Have fun. If you have fun, the people around you will have fun. This goes for the PA announcer and host who sounds like they are having fun. The game ops staff who are having fun in front of the fans will encourage other fans to have fun. This is the number one rule at SportsAnnouncing.com, have fun.
Treat each game/event, like it is THE most important one going on at that moment because it IS the most important event going on at that moment. The players have put in a lot of hard work to get where they are, the fans have taken time out of there day to be there, and in most cases, you are getting paid. If you would rather be at a basketball game instead of at the baseball game, then go. If you'd rather catch the all-star game on TV than be at the game between the two last place teams, then go home. People will appreciate you giving your effort night-in and night-out and never "taking a night off" or "going through the motions".
Get pronunciations and mention names. You'll find this tip in the different versions of "The Announcer's Guide." There is nothing worse than getting someone's name wrong, get with someone from each team before the game and get the correct pronunciations. If you do get a name wrong, don't worry about it. It happens but make sure you're prepared enough to know that you'll get it right the next time.
Never refer to a promotion as one that "you all have been waiting for". This goes into the category of not talking down to the fans. Fans that have never been to the ballpark won’t know that you're doing it, and those who have may be waiting for another promotion.
If you're the host or emcee of a sports team, make sure you keep it fresh by changing up your tag lines throughout the season. If the loser of a free-throw shooting contest has to help wipe the sweat off the floor every time you do the promotion, it wont be as funny as if you used four or five different lines.
When testing your microphones don't bang the top of the microphone. This isn't good for the mic and sounds bad. A simple, "Microphone check, 1, 2, 3" will do you good. This provides you the chance to see if you're speaking too hard into the mic and to make sure you've got the proper volume. If you're not satisfied, read a P. A. announcement and adjust from there.
Names. People like to hear their names announced over the P. A. system and the announcer should do his/her best to get as many names announced as possible. When doing youth games, it's ok to include a player in on a play even if he/she was just watching. The higher up you get, try to include as many names as possible but don't go overboard. One Minor League Baseball P. A. announcer would add the clubhouse person, the radio announcer and two or three more people to the "coaching staff". Yes, it's good to get names in if they mean something, but when pulling out obscure names that have little to no relevance can be annoying and confusing.
This tip is something that should be common knowledge to any host, announcer, etc. Never refer to yourself over a Public Address system. Think about it, when you're at a party, do you like it when people talk about themselves? No, in "How to Win Friends and Influence People", it says people would rather hear about themselves than you. So why would you refer to yourself on a PA system? There are some announcers who constantly drop the word "I" and "me" during games. Think how it sounds when the announcer says something like, "I need these people to go to the information booth", "I think it's a great prize" (this one can upset sponsors), "If you don't take the prize, then I'll take it". Which of those statements sounds greedy. Which of those sounds like the announcer feels he/she is more important than anyone else (it's guaranteed there are others that are more important than the announcer). Basically, never use "I", "me" or "myself" if you want to relate more to the fan.
Non-partial does not mean non-enthusiastic. If you are chosen to announce for a tournament of some sort where the announcer has to be "non-partisan" or "impartial", don't be the down-quiet type that so many announcers thinks is so cool to use for visiting teams. First, it kills any enjoyment in the fans and makes you sound bored which will in turn, make you and the fans bored. Second, it sounds bad. Teams are vying for a championship and they are getting a bored announcer. Be upbeat and happy. You may miss out on an opportunity to really announce a fun name. This will keep the fans excited and get you excited in a game that may not mean anything to you. One member of "The Forum" did an ice hockey tournament whose final game went to overtime tied at one between two teams that were based more than two hours from the rink. "That was one of the most exciting games I've ever seen" said one fan. Now imagine if that drab, cold rink with a few fans was done quietly and with no enthusiasm. People would've left saying, "I'm glad that's over".
Always, and I mean always, speak clearly into a microphone. A sound system, or even one speaker, is not the same as your mouth. Unless you are directly in front of a small audience, nobody can see your lips move so they can't guess at what you are saying. Play your favorite song on a stereo and turn up the volume. You know the words because you know the song. Now, take a current rock song you haven't heard before and do the same thing. You wont be able to understand what the artist is saying, this is the same principle.
Keep the mystery in a game by doing all of your sound, video & message board and scoreboard checks as early as possible. Don't wait until just before the gates open as the people outside the gates can hear the testing. Make sure everything is in working order before anyone can have a chance to see or hear your testing. This way, the fans think that you just show up, plug everything in and it works. You look good and if something does go wrong, have the chance to fix it without the fans seeing you scramble.
This tip goes against anything your mom, dad, teachers and pretty much anyone older than you ever told you but read all the way through. Don't plan your game. In fact, that even goes against a previous tip but here is the explanation. If you pre-plan everything you are going to play, you may miss a great opportunity to get the fans going or to try out a new song. Face it, if you're team is getting killed late in the game (pretty much any sport), your fans aren't really going to dance to YMCA, unless you did such a great job the fans don't care about the score (which is possible and has happened). This would be a good chance to try a new dance song to see if it might fit into your rotation. It's ok to plan here and there, just don't set everything in stone or you could miss out on some good things.
This one would seem like common sense to most in the sports production business, but a lot of people don't understand it so here it is. Variety. Mix up your pre-game and in-game music selections. There is a baseball team who has set-up four cues that alternate between in-game and pre-game. The person who does the music says, "It makes it easier on me to do it that way." Easy is good except when it's the same thing every night or every other night. Keeping things the same (with the exception of a certain few songs like welcome or introduction songs) makes things boring and shows no imagination. The fans will get bored too and wont come back as often or anymore.
This is something that came up during a hockey game and a longer-than-expected conversation started. When playing an organ song or crowd prompt, don't simply fade out. It totally destroys the effect of having an actual organ there and it sounds cool when you end it at the right spot. Imagine hearing "Addams Family" then having it fade out during the clap part of the song. How about the "We Will Rock You" claps and hear it fade out. It sounds better to have the song end right after that third clap. On most computer sound systems, there is a key for an automatic stop-without fade, use that. If there isn't, then turn the volume down on the mixer real quick. This is effective in hockey as well as other sports.
When putting sounds onto a computer for playback, the best option to use is .mp3 and to put them in mono. The reason being, this will save you space on your hard drive as .mp3's are about 1/10th the size of a normal .wav file and most sound systems are in mono anyway. Why waste the space on your hard drive with a stereo sound and only get half of what you need.
Give your team some identity by picking a welcome song. A welcome song is one that should be recognizable as well as popular so fans can easily identify it. The welcome song welcomes the team back to the ice, field or court and is best noted by college fight songs when the football team returns to the field. People hear the song and begin to recognize the team is back and it's almost time to start the game again. Very, very few pro teams do this but should. It's a little bit of easy customer service.
When working a sporting event, remember the music is for the fans and not the players. In a Detroit Free Press article, Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom said, "We're really not very aware of the music when we're on the ice. But the music gets the crowd going. And when the crowd is loud, it really helps us. It's like an extra push, extra energy." Playing music the players want to hear does nothing for them and if they are even listening to it, they aren't paying attention to the game.
Never shout into a microphone. It is sometimes ok to raise your voice into a microphone but never shout. It is more irritating to hear someone scream that it is to hear them talk in real life. On the mic is no different