I keep hearing how awesome Steve King is up at IM Canada. I am curious as to what he does which sings him such hi praises. What do you all like to hear from a race announcer? The reason I am asking is I will have the mike coming up soon for my debut.
I can’t speak for Mr. King but I can say from the announcers I have heard (like Steve Fleck) that the key to good announcing is a fluidity. Never sound like you are just throwing something out there just for the sake of speaking. Geting some stats/interesting things to talk about from the leaders of the race and even some age groupers is great as you can mention them each time they come into transition if you see them. And as an age grouper, we love when people talk about us. 
Mark,
Thanks. I have had the good fortune to work with and listen to some of the best at this - Steve King, Mike Reilly Kevin MacKinnon, Whit Raymond etc . .
The keys are:
- Being comfortable talking on a mike.
- Talking just the right amount - not too much or too little
- Knowing as much as you can about the event and the history of the event
- Working with the RD to make sure that, if you have a script you are sticking to it.
- Knowing some of the local favourites and other athletes competing is very helpful
- Being open to new ideas and ways of doing things
- Be ready for a long day if you are doing a half IM - pace your voice. You don’t want it to give out.
- Recently it’s been very helpful to have an integrated athlete ID system with the results people. There are a couple of different ways of doing this. The real old-school way is a list of athletes with their race#
- Humour helps and don’t be afraid to make, and acknowlwdge your mistakes.
- Make sure you have water and sunscreen accessable all the time.
Hope this helps the OP.
Any RD’s out there need a Race Announcer - let me know. Would be happy to help out.
lots of coffee.
Good question and I was just thinking about this the other day in regards to more mainstream sports.
I realized there were a few things I don’t like with triathlon announcing:
- rattling off too many stats
- continually mispronouncing a name (do your homework)
- feeling as though there is an inside joke going on that the listeners are not a part of
- talking way too much - silence is okay at times, you don’t have to over analyze things to death a la Tim McCarver in baseball
- turning it into a constant comedy show (there is a fine balance there)
- not knowing the top pro triathletes - last year in kona I believe Paul H was calling Leanda Cave “Dede Greisbauer” for an hour or two - know the numbers the top athletes will be wearing
lots of coffee.
Sorry. I forgot that one. It’s essential!! 
If anyone has heard Jerry MacNeil from Minnesota you know he can do all of the above and more…
He can recite things about triathletes that they have forgotten about themselves…its fricking amazing…you have to hear him to know fully what I am talking about…
What else can you say about a guy that recieved a standing ovation by the Minnesota Triathlon scene because of his talent and passion for annoucing the multisport scene…
if you talk about the best, he needs to be included…
I wager I’ve announced at about 200-300 bicycle races and triathlons, maybe more than that. I love announcing- it is a truly great job. In a way, we are all race announcers when we recount the tales of our friends and ourselves in an event.
The great announcers, in my opinion, are the lyrical story tellers who can educate, exit and inspire and most importantly- acknowledge. In triathlon there is no greater feeling than turing the corner at Ironman and hearing Steve King or Tom Ziebart say, “John Smith!.. YOUUUUU! are an IRONMAN!”. The announcer that knows a little about his athletes has an enormous advantage and can add some color to the commentary. For every athlete there is a story, being able to tell it succintly in just a few seconds and hold the attention of the audience while making every athlete feel like *the only *athlete is the key- and it isn’t easy with hundreds or even thousands of athletes crossing the line. You have to work to make evey one sound unique.
IF you;re making your announcing debut then you do well to always listen to good talk radio in your car- listen to the commentators, wathc Larry King, watch the news, listen to how the announcers speak, watch DVD’s of Phil LIggett and Paul Sherwin. Don’t copy them but pay attention to the changes in tempo and how they let the action “breath” sometimes and other times they’re commentary is staccato and lively.
Remember that announcing is a performance and a tribute to the athletes, sponsors, the event and the people who make it happen. It is a very important and challengin job and you are fortunate to be able to do it.
Here’s a picture of me announcing at the old Blue Car Network Tour de Michigan with my associate and good friend Michael R. Rabe:
This is coming from one with absoloutley no announcing experience, but I’d think you need top notch “spotters” as well - people that feed you relevant info so that you can in turn deliver it to the audience. I’d imagine that you, as the announcer, will have your eyes more on the actual race than on your notes so you’ll need help.
