it and thank you for all the messages and questions that you send two questions at sportscasters club dot com Today's episode We're going to take a look back. It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since we first posted our first entry at sportscasters club dot com. And now when you look back at that, there are hundreds of articles, tips, stories, advice, information for sports broadcasters and for sports fans. And it's become a great resource for people in the business and also people who want to get into the sports broadcasting business. I've written a lot of the articles, but we've got contributors that have also written some of them as well, and you can check him out and they linked to a lot of different resource is also, and it's all free that sportscasters club dot com. So take a look. And if you have someone in your life who's an aspiring sportscaster, please share the show with them and share the website with them as well. But as we look back 10 years, we've talked about so many things on the Web site. We've talked about the technical, how two's about broadcasting, whether it be play by play color sports reporting, studio, hosting, sideline reporting, all these different aspects of sportscasting. We've talked about stories on how to become better things you need to consider as a sportscaster how to build a career, what kind of people to surround yourself with and so much more in all the different articles and stories and resource is we've shared on the website. But I wanted to pick three things. Three main takeaways that I think will help you as we look back on our last decade, that sportscasters club and for you to consider as you're either building a career or as you're looking back at your career. Where were you 10 years ago? Where do you want to be 10 years from now? And this is obviously important for broadcasters and people in the industry. But it's also important for fans because it helped to become a better fan when you know what the sportscaster is considering and what goes on behind the scenes. So this is gonna be an interesting episode. The three things three main takeaways that we have gathered in that we want to share after 10 years at the Sportscasters Club. Gosh, 10 years, it feels like just yesterday we're going to get to those three key takeaways right after this. Are you an aspiring sportscaster or an established sportscaster? Or how about just a sports fan? Well, you probably are, which is why you're tuned into the Sportscasters Club online radio show.

spk_2:   4:17
A great way to get practice, to build a platform and to become a better broadcaster is by doing exactly what I'm doing right now hosting a podcast. And the

spk_0:   4:28
cool thing is, it's really easy. It's really simple. I mean, if I can do it, really, anybody could do it. Hosting a podcast now is something that's available to anyone. If you're a beginner or if you're advanced number one, it's a lot of

spk_2:   4:44
fun. Number two. It allows you to improve and become better in your craft and number three. It's a great way to put your name out there and network and build a career. So if you would like to host a podcast, you can do the same thing I've done. And

spk_0:   5:00
I've chosen to use Buzz Sprout as my host number one. They're pretty much the easiest one out there. It is so simple to start a podcast with buzz sprout and again, if I can do it, you can do it. Number two. They're very inexpensive and number three. They have all the tools you need to grow your podcast the way you want to do it. You have complete control. So if you're interested in setting up a podcast for yourself, check out the show notes. You can take a look at The process is so simple you can go right on there. Click it, and you could be set up literally within a few minutes. It's very easy if you have questions about the process. You can always send a message to me at questions at sportscasters club dot com. But again, if you're interested in hosting your own podcast, check out the show notes. I'll put the link in here for Buzz Sprout. Check it out. And if you have questions, I'd be glad to help

spk_2:   5:55
is, Well, all right, I'm Rick Schultz. Thanks for tuning into The Sportscasters Club online radio show. Let's get right to it. Three key takeaways from 10

