When Kobe Bryant retired from the NBA, he was asked about his post-career plans. He replied that he wanted to write books and make documentaries.
He said he wanted to inspire through stories.
Everybody loves stories. It begins in childhood with bedtime stories, and we never really outgrow them.
There are ways you can use stories to distinguish your sportscasting.
Play-by-play broadcasters
If you’re a play-by-play voice, sprinkle stories into your broadcasting.
Baseball is universally recognized as a storyteller’s medium, but you can also sprinkle stories into your broadcasts of other sports.
Sports talk radio hosts
Use a story in every monologue segment of your show.
Your listeners think you have the coolest job. Therefore, take them behind the scenes of things you’ve done, seen, or heard.
TV sports anchors
Similarly, if you are a TV sports anchor, use stories in your broadcast. You don’t have as much time in a two-minute sportscast as a twelve-minute sports talk segment, but you have enough time for a story.
Interviewers
If you’re interviewing someone, prompt your guests to tell stories. You can ask them directly to tell a story about a specific experience that you know is interesting.
Follow-up questions also lead to stories. I found in my career that if I asked two follow-ups on a single topic, the second question usually prompted the guest to share a story to illustrate his point.
It made for great radio.