The great announcers, in my opinion, are the lyrical story tellers who can educate, exit and inspire and most importantly- acknowledge.
Tom,
So true. I have been rather spoiled my whole life as almost every triathlon that I have ever been to starting back in the 80’s had great race announcing. In Ontario back then we had Barrie Shepley - he now does the race call for the ITU web broadcasts and the CBC. I then moved out to BC and many races that I did out there had Steve King as the race Announcer. I moved back to Ontario and many of the races that I go to have Kevin MacKinnon on the mike and I have been to 2- 3 NAS Ironman races each year for the in the last 5 years and have been exposed to Mike Reilly a lot. I can tell you one thing, I sure notice it when I go to a race that does not have good race announcing!!
Show up for a Kids race and make it sound they are finsihing their first Olympics.
Thanks Dave Towle (sp) for last weekend at the Boulder Kids, another class act.
Keep it light but don’t get insulting with your humour. Sounds obvious but I’ve heard announcers comment on racer’s weight (“Here goes #123, definitely a clydesdale!”) and age (at Wildflower the announcers spent about 15 minutes making age jokes at the expense of the M55+ wave before they started their swim).
What Steve King does so well is to keep up an interesting commentary for the spectators with details about the race and the racers. I understand he does vast amounts of research prior to an event, plus I believe he has a mind like a steel trap so he can pull insane amounts of detail out from memory. He can get the crowd psyched without screaming into the mic (personal pet peeve) and just seems to be genuinely interested in the event and its participants.
Jerry MacNeil is indeed an amazing race announcer…the amount of stuff he knows about the people racing is almost freaky!!!
Keep it light but don’t get insulting with your humour. Sounds obvious but I’ve heard announcers comment on racer’s weight (“Here goes #123, definitely a clydesdale!”) and age (at Wildflower the announcers spent about 15 minutes making age jokes at the expense of the M55+ wave before they started their swim).
What Steve King does so well is to keep up an interesting commentary for the spectators with details about the race and the racers. I understand he does vast amounts of research prior to an event, plus I believe he has a mind like a steel trap so he can pull insane amounts of detail out from memory. He can get the crowd psyched without screaming into the mic (personal pet peeve) and just seems to be genuinely interested in the event and its participants.
+2. At a race last year, while a particularly hairy man was crossing the finish with his tri vest open in his first triathlon none the less, the announcer said “here comes John Smith. Some people say its too hot to wear a sweater in August, but not John!!” I thought it was funny but I doubt the other guy thought so.
I’ve recommended, hired and/or worked with, seen, Steve King, Jordan Bach, Tom Ziebart, etc. As an RD what has worked is different depending upon the event and annoncers style. What works…
Announcers ability to weave the live feed of athletes info the dialogue with the audience (most races have an announcer’s feed). Make everyone feel special. Good announcers do their homework beforehand and know who is special or have a sense of history. Have an uptempo sense of humor. Music as background, not the focus. Ability to work on the fly and be flexible. We had an absolutely hysterical announcer at Chelanman for the Splash and Dash – which is true comedic material. Some teaching to the audience of what they are witnessing but not being preachy. Its supposed to be fun for god’s sake.
What does not work… LOUD MUSIC to compensate for lack of content. No understanding of triathlon (forget local radio morning DJ’s) no constantly screaming YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!! or YOU ARE A TRIATHLETE!!! Thats a lack of originality and personality and gives everyone a headache.
The announcer sets the tone of the event. We strive for something between respectful of the challenge and your personal event , with enough humor to keep us all from taking ourselves too seriously.
What does not work… LOUD MUSIC to compensate for lack of content. No understanding of triathlon (forget local radio morning DJ’s) no constantly screaming YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!! or YOU ARE A TRIATHLETE!!! Thats a lack of originality and personality and gives everyone a headache.
The announcer sets the tone of the event. We strive for something between respectful of the challenge and your personal event , with enough humor to keep us all from taking ourselves too seriously.
I could not agree more,well said my son!
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