spk_0:   6:15
years at the Sportscasters Club. Number 11 thing that is easy to see when we look back and think about our career and then looking at all the people we've helped and coached and trained over the last decade, we all start from the same place. That's takeaway number one. We all start from the same place we all have that day when we decide that we want to pursue the sportscasting industry. Maybe it's when we realized, as it was for May, that playing was no longer going to be my future. Played baseball in high school college, but it wasn't going to go any further than that. So how could I stay involved? And that's how my career expanded into broadcasting professional baseball and then college basketball, talk shows and everything else. And maybe that's what happened with you two. But I started at a place when I was about 18 years old. I was excited. I was enthusiastic. I wanted to jump in headfirst, but I didn't know where to turn. I didn't know who to talk to. I didn't know how to get into the industry. I just knew I had to do something, and so I just jumped right in. And that's probably how you started your career as well. And I think that's a very important thing to consider that we all started from that same place, and that's why you'll notice in the sports media industry. People are willing to help people that have achieved success. They are willing to help because they were once where you are now, and that is always something to keep in your mind. When you want to reach out to a professional and you want to ask a question or you want to build a relationship with someone, go for it because nine times out of 10 probably 95 times out of 100 that person will be very willing to help you. Not always, but the vast majority of the time. I mean, when I think about people who influenced my career when I began, you know there were so many and I can. It's hard to start naming names because then you forget people that have been instrumental in your career. But if I could name Bill Rogan, Kevin Burkhardt, Bob Outer, Cris Carlin, Mike Breen, just to start just to start a name, a few people that we're willing to help me learn, help me get experience, answer my questions, teach me different aspects, give me opportunities. Granted, you have to make a lot of the opportunities, but people are willing to help and that's always important to remember. We all started from the same place. So reach out to those professionals, and then when you succeed, if you're already in this industry, keep that in mind, too, because we want to always look back at the the newer generations coming up, the young men and women who aspire to be in this industry, and we want to be the ones to reach out that helping hand. That was one of the great joys when I was the Sports Directorate. WFUV Radio at Fordham University was sitting down for the first time with an aspiring sportscaster, a new student or a prospective student who would come in and sit down and and ask questions and want Thio gain information about where to go and how to build a career. And we did that at Fordham. I did that at Maris College when I was an adjunct professor, the professor there for many years and also at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting when I taught as a professor as an adjunct at C. S. B. And that's what we've carried over to the Sportscasters Club. But we all started the same place. Be willing to reach out to people and be willing to help. Number two. The second key takeaway from 10 years of the Sportscasters Club builds on what I just said. Most successful sportscasters are willing and happy to help most of them are, and you'll find that as you reach out to people, whether it's formally or informally, they're willing to help. And now, with social media and electronic communications, it's so much easier than it. Waas. 20 years ago, you'd have toe either track somebody down physically, maybe stock the radio station and wait till they show up or or depart for the day. Or you'd have to write a letter and hope that it gets to them and they open it and read it and have some way to contact you or you to follow up with them. It was so difficult, but most successful broadcasters there willing to help. If you find someone who's not willing to help, it's a rarity, and usually that has a lot to do with them and not you. And we answer a lot of questions. As you know, here in the Sportscasters Club radio show, when people send in an email to questions at sportscasters club dot com, and we certainly welcome those questions. And we've been doing that now for 10 years, and it's been a blast because we get questions that we had. And sometimes we get questions we've never thought of because it's different now in the year 2020. Then it was back in the year 1993 when I started. And so we hear new things, and that helps us get better, too. So most professionals are very willing to help number three, the third key takeaway that we've learned from 10 years at the Sportscasters Club online radio show and at the website. We generally all want and need the same things to succeed in progress. No matter where we start from, whether you're a male or female, whether you're older, young, whether you're black or white, whether you live on the East Coast, the West Coast or anywhere in the middle. Whether you go to school, you don't whether you have a 9 to 5 job. Yeah, you're on your own. Whether you have a family or your solo, we all need some basic things to succeed and progress in just some of the things that jump out to me. We need mentors Very important. We need people to learn from. We need people that have been where we want to go so we can ask him. How do you do that? How did you do that? And how can I do that? We need a network. We all need a network of people. And that's one of the great things that we're proud of here at Sportscasters Club. And we're gonna see a lot more this year in terms of a network. I've had a couple people contacted me in the past a couple weeks, and when I asked them what would be important for you to help build a career and they they both mentioned a network of people to surround myself with. So it made me think about some of the possibilities and things that we can do here at the Sportscasters Club. If you have some interest in that, shoot me a message, shoot me an email and maybe we can include you in some new things that we might have planned for later this year. We all need really nuts and bolts feedback. When I was young, it came in the form of Marty Glickman, where we would sit with Marty every week and he would listen to our tapes and critique our play by play. Here's what you're doing correctly. Here's what you need to work on. Here's what I liked. Here's what I didn't like. Here's where you succeed. Here's where you fail and those objective sessions with Marty were tremendously valuable. And it's really the foundation of how how I coach students now. And a lot of what you'll read at the website is based on that founded a shin in that philosophy that came from Marty Glickman. But I needed that real nuts and bolts feedback. Every broadcaster needs it. Whether you've been in the industry for five minutes or 55 years, you still need it. We can improve a lot on our own, but having it from someone else and hearing it objectively from another person is extremely valuable. So we all need that no matter what stage of the industry you're in. And lastly, one of the things we all need, regardless of where we are in this industry, is a road map for improvement. We need to know where we've been where we are objectively in our career, in terms of our skills or experience and where we want to go. We need a road map for that. How do I get better? How do I get where I want to be? And that is something you need no matter where you are in your career. So we need mentors. We need a network. We need nuts and bolts feedback, and we need a road map for improvement. That's all part of the general batch of things every one of us needs in this industry. So those are the three Kate Key takeaways. We all start from the same place. Most successful sportscasters are willing and happy to help, and we generally all want and need the same things to succeed. Hope that helps those three key takeaways. And when we come back, I do have a question. It's from Brandon in Techs are canna Texas.

spk_1:   15:45
Now it's time for the best part of our show. Your questions are answers. To ask a question for the program, send an email to questions at sportscasters club dot com.

