From The Chair
From The Chair: The Weather (not what you think)
How about that weather? The go-to topic when you need to talk about something.
This post is about what you say as a race announcer (often the RD’s job, sometimes separated). Patter. Specifically, what things should you talk about and why. I will follow-up with a second post covering what information you get from the scoring software that you can insert into your patter.
I’ve put a number of first-timers into The Chair, and asked many more folks. Everyone seems to have one of the same two concerns: I’m afraid to talk on the mic (these folks say no thanks!) and I don’t know what to talk about. I don’t have a fix for the first one, but do have thoughts about the second.
Rule about what the RD says: most of the time most people aren’t listening and won’t hear you. Even when what you say is directly relevant to them.
This rule leads to two conclusions. One: what you say mostly doesn’t matter. Two: when you DO want people to hear you, you’ll need to get them to listen first. The first should take the pressure off. Don’t feel like everyone present is going to analyze everything you say, because they’re definitely not going to do that. I’ll touch on the second briefly near the end.
Let’s start with why you should talk, at all. The announcing patter helps define the feel of the race day. Is there something of note going on? There definitely is, because someone is talking about it. From watching racing to football to golf, we’re used to someone talking about what’s going on. The top reason you should talk is because it contributes to the experience of all present. This is also the reason I always play music. Everyone may not love my musical taste, but having music at the track consistently lifts the mood and makes everyone there feel more entertained.
Who are you talking to? As an announcer, you have three audiences. The active participants are the people racing, pitting, and marshalling. The passive participants are other racers and support folks who are not now active but will be at another time. The observers are non-participants present simply to watch the action. Each audience wants different information, and good patter will touch all of them.
Active participants want useful information in a timely manner, especially information relevant to them. Most of this information comes from the scoring software and will be discussed in part two. Your focus here is on the racers, and the most important thing to remember is that everyone likes to hear their own name. With or without something informative attached. At an absolute minimum, I recommend running down the full race order every minute or so, thus stroking every racer periodically.
Passive participants have two information needs. Some will be paying attention to the racing, and they want the same information you’ll deliver for the active participants. The unique need here is that some of the passive participants need information about what’s next… that is, what race is up next, or more generally what happens next in the race day. In the midst of a round, the announcing during a race should include a statement about what race is next, presented at least twice in a 4 or 5 minute race. Use race numbers in addition to the class (and heat of the class, when relevant)… many people will hold in their mind that they are in race #7, and the number of the current and next race give them a frame of reference. During the last race in a round, if there is a break, replace that with break info… “this is the last race in round two, we’ll be taking a ten minute break next.” Adopting this as a general practice will help your racers be more ready and transition from thing to thing faster.
Observers may not always be present. They also might be present without your knowledge. They appreciate more basic information… what IS this class (“Mudboss is a Slash-based car running the 12t brushed motor”), what is a “qualifier”, and so forth. If you’re pretty sure there aren’t any observers, you can skip this class of information. On the other hand, see the rule above. You can always stick this into your patter, it will keep the patter going without being a negative to anyone because they’re not listening.
How MUCH should you talk? Announcers vary tremendously. I think you’ll find that the ones people think are _good_ announcers talk a lot. A whole lot. Personally, I am actually speaking well over 50% of the time. That is, 2-1/2 minutes of actual talking in a 5 minute race. Check yourself out!
What’s the balance of information? As a race announcer, you will mostly talk about the race and the racing. Decent scoring software will provide you a wealth of data, and you in turn will package that into a useful format and patter on it. As noted above, you’ll insert mentions of all the racers, information about the next race, and more basic information.
What do I say at the end of the race? The end of the race is an ideal time to say everyone’s name, as you should at LEAST give each racer’s finish position. Of course, you’ll also talk about the next race and who should be on their way to the stand and marshal positions. Depending on your program pace, you might say a little or a lot. During IFMAR qualifying, you can say a lot without taking up more time by providing information as each racer finishes (position, laps/time)… but you do have to know when that is and is not set in stone. Someone finishing on a hot lap can pass the car that was listed in front of them when that other car finished.
I’ll close with what I think is the gem here. You learned earlier that people aren’t listening most of the time. How do you get them to listen? The most obvious thing if you’re trying to get a specific person to listen is to say their name. Say it twice, because they weren’t listening the first time but they thought you might have said it. If you need lots of people to listen, change something. Even when they aren’t listening, people remain highly attuned to change. Turn off the music (this is like the atom bomb), speak louder, speak more slowly, play an unusual sound like a siren. You can also try something like “listen up”.. but again, you have to say it twice!
One last little soapbox. If you own or manage a track, PLEASE install a sound system that has enough volume and coverage that people can hear it wherever people tend to be at your facility. Nothing sucks harder than not being able to communicate with the racers.
