A handful of professional League of Legends commentators halted their lengthy discussions of counter jungle strategies, the best times to hard leash, and other MOBA jargon to host a Reddit AMA ("Ask Me Anything"), where they talked about their jobs and how you can get do it, too.
Many of the questions focused on the shoutcasters' pasts. The team shared how they prepared for casts. They recalled their moments of triumph along with some hilarious blunders (teleprompters have the magical power to make you say things you don't actually mean.)
When asked how they prevent themselves from running out of things to say, the commentator "Jatt" replied, "Practice and preparation!"
"We talk about league of legends everyday together even when we aren't on camera," Jatt wrote in the AMA, "so often times we reference back to older conversations that we may have had during the week when we have time to fill."
Interestingly enough, the hardest part of shoutcasting League of Legends isn't commentating itself, but rather the prep work. Just figuring out how to be a helpful team member in League of Legends can be a trial, and analyzing the make up of different teams and their playstyles can eat up time. The casters said they felt truly at home when the lights are on and the camera's rolling.
The shoutcasters were eventually asked how one could become a better commentator, the answers to which were pretty similar—practice critiquing, and then practice some more.
"Cast lots and often, more practice makes you better," commentator "Deman" wrote. "Watch the casts back, decide what you like and dislike, adjust and go again."
While Jatt recommended practice as well, he also pushed for self-critique and recognizing where you can do better.
"Have tough skin and know how to be self-critical," Jatt wrote. "Casting is such a small community that people are generally not going to tell you how to improve, you have to figure it out yourself."
Most of the answers urged those interested in casting to have a degree of professionalism. For example, Jatt said that while he might secretly root for a certain team, he doesn't express that in his commentary as he knows there are viewers cheering for different teams. His job isn't to cheer—it's to commentate.
If you think you're more than capable of commentating on League of Legends professionally, Riot currently has job openings for both North America and Europe . