Let me explain.
Mike spoke for the second time in three years with the Cougar Nation Network student broadcasting club in which I have the privilege to serve as faculty advisor. He came prepared, watching hours of footage of recent games broadcast on the Cougar Nation Network Youtube channel. Before and after the meeting, Mike was gushing with positive feedback about the crew describing how far they have come since he first met them three years ago and kvelling that he figured that he will be working for them one day.
But when he spoke to the crew he was all business.
“We are going to get naked. I am going to tell you like it is so that you can learn and grow.”Mike proceeded to speak to the students like he speaks to his own professional crew. The purpose of every broadcast, he explained, is to educate and entertain. He implored our students to come prepared and have a plan, describing how the pros prepare 9 hours for a 90 minute broadcast. He spoke of the importance of framing the game from the outset; using the opening minutes of the broadcast to describe the what, the who, and the where. What sport is it? Which teams are playing? Where is the game being played? Followed by the why. Why is this game important? What are the stakes for the season, making the playoffs? What happened prior? Is there a history between the two teams?
Mike described how each broadcaster needed to know their role, with the color commentator focusing on providing greater insights into the play and not trying to describe the actual play, talking over the play by play announcer. He criticized the broadcast at times, speaking about how sports broadcasts are not the place for giving “Dvar Torahs”. “People come to watch basketball or hockey, not to hear Rashi or Rambam”, he said.
One would expect with his tone, overall positive but honest and at times critical, it would be hard for the students to listen to. How many of us find it difficult to accept criticism? And in a school setting, how many students, especially teenagers, are only interested in getting a “good grade” and tune out any critique? And yet the crew of aspiring student broadcasters loved it. They took copious notes and immediately implemented the points Mike addressed.
You can see the results in our 3 games in the week since his talk. Notice the announcing in the opening of the junior varsity hockey game in which the crew framed the game describing the stakes and producing graphics illustrating the various scenarios for a possible playoff run. In the varsity game, the techie, who Mike said should function as the broadcast producer, reminded the two announcers of their clear roles and as the game proceeded the color commentator grew more comfortable in his position, giving relevant feedback complementing the play by play without speaking over him. In the basketball broadcasts the crew chief, once again the person on “tech”, worked for hours prior to the game preparing six pages of game notes and it showed in the highly professional announcers who benefited from the detailed bullet points which they were able to convey to the audience watching at home.
There are a number of factors which led to the readiness of the crew to listen to and implement the constructive feedback from Mike Roth.
Creds: Mike Roth as a professional broadcaster with decades of experience had tremendous gravitas to the young aspiring high school broadcasters. The students knew he was a professional and his comments, even when sometimes critical, came from vast knowledge and real-world experience.
Preparation: Amazingly, despite his busy schedule as a broadcaster, Mike took the time to watch hours of Cougar Nation Network broadcasts before he spoke to the crew and it showed. He didn't give general comments. He would say to the club leader who was on the computer, fast forward to 1 hour, 20 minutes, and 20 seconds of last year’s baseball championship and then begin describing this moment of the broadcast in detail. His examples told the students two things. Firstly, that this professional broadcaster took the time to really study their games, and secondly, his specific and timely feedback was more actionable to change and improve future games.
Heart: It was clear that although Mike was sometimes critical, he spoke from a place of love using an overall positive in tone. He clearly loved mentoring the next generation of broadcasters. When kids know someone really cares about them and their personal and professional growth, they are willing to listen to them even when sometimes it is hard. His words resonated because they came solely for the purpose of improving their craft.
There is one more factor that I believe contributed to the crew’s willingness to continuously improve, something I have written about in the past, the real-world public audience for their broadcasts. The Cougar Nation Network crew knew that there are hundreds and sometimes thousands of fans watching their broadcasts. They wanted to improve in order to produce the best possible product for their dedicated fans.
This creates a virtuous cycle. Mike Roth critiques the crew. The very next week, the crew implements much of the feedback in their three livestreamed games. They receive more feedback, this time from their friends, classmates, parents, and fans who watched the broadcasts.This motivates them to improve even further in future broadcasts.
I have one question which I don’t have a ready answer for. How can we implement this type of virtuous feedback cycle not only in extra-curricular activities like Cougar Nation Network but in regular academic classes as well? I don’t know how to make students ready to receive and act upon honest teacher feedback in a classroom setting the way they do for a passion-driven school club like Cougar Nation Network. Perhaps the answer is to allow students to pursue their passions more even in the context of their regular school classes as well. A goal we can all aspire to.
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