A New York sportscasting legend shows how it’s done.
Media commentary by Steve Dunlop
Listen to the podcast version here
As anyone who’s been through one of our narrative, media, or presentation trainings knows, it’s one thing to be taught. It’s another thing to execute. It’s why once you learn our SPAR® methodology, we emphasize repeated recording and playback - so we can track not just the quality of your story, and how you handle questions around it, but how you come across physically - with your energy level, voice, body language and eye contact.
Early in my news career, I was privileged to work alongside an individual who combined outstanding narrative skill with delivery skill, and I’d like to share a sample of his work with you. He made it seem easy on an almost daily basis. I’m talking about the legendary New York sportscaster, Bill Mazer (1920-2013).
Watch this 2 1/2 minute clip from 1985, where Mazer delivers a succinct but utterly original profile of one of baseball’s greatest figures, Babe Ruth, as part of a series called “The Great Ones.”
We can break down seven secrets to Mazer’s success and identify them here. They’re as follows:
1. Rock solid eye contact with the camera.
2. A delivery that’s energetic, but authoritative and empathic at the same time.
3. Communicating warmth outdoors on a January day, when the temperature barely cracked freezing.
4. Gestures and facial expressions that are natural, not theatrical or forced.
5. He knows his material so well that there’s no script - it just would have gotten in the way.
6. He tells two fully formed stories about Ruth - or depending on how you’re counting, three - in less than the time it takes to boil an egg.
7. And unless you’re a Babe Ruth expert, the content will be new and surprising to you, even today.
As I wrote following Bill Mazer’s death in 2013, his approachable style was pretty much the same, whether the cameras were on or off. “What you see is what you get,” he once told me. You can sum it up in one word: authenticity.
Thanks for the lessons, Bill. You’re one of The Great Ones, too.