This post is about what you say as a race announcer (often the RD’s job, sometimes separated). Patter. Specifically, what things should you talk about and why. I will follow-up with a second post covering what information you get from the scoring software that you can insert into your patter.
I’ve put a number of first-timers into The Chair, and asked many more folks. Everyone seems to have one of the same two concerns: I’m afraid to talk on the mic (these folks say no thanks!) and I don’t know what to talk about. I don’t have a fix for the first one, but do have thoughts about the second.
Rule about what the RD says: most of the time most people aren’t listening and won’t hear you. Even when what you say is directly relevant to them.
This rule leads to two conclusions. One: what you say mostly doesn’t matter. Two: when you DO want people to hear you, you’ll need to get them to listen first. The first should take the pressure off. Don’t feel like everyone present is going to analyze everything you say, because they’re definitely not going to do that. I’ll touch on the second briefly near the end.
Let’s start with why you should talk, at all. The announcing patter helps define the feel of the race day. Is there something of note going on? There definitely is, because someone is talking about it. From watching racing to football to golf, we’re used to someone talking about what’s going on. The top reason you should talk is because it contributes to the experience of all present. This is also the reason I always play music. Everyone may not love my musical taste, but having music at the track consistently lifts the mood and makes everyone there feel more entertained.
Who are you talking to? As an announcer, you have three audiences. The active participants are the people racing, pitting, and marshalling. The passive participants are other racers and support folks who are not now active but will be at another time. The observers are non-participants present simply to watch the action. Each audience wants different information, and good patter will touch all of them.
Active participants want useful information in a timely manner, especially information relevant to them. Most of this information comes from the scoring software and will be discussed in part two. Your focus here is on the racers, and the most important thing to remember is that everyone likes to hear their own name. With or without something informative attached. At an absolute minimum, I recommend running down the full race order every minute or so, thus stroking every racer periodically.
Passive participants have two information needs. Some will be paying attention to the racing, and they want the same information you’ll deliver for the active participants. The unique need here is that some of the passive participants need information about what’s next… that is, what race is up next, or more generally what happens next in the race day. In the midst of a round, the announcing during a race should include a statement about what race is next, presented at least twice in a 4 or 5 minute race. Use race numbers in addition to the class (and heat of the class, when relevant)… many people will hold in their mind that they are in race #7, and the number of the current and next race give them a frame of reference. During the last race in a round, if there is a break, replace that with break info… “this is the last race in round two, we’ll be taking a ten minute break next.” Adopting this as a general practice will help your racers be more ready and transition from thing to thing faster.
Observers may not always be present. They also might be present without your knowledge. They appreciate more basic information… what IS this class (“Mudboss is a Slash-based car running the 12t brushed motor”), what is a “qualifier”, and so forth. If you’re pretty sure there aren’t any observers, you can skip this class of information. On the other hand, see the rule above. You can always stick this into your patter, it will keep the patter going without being a negative to anyone because they’re not listening.
How MUCH should you talk? Announcers vary tremendously. I think you’ll find that the ones people think are _good_ announcers talk a lot. A whole lot. Personally, I am actually speaking well over 50% of the time. That is, 2-1/2 minutes of actual talking in a 5 minute race. Check yourself out!
What’s the balance of information? As a race announcer, you will mostly talk about the race and the racing. Decent scoring software will provide you a wealth of data, and you in turn will package that into a useful format and patter on it. As noted above, you’ll insert mentions of all the racers, information about the next race, and more basic information.
What do I say at the end of the race? The end of the race is an ideal time to say everyone’s name, as you should at LEAST give each racer’s finish position. Of course, you’ll also talk about the next race and who should be on their way to the stand and marshal positions. Depending on your program pace, you might say a little or a lot. During IFMAR qualifying, you can say a lot without taking up more time by providing information as each racer finishes (position, laps/time)… but you do have to know when that is and is not set in stone. Someone finishing on a hot lap can pass the car that was listed in front of them when that other car finished.
I’ll close with what I think is the gem here. You learned earlier that people aren’t listening most of the time. How do you get them to listen? The most obvious thing if you’re trying to get a specific person to listen is to say their name. Say it twice, because they weren’t listening the first time but they thought you might have said it. If you need lots of people to listen, change something. Even when they aren’t listening, people remain highly attuned to change. Turn off the music (this is like the atom bomb), speak louder, speak more slowly, play an unusual sound like a siren. You can also try something like “listen up”.. but again, you have to say it twice!
One last little soapbox. If you own or manage a track, PLEASE install a sound system that has enough volume and coverage that people can hear it wherever people tend to be at your facility. Nothing sucks harder than not being able to communicate with the racers.
