Podcast news: Work hard, get experience and hours on the mic, says TNT’s Adam Summerton

TNT commentator Adam Summerton was a guest on the fourth Sports News Blitz podcast - and stressed the importance of gaining work experience to anyone trying to break into the industry.

Summerton followed John Murray, Charlie Slater and Gary Taphouse in talking to regular Sports News Blitz podcast host Matt Dudley about his career - and his experiences in the sports broadcasting industry.

Known mainly as a football commentator, Summerton admits being versatile is key to carving out a career as a broadcaster, saying it’s essential to work hard work and be an ‘all-rounder’.

Sip Media Solutions runs placements and internships for aspiring content creators, with the Sports News Blitz website and podcast a platform for them to showcase their skills.

And Summerton told the podcast, which is available on Spotify or Youtube: “I'd always say to people that get as much experience as you can, even if you're doing a university course or broadcast journalism courses.

“You need to get hours on the microphone. You need to be out there in the field interviewing people, having difficult situations, having things not go right.

“I mean, that's how you learn way more than you do when things go well. I can tell you that for absolute certainty.

“As somebody who's been doing this for quite a long time, you know, a bad day as a young reporter or commentator can actually be a very good day for you in the fullness of time.

“You can do a broadcast journalism course like I did, but whilst they can teach you certain skills, you have to go out and get those hours on the mic, particularly for commentaries.

“Now I can give people summary tips on what makes good commentary, but you have to do it yourself really to be able to get good at it.

“It's not it's not like something where you can just say, ‘Well, you do this, you do that, and you'll get that outcome’, because it's live, it's unscripted.

“You've got to learn how to do it. You've got to be a volunteer probably to begin with, university radio, hospital, radio, your BBC station, maybe even your local commercial station.

“I know sometimes these days people are doing things off their own back with YouTube channels and social media that's opened up.

“I think you two guys are both on that avenue - and that opens up so many avenues.

“You don't have to rely on somebody giving you a chance. You can give yourself a chance because you can, which wasn't really open as much to someone like me when I was starting out because YouTube just wasn't a thing.

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“You can control your own destiny a little bit more in that respect, but learn your trades, think outside the box, prepare meticulously and always be prepared to go the extra mile in whatever it is that you may be doing.

“If you want to be a commentator, don't get obsessed with that to begin with.

“Go out there and get experiences. All these different skills can help you with interviewing.

“Even try and do a bit of presenting, become an all-round broadcaster because that's what in the world of work people want you to be so that they can throw you into different situations.

“It's very important to have that all-round experience because they all feed into each other.

“I think the other thing is to just work hard, try and separate yourself from other people. Don't just do what everybody else does.

“Do what you think is needed to your standards and enjoy it, because that's so important - I've got a real enthusiasm for what I do.

“I love what I do, and hopefully that comes out on air.

“For me, if I'm watching TV or listening to the radio and I can hear that the commentator loves what they're doing, I enjoy their broadcast more.”

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