07:58:16pm, Saturday, March 14, 2026
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What makes a great announcer?
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Registered: 08/22/2019 Posts: 135 |
I announce very, very, very little. And when people criticize or praise an event, often times they talk about the announcers. And everyone has their opinions on what a good announcers is. Me personally, I do not feel I am a good announcer. I get it done. And I usually have some decent knowledge of the classes going down the track. I also will try to talk with some drivers before the event to get some insight. Let them know I am announcing their class. I also have sheets for the drivers to fill out when the sign up to run. The sheets ask them their occupation, what organization they primarily run with, how there season has been going, do they have any points championships, etc. Some drivers are great at filling them out, some don't care to. Doesn't matter. But I also feel I have a lot of down time, and that I repeat myself a lot. So I want to know, not for me, but for every announcer and event, in your opinion, what makes a good announcer?
-Do you like them talking when nothing is going down the track? -Or do you like a little silence? -Do you like music playing in between hooks? -Do you want the announcer to talk about the rules of the class? -Do you want an announcer to share information about the driver? -Do you want them to have information about the event? -Do you want multiple announcers? Do you like the banter back and forth? (I do prefer to announce with someone) When you go to an event what do you want for an announcer? |
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Re: What makes a great announcer?
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Moderator Registered: 02/21/2012 Posts: 831 |
* There is a fine line on the amount of silence in between hooks. I don’t necessarily want a bunch of dead air, but there are some announcers that talk just because they like the sound of their own voice..
* I could do without music in between hooks because it’s often too loud (god, I sound old) and they often want to play it during a run. I want to listen to the Limited Pro revving up — I don’t want to hear Sweet Caroline… * Rules about the class is fine. A lot of spectators are casuals, so they may be interested in what the various rules are. * Driver and event information is great. * I don’t mind multiple announcers but they have to have chemistry — Miles and Dan are your best example of this. If I had two announcer slots to fill, those would be my go-to’s. * Something you didn’t address, but I want to add: don’t be unnecessarily political. I go to pulls to get away from the “real world” and to have fun. I don’t want to have to listen to the embodiment of a Facebook comment section. John Murray Two-time Pedal Pull World Champion Let's Go Pulling, covering the sport of pulling in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. Watch LGP on YouTube Like LGP on Facebook 
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Re: What makes a great announcer?
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Moderator Registered: 03/25/2008 Posts: 1,922 |
Agreed, Dan and Miles are the best announcers in the sport. They are extremely knowledgeable and work well as a team. So what makes a good announcer, knowledge of drivers, vehicles, and rules. I don't need my announcer to do standup comedy, no music, don't try and talk when the vehicle is going down the track. And always take control of the mic, don't take a chance and have the interview go off the rails, there are kids listening. Keep it clean. Dick Morgan www.PULLOFF.com Independent Pulling News |
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Re: What makes a great announcer?
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Face in crowd
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I agree with all of this. One thing to add on information is fans love hearing about a tractor's history. This tractor used to be owned by.... And you are dead on about the politics. I don't go to pull's in order to get an Civics lesson or listen to the the national anthem, God Bless America, Lee Greenwood. Then they read the quote about "It's the soldier..." or paraphrase it. And they present it as if it's their own comment. They don't even cite the man who actually said it! SAD! VERY SAD! |
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Re: What makes a great announcer?
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Registered: 03/26/2008 Posts: 570 |
I'm with you "face in crowd". |
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Re: What makes a great announcer?
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Registered: 08/22/2019 Posts: 135 |
John, I am 100% with you on not getting political. I don't care what side you are on, at a pull, I don't want to hear it. Being patriotic, that I am good with. We actually did something Don Slama and and an American flag last year.
That story is actually on my Facebook page, [www.facebook.com] |
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Re: What makes a great announcer?
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Announcers that sound like they are having a conversation with the crowd with information and distances. Harold and Butch were the best at this. Dan, Miles, and Charles kind of reminds me of them. |
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Re: What makes a great announcer?
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Registered: 02/23/2012 Posts: 590 |
I’d just like to able to hear whoever it is, instead of a garbled mess , fix the sound system everywhere! |
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Re: What makes a great announcer?
