The “One Minute Drill” is a weekly video series full of tips and tricks for getting ahead in the sports broadcasting industry. In this edition, SportsTVJobs.com founder Brian Clapp shares the three most important skills for being a successful sports producer. If you want to be a sports producer, this is can’t miss advice!
Video Transcript: Skills for being a Sports Producer
Today we’re going to talk about being a Sports Producer and what it takes to be successful. I spent about 7 years of my career as a sports producer so it’s a job I know well and one that I really enjoyed.
As a Producer you know starting your day that you’ll be producing a 30 minute show or a 60 minute show or a 5 minute show, whatever it may be. And essentially you have a blank slate, you get to decide what stories you’re going to put in what order, how you’re going to convey them, how they are going to look visually on the screen. It’s a really creative job and is a lot of fun.
The Skills Necessary to be a Sports Producer
Number One: You have to be knowledgeable. You have to know a lot about sports but you also gave to know a lot about the different ways you can tell a story. Whether it’s through sound bites, through video, through music videos, how you tease a story heading out to break. You really have to be knowledgeable about the whole journalistic cycle.
Number Two: You have to be a leader. The first show I ever produced I was working with a Sportscaster who had worked in the industry for over 30 years …now I’m expected to tell him what to do? It was intimidating, but if I treated him with respect, explained why we were doing things a certain way and used my knowledge to back up my natural leadership skills, those two things working together you make a good team and create a good show. You need to be able to command the room though and be a leader.
Number Three: Finally, you have to be organized, not just in the flow of your show but also in your own mind. You have to know your show so well that if all heck breaks loose, and trust me it will, you need to know what you are going to move around. What story you’ll pull in if you start to run a little light, what story you’ll drop if you start to get a little heavy, if all of the video disappears and you don’t have any video what you are going to do. You need to have every contingency plan worked out in advance and be so well prepared that nothing during the show surprises you and you can make fast decisions.
If you can do those things, you can be a pretty good sports producer.
Authors bio is coming up shortly.