spk_2:   16:03
All right, Sportscasters Club online radio show our question and answer period.

spk_0:   16:09
Brandon Thank you very much for sending your question. Two questions at sportscasters club dot com and Brandon asked. They tell me I am an introvert. Can I still be a sports announcer? That is a really good question. That is an awesome one, because the impression you have from watching television, especially if you watch I don't know, ESPN. The impression You Savage is that any sportscaster has to be gregarious and overly outgoing, that you have to be bubbly and exuberant and kind of over the top in your emotion, in your attitude. And you think of people like Stephen A. Smith, who's done such a great job and built such a career. That's kind of what people think about now when they look at sportscasters Stephen Air, Max Kellerman or Chris Berman because he had quite a distinct personality. But my answer is that, no, you do not have to be an outgoing personality to be a successful sportscaster. You can be an introvert and do really well at this in this industry and at this business, I could certainly point to a lot of people who I would consider to be introverts, and it definitely depends on what part of the business you want to be in. Let's say, if I'm a play by play man for the New York Mets, there's a lot less personality there than then. Maybe some areas. Perhaps if I was hosting a talk show, maybe you might need a little bit more personality there where you've got to be entertaining and informative and really capture. Capture the listener and bring him into your conversation. You know a person like Will Cain, who does such a great talk show on ESPN radio. He is engaging, and he just captures your attention. Any formulates topics and ideas that make you think. And he's a really easy to talk to. Easy going guy very much on the air like he is off. And I think he has that personality for a talk show. But you can really be both. You could be an introvert. I mean, I know a lot of people that when the microphone goes off their kind of quiet, I mean, I I certainly don't consider myself to be an extrovert. I'm certainly Skidmore towards the introverted side. Being amore, I think a more subdued person, um, or conservative person. I'm not someone who wants to walk into a room and be the center of attention. Yet I feel very comfortable when I'm in front of a microphone talking, or whether I'm teaching a class or broadcasting on in front of a camera. You can be comfortable and you could be effective. But you don't have to be someone who wants to be the center of attention. Wants to be this overboard, outgoing personality. You don't have to be that I think the best piece of advice I could give is to just be yourself. If you are an outgoing, bubbly, enthusiastic, gregarious personality, then let it show. Ride your personality. Be who you are because that's gonna make you unique. If I tried to do that, it would seem phony. It would seem contrived and fake. My style is my style. Your style is your style. Be the personality that you are that's gonna help you be the most natural and often times the best. Broadcasters, as I mentioned with Will Cain a minute ago, are on the air just like they are off the air when you talk Thio when you talk to Cris Carlin off the air, it's just like listening to him on the air or Kevin Burkhardt, same thing and so many of the really good ones. They are on the air the way they are off the air, and that's why it's natural. And that's why it's easy for them to grow and succeed because it's not contrived. So thank you for the question. Brandon Hope things are well in Texarkana, Texas, really appreciate you listening to our Sportscasters Club online radio show. And please share that answer with your friends. Be natural. You don't have to be outgoing. You can be an introvert and succeeded this business, and so many of us can attest to that.

spk_1:   20:46
Have you ever wondered how you can start a career in sports broadcasting? Do you dream of calling the action and working in sports for a living? We have a great freeway for you to start learning about a sportscasting career. Download our free E book seven Tips to get started in Sports broadcasting, plus three myths that will shock most sports fans. Visit sportscasters club dot com and click on free stuff to download this book. This resource will help you jump start your career. It will also help you decide if you truly want to work in sportscasting. So download the seven tips to get started in sports broadcasting by visiting sportscasters club dot com and clicking on free stuff. Happy reading.

spk_2:   21:33
Well, that'll just about do it for this episode

spk_0:   21:36
of The Sportscasters Club online radio show. I am Rick Schultz. We really appreciate you listening, and we touched on some great things today. Three key takeaways from 10 years at the Sportscasters Club online radio show. We talked about the fact that we all start from the same place most successful sportscasters, air willing and happy to help. And we generally all want and need the same things to succeed and progress in our career. So we hope you

spk_2:   22:04
enjoyed this episode. We've got some really good episodes coming up some interviews as well, and, as I mentioned, perhaps, um, new ways that you can join our community. So stay tuned there. Send your questions to questions at sportscasters club dot com, and we really appreciate you sharing and liking this program. It's really been awesome to see how it's grown on Apple particularly. But on all the different podcast listening APS and platforms out there. So thank you for sharing. Thank you for spreading the word. And we will talk to you next time. Thanks for listening to the Sportscasters Club radio show at sportscasters club dot com. Don't forget to subscribe, so you will never miss an episode. And thanks for liking sharing, boasting reviews and spreading the word.