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Promoter
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It would be nice to have a list of everyone’s favorite announcers broke down by state/regions. Everyone knows Dan,Miles, Charles & Ron Stone, handle the national circuits. There are so many state level groups that have good guys that it would be nice for promoters to have a place to go when they need to find someone to do their event. With so many events back to back in the summer time it can get busy for all these guys.
At least maybe the big pulling states Wisconsin Ohio Missouri Indiana Illinois |
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Re: What makes a great announcer?
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Moderator Registered: 07/06/2008 Posts: 1,785 |
I dislike the overly-caffeinated SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY types who scream in the mic all the time. An announcer should have life with highs and lows in vocal inflection, but not yell at me for 4 hours. As others have mentioned, Mayer and Krieger do a great job. I also appreciate the skills of Doc Riley and Alan Washburn |
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Re: What makes a great announcer?
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Registered: 04/04/2008 Posts: 1,766 |
My vote goes to art down |
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Re: What makes a great announcer?
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Registered: 06/16/2017 Posts: 372 |
He and Carl are both real good. |
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Re: What makes a great announcer?
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Registered: 06/16/2017 Posts: 372 |
One thing that’s the worst for me. Is when announcers clearly don’t have the facts about a class, driver or vehicle and just start making it up as they go. If you don’t know, don’t talk about it before you find out. The Full Pull guest announcers are great but most don’t have a clue about other classes than the ones they’re in. |
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Re: What makes a great announcer?
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Badgerfan
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A good announcer in my opinion:
-Does not talk while there is a vehicle running or pulling. (we can't hear you) -Doesn't spend over half the time talking about the food at the event. (Tomah used to be so bad for this) -Knows the class, can talk about rules or differences from what we just seen but not to the point of putting us to sleep -Can explain how the pull/sled works -Knows the pullers, can talk about their history, accomplishments, major rebuilds in short time, what they updated over the off season, did they go somewhere like NFMS -Gets excited when something big happens, gets the crowd excited -Has some technical ability, rough idea what broke or happened when something went south. So many guess and aren't even close or just jump to the next puller. -Music is new to our world and has mixed reviews but fills the dead air for the local fans when nothing is going on or there is nothing to talk about. The younger generation needs something happening all the time, like it or not our society doesn't thrive in quiet time anymore you lose them. -Knows how to fill the quiet time without being annoying -Team announcers are great when done right. When you have one announcing the drivers and distances and one on the track interviewing pullers especially if they are good and can feed off each other but don't talk over each other, doesn't work when one like to hear himself talk. -Can be funny and keep it clean for families at the same time, doesn't use vulgar language or jokes and can control an interview with the pullers. Can get the quiet ones to talk but can keep the big mouths clean. I agree Dan and Myles are good but my only complaint is they lack a little excitement, they don't get excited about much. My favorite team is the Badger State guys Jon Strandlie and Stacey Butson are great they fill all the points above. Would love to see one of them mix in with Dan and Myles that would be a good team. |
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Re: What makes a great announcer?
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Registered: 08/16/2021 Posts: 498 |
To me what makes a great announcer is someone who gives the necessary information (puller name, vehicle name) maybe a couple fun facts about the vehicle or driver.
They also need to get excited when there's a reason to get excited and keep us informed on the pull distances as well as who continues to lead the class. I really appreciate an announcer team that works well off each other. For example Dan and Miles are the best in the business. They know the history, they know the pullers personally, and they get excited about the pulls. In addition to that they added Charles Poosch this year and he brough knowledge of the sport as well as technical insight. Charles if you're reading this I really enjoyed you joining the NTPA team this year! |
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Re: What makes a great announcer?
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Moderator Registered: 03/19/2018 Posts: 790 |
I appreciate it. Thank you. Still learning every time I turn a mic on and that keeps it fun. It was an honor to get the opportunity and I hope I get to continue.
CP |
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Re: What makes a great announcer?
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Under_Pressure
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Single announcer, no music EVER, someone who knows the classes and the history. Kenny Mack was the greatest ever IMO. |
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Re: What makes a great announcer?
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day later
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Some music in down time is ok, between classes. But comes back to decent sound system! Look at indoor L-ville pull that has been held back with sound system troubles! |
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Re: What makes a great announcer?
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JB
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Most important thing in my opinion is to have a good sound system. If your an organization that can afford too, purchase your own sound system to ensure that your announcer is heard loud and clear by the spectators at your show. It makes the show so much more professional appearing. Also, I guess I'm in the minority but a little music goes a long way in my opinion. Especially if the music goes along with the vehicles name coming onto the track. Lots of pullers name their truck/tractor after songs. |
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Re: What makes a great announcer?
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Old Days
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Back in the old days before electronic score boards a great announcer was the one that actually gave all of the distances and the top 3 in each class...Lots didnt do a very good job of this..
Today its the one that doesnt play music while the tractors are pulling..I come to hear the tractors and not the music..Also some pulls still have poor sound systems..Some announcers talk too much while others dont talk enough. |
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Music during the pull
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Moderator Registered: 07/06/2008 Posts: 1,785 |
They do music in Europe, though it's unclear as someone who only watched bigger events if it's some or all the pulls. I've seen theme songs for vehicles played in California years ago.
This may be a get-off-my-lawn moment, but there is a distinction between a competition and exhibition. Having WWE-type intro music makes me think of monster trucks rather than pulling. Since this thread is about announcers, a good announcer like ones mentioned earlier is a better replacement for theme music. One time I don't mind music during a pull is if they are taking a 15 minute break (less common at twin track pulls and in general anymore), or if the sled breaks and the repair is going to take a while. |
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Re: Music during the pull
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Registered: 02/08/2014 Posts: 473 |
I'm offended Pa. wasn't listed as a major pulling state. Just kidding! I've only been to a few national pulls but remember Dan from NY state pulls. He was good. Keystone National announcers are really good. On a regional/local level here in Northeastern and Central Pa. Davey May does a great job. He knows the pullers, tractors and knows pulling as a puller himself. He's been doing Snyder County and some CS promoted pulls in the Northeast. I tried announcing as a fill in 1x and knew it wasn't for me! |
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Re: What makes a great announcer?
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Agree with a lot of the points others have made.
A couple additional observations or suggestions for you after a couple decades going to 20+ pulls per year and announcing a couple pulls as well. 1. Do not attempt humor by trying to banter "inside" jokes with someone in the crowd or on the track. The crowd can't hear what the other person is saying. No one knows what you are talking about and these inside jokes are NOT at all funny to anyone except possibly you and the person you are talking to through the microphone. You'd be amazed but I saw this failed attempt at humor WAY too often over the years. 2. If you do not have some sort of electronic scoreboard at your event (few do), use a magnetic dry erase board and have an assistant write the name and distances on the magnetic strips. Move the strips down with shorter distances and slap the most recent puller into their slot. This makes it easy to repeat the top 3 or top 5. And say things like, "That pull moved John Smith into 3rd place with a pull of 315.71." "He is just short of Alex Jones at 317.11 and Terry Odom who still leads the class at 318.31." You can also name the top 3 or 5 at any time without having to scan up and down the distance sheet. Especially helpful for a class over 10 vehicles. 3. I think that a responsible use of music can certainly add to the pull. Your announcer assistant can help cue up the songs. I've seen intro songs that match the vehicle work very well - but you have to decide whether you are going to speak about the next puller BEFORE or AFTER the song plays. Either is fine - but don't try to talk over the intro song. Don't let a pull happen where you have to say after they are done, "That was John Williams from Lincoln in the Deere Special." No matter which you decide, the music and the announcer both need to be silent when the green flag is given. Put the spotlight on the puller - not on yourself. They spent a lot of time and money for that 60 seconds of stage time. A full song during downtime can be fine - just make sure it isn't too loud. People want to talk with their friends and family during that time. Not have music so loud that people can't even think or talk. 4. Interviews are interesting ways to fill dead time. You can arrange to interview every winner (announced at the drivers meeting) OR you can stop by the pits and ask a few pullers to stop by after their class is over - no matter how they finished. 5. If you have inside information that can help people - definitely share it. If you know they are going to take 10 min to prep the track for the next class, let people know it is a good time to hit concessions/beer or the bathroom without missing any action. You are their guide through the event. Hope these help! |
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Re: What makes a great announcer?
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Moderator Registered: 03/25/2008 Posts: 1,922 |
Thank you. That is a great post on running a successful event. In fact every promoter needs to hand that to their entire team, again thanks. |
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