Job Descriptions - Definitions - Career Fields: Announcer
 

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Announcer   

An announcer is more than just a pleasant voice on the radio or a face on television. If you are thinking about training as an announcer, you will have to possess certain skills. You must have an excellent command of your chosen language or languages, be practical, a good organiser, enthusiastic, creative, and speak correctly and fluently. Your listeners would always emulate in some way your manner of speaking and you would have the power to influence people - hopefully in a positive and healthy manner.
A good general knowledge of history, geography, cultural affairs, politics, literature, music, current affairs, science and the classics would greatly add to your value as an announcer. Most stations insist that you be at least bilingual even though no specific educational qualifications are usually required. However, if you have your matriculation certificate and all or most of the above qualities, your chances of obtaining a highly paid job increase dramatically. Your personal appearance is also important. You do not need to be a beauty or an Adonis but on television or in public your face must be pleasing to the eye and you must dress neatly and correctly unless you are in costume for the announcement of a specific programme.

* Announcer/producers have the added responsibility of developing, creating, recording and producing special radio and TV shows or programmes, feature films, or actuality programmes. Some announcers simply have to read prepared lines which appear before them on a monitor - like news or weather reports. You should have a friendly and helpful attitude towards everyone in the studio because most of the technicians have the ability to make radio and television announcers look and sound totally inane if they wished to do so. The make-up crew have the awesome power of being able to age television announcers' faces by twenty years simply by using the wrong face powder!

Most announcers work in a studio which is usually air-conditioned for maximum comfort and for the protection of delicate instruments and machines but when programmes are filmed or produced on set or outdoors, weather conditions are decided upon by Mother Nature and not the producer. Very often, camera crews film the action - whatever it may be - and the announcer watches the finished product before adding his bit to the programme. There are no set hours in this profession unless specifically decided upon by the company and you might be needed in the early hours of the morning or just as the clock strikes twelve. Most of the people with whom you would be working would also be professionals in their own field and would respect your work if you respected theirs. On a radio station, no-one cares what you look like so long as your voice sounds sultry and compelling.

There would be a certain amount of time allocated to learning lines and rehearsing but most of the top announcers are given prior information on the anticipated programme and expected to do their own homework.

You would have to be very versatile since the job covers a variety of fields such as sport, drama, poetry, presenting symphony concerts and conducting interviews - just to mention a few. Announcers who cover sports meetings have to be able to paint a word picture of the events taking place in front of them.

There are also career opportunities for people who specialise in `voices'. They are usually employed by advertising companies.
 

Related Areas:

* sports announcer
* public address announcer
* television announcer
* radio announcer
* announcer jobs
* voiceover announcer
* radio and television announcer

Career Fields

Film, Television and Radio
Performing Arts and Entertainment

 

Courtesy: CareerExpo

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