Tell the Truth Tuesday: Chris McKee
The accomplished music agent, promoter, tour manager turned Canadian broadcaster sets out on his goal of calling American college sports
Thanks to Chris McKee for this week’s submission on Tell the Truth Tuesday! Chris has a super unique background and career, and wrote a book about his music journeys called Life on the Road with the Wu-Tang Clan. Take a peek at our video critique below.
A side note: I actually spent the first couple minutes of this video critiquing Chris’ broadcast partner, not Chris. I actually didn’t know until Chris later sent a photo that he was the person on the left. I decided to keep the video up because I think it even hits my point home even harder: it’s so important to make it extremely clear and obvious to the viewer what exactly they’re watching and why you want them to watch it. If you haven’t had a chance, listen to Learfield VP Tom Boman talk about this on our podcast last week. When you are one of hundreds of people submitting materials for consideration, you have to think about what it’d be like to be in their shoes clicking play. Sometimes, your all-time favorite clip doesn’t make the most sense as a first impression. Be clear and play the hits.
Good job, Chris! You’ve clearly got a lot of experience. I really liked some of your play-by-play calls, and you’ve got a nice delivery and a good network sound to your voice. I’d love to see more play-by-play, so definitely feel free to check back in with another demo in the future.
Some basic critique etiquette:
No fluffy false positives. When you say something positive, it must be sincere. Positive feedback implies that the announcer would be well served to replicate that performance as consistently as possible in the future.
All criticism should be constructive. When something sounds like it misses the mark, the point is not to demean, but to identify areas for improvement and demonstrate ways to implement positive change.
Critiques should aim at helping people identify ways to take the next step in their development. It makes no sense to compare a novice to national network announcers who are decades further along in their career.
Be respectful. Make sure the statements you offer check all three boxes: is it kind? Is it true? Is it necessary?
We are now taking submissions for our next critique! Send an email to playbyplayu@gmail.com with the subject “Critique” and include a link to 5-10 minutes of audio or video, and you might be next on Tell the Truth Tuesday. We will choose from subscribers first, so make sure you click the button below to get more content like this delivered straight to your inbox.