If you are looking for specific ways in which you can improve or wrap your head around commentary, check out the Commentary How-To Guide
When you're watching a race, be it FFR or any other randomizer (or really, any sporting event of any kind), you should notice that the comms are there to keep you engaged. The players play, the music rolls, but it's the comms that keep you invested in the game. What they say, as well as how they say it, is what keeps the whole broadcast together. Without good comms you're left with a race that, no matter how good the players are, isn't much fun to actually watch. Good comms are important in any broadcast.
In our community we take comms very seriously. We want people that not only sound good, and can hold their own, on the microphone. We also want people that can work together, can make interesting coversation while discussing the game, and can keep things lively even when the game can sometimes get boring (there's only so much to talk about with the game when someone is spending five minutes doing a Black Belt grind).
If you're new to commentary it may be some time before you feel truly comfortable on the microphone, and that's fine. What's important is that you work at it, taking advice, and notes, from the veteran comms people on how to improve your own talk-good game. Anyone looking to improve should take these best practices into consideration.
- Comms Is a Team Effort:
- First and foremost you are not on the mic alone. When you're doing comms you need to not only pay attention to the game but also to the person in the booth with you. A good commentator needs to be cognizant of the other person, making sure to share time on the mic so they can speak too. Try not to talk over them and do them the courtesy of finishing their thoughts before you bring up something else to discuss.
- Also make sure you engage with them. Sometimes it's good to ask questions of the other commentator, seeing what they'd do in the situation or if they have thoughts on what's going on. Other times the patter will come naturally and you'll fall into an easy give and take. No matter what, though, you want to make sure you, and your commentary partner, are working together to make the broadcast better.
- Also remember that the comms team is more than the person in the booth with you. There's a tracker (at least one, normally) keeping up with clicking the buttons and keeping the layout up to date. They'll see things you wont and, via text chat or notes they take, they'll be able to answer questions for you. Make sure you keep an eye on what they have to say.
- By that same token, make sure you not only keep an eye on chat but also engage with them. The viewers want to be part of the experience and they'll share comments in chat that could be relevant to the game. Read their comments, answer their questions, and keep the experience lively and fun for everyone involved.
- Don't be afraid to pair up with the same people. If you find you have a good time doing comms with someone, and everything sounds good between you, feel free to make a comms team with them. They might not always be available any time you want to commentate, but those times when the two of you can partner up on a game will be ones you remember and enjoy.
- There Is Not Substitute for Knowledge:
- Whether you've been in the community for a long time or are new to the game, you're welcome to come and volunteer on the broadcast team. That being said, we do prefer our commentary people to have some working knowledge of the game. If you're very green and don't know the game that well we'd recommend taking time tracking matches before jumping on the mic. Tracking is a great way to watch the game as it's played and learn everything you need from experienced comms. You'll see players doing their thing, you'll learn the key items, and you can get a good feel for the ins and outs of the comms experience without having to talk.
- Playing the game also helps. You should be able to discuss the game in a salient fashion without having to constantly ask questions of other people just to talk about what's going on. You don't have to be perfect (we all get details wrong from time to time) and you don't have to have opinions everyone agrees with (some of the best comms discussions are between two commentators that would do things differently so they can discuss why), just know the game well enough that you can act like you know what you're doing.
- Bear in mind that you will need to explain things about the game as the players run through their seed. You'll need to go over the basics of what some key items lead to other turn ins (like why the CRYSTAL goes to Matoya), why players do dungeons in the order they do (why do they always go and kill Garland first), and why we have some names for certain things (like TFC). You are the resource for new viewers so when they ask a question you need to know the answer.
- Know What's Going On In the Match, Too:
- It's a good idea to know a little something about the players. Doing a little research, getting some past history on the players is a good idea. Do they have any strategies they like to employ? Is there a particular party they favor in this flagset. Did they make any kind of agreements about the race to be run? These things can help to color your commentary about what the players are doing as it happens.
- You should also know the particulars of the match being played. Is it a tournament match, and if so what is at stake. You never want to go into a race and ask, "is this game one?" as that looks terrible. Have knowledge about what's going on so you sound informed when people ask questions.
- By that same token, familiarize yourself with the flagset being played. Read over the flags so you know the basics and aren't surprised by everything happening on screen. You should be more knowledgable than the people that are just there to watch as you're guiding them through the experience.
- Commentary Should Flow:
- There's a delicate balance to commentary. It's important that things are discussed as they come up, and you certainly don't want a lot of dead air. That said, there's no need to say something simply to hear your own voice. If you're not sure what to say in a given moment, take a beat and think about it. Better to have a little dead air while you get your thoughts going than to simple blabber on with an incoherent mess of words.
- By that same token, if you struggle on the mic to keep things organized, maybe take notes. You might want to write things down as they happen so you can reference it. You can also check the notes from your tracker and that might jog some ideas. Let the commentary flow cleanly and clearly and it'll all start to feel natural.
- Practice Makes Perfect:
- There is no substitute for experience, not just playing the game but also when talking about the game. How you get the experience may vary. Some like to take races that have already been played, turn off the volume, and commentate them again. Others like to treat their own games like comms experience, trying to professionally discuss their games while they play. However you get experience before you first grab the microphone, just make sure you take the time to get comfortable speaking and being in a "professional" setting.
- You should also take some time and practice your style. Think on how you like to commentate, what kinds of things you like to talk about, how you work best with others. Discover your style, and then work to hone it. Anything you can to do not only make yourself sound more natural, and more professional, will help your experience.
- It is a good idea to go back and listen to your on-air commentary. Listen to races where you've been in the booth and see how you sound. Do you say "uhm" and the like a lot? Do you find yourself using the same words like "absolutely" over and over again? Are there things that stand out that you should do differently? Keep that in mind the next time you commentate. Take every on-mic moment as a way to improve the next time you're in the booth.
- The Race is About the Racers, Not You:
- One of the cardinal rules of good commentary is that you're there to talk about the game, not yourself. While it's okay to share past experience in the randomizer while you're talking about the randomizer -- "when I raced these flags last week I saw this, and I think were I in their shoes I'd bear blah blah in mind" -- but don't talk about yourself. The people watching on Twitch (and eventually YouTube) are there to listen about the game, not what you did earlier in the day. Unless it relates to the game at hand, it's best to keep that to yourself.
- Also make sure not to talk poorly about the players racing. Sometimes the runners will make decisions you don't agree with, but you're not there to do a "hit job" on the runners. You can say, "hey, this is something they should work on," or, "this isn't something I would do, but..." What you shouldn't do is anything that makes it sound like you hate them, their play style, or anything they've done. You are not there to disparage them.
- Keep Things Lively (and Fun):
- We have a lot of notes on things you need to think about, but the most important thing we can say is that your time on the mic should be fun. You're the bridge between the viewers and the game and if you're not having a good time neither will they. Be engaging, crack jokes, have a laugh, and talk about things that keep everyone entertained. You can even occasionally, talk about things that aren't the game (food talk is a common occurence in our races) so long as you always manage to bring it back to the game when needed. Don't let yourself wander off on a twenty minute tangent about something that doesn't matter, but you can find ways to be both loose and fun while occasionally taking a little time to not just play-by-play the event. Make it fun and the viewers will stick around.