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from Experts Who’ve Been There
A Broadcaster Who Puts The Work In Before The Mic Is Live
Bob Rathbun's Story
On the air, Atlanta sports broadcaster Bob Rathbun sounds smooth, unruffled, clear and concise. It seems so effortless.
What you don’t hear is the grind of his work, and the rumble inside his head when he is not behind the microphone, and he is preparing for a broadcast. What Rathbun makes look so graceful and unforced on TV is achieved through planning and careful study…and sweat ethic.
When Rathbun declares, “We hold the whole network in our hands,” you get a sense of the urgency he puts into his job.
And, still, he seems to swat away pressure and has….fun. All because he does the work.
“If you want to broadcast then you’ve got to do a lot of work on yourself,” Rathbun said. “Make yourself a voice of substance, a speaker of substance, and know what you're talking about. And that takes a lot of work. A lot of preparation. A lot of reading. A lot of writing. A lot of talking to people.
From a play-by-play standpoint, there's a lot of work that has to be done inside before you ever take it outside because the outside world is going to judge you instantaneously.
There are just 30 jobs as the lead TV voice of an NBA team. 30! Rathbun has one of them because he did the work when he was younger, an “apprenticeship” through his teenage years, through college, and into professional baseball and then the NBA. You can see—hear—the difference between Rathbun and the athletes who step out of their sport into broadcasting and flop because they didn’t invest enough time learning before they got behind the mic.
Rathbun first sat behind a mic when he was 12 years old. You might be tempted to say he is a natural in the job, but that would disregard the work he has put into being the TV voice of the Atlanta Hawks for 27 years. Rathbun also has current broadcast gigs in college sports, as well as speaking engagements, and you don’t just wake up one day with those skills.
It is the same in business. There is no such thing as a “natural leader.” The boss usually did some donkey-work to get there.
“If you've got that dream, to be a play-by-play announcer or sports broadcaster, work on yourself,” Rathbun said. “And have a circle of influence around you, mentors, if you will, that are going to help you along the way and tell you ‘We think that's pretty good, or you need to work this or that out, or your voice needs work’.”
“I don’t wish for easier. I wish I was better.”
“If you've got that dream, to be a play-by-play announcer or sports broadcaster, work on yourself,” Rathbun said.
“And have a circle of influence around you, mentors, if you will, that are going to help you along the way and tell you ‘We think that's pretty good, or you need to work this or that out, or your voice needs work’.
“You need to do the hard work of preparing yourself.”
Here is more of Rathbun's business philosophy in Q&A:
What typically frustrates you when taking on a challenge and how do you go about finding a remedy?
What do you want more of and/or less of in business?
Talk about bouncing back from a bad experience in Detroit. You were hired to replace a legendary baseball broadcaster and when you werenโt him, you and your partner were fired.
What was the biggest lesson you learned from that experience?
What is overlooked in your business?
What did your apprenticeship look like?
What do you wish was easier when tackling challenges and why do you find it so hard?
What do you want faster in business? Why?
What was the toughest obstacle you faced when tackling a big challenge in your career .... and how did you overcome it?
“I think one of the big keys for me has always been to break it down in smaller parts.”
Video Content Section
Here are a series of videos where Bob takes a deep dive into his experiences and you get his first-hand feedback on real-life situations.
Video 1:
Working On Yourself Kick Starts Any Career Path
Video 2:
Discovering Opportunity
What Can You Do To WIN Today
Video 3:
When Facing Career Fork
In The Road
Move On
Don't Burn Bridges
Video 4:
Do The Dirty Work
Ask for Help
Video 5:
Learn From The Bottom Up
Makes You and Everyone Around You Better
Video 6:
Journalistic Brilliance
For The Eye
Broadcast Excellence
For The Ear
Video 7:
Connecting With
Your Audience
Video 8:
-Moment of Truth-
Wishing For Being Better Rather Than Easier
Video 9:
Don't Hit Send
Talk To People
Video 10:
Using Research To Bridge...
Yesterday
Today
Tomorrow
Video 11:
Work On Yourself
Fast Forward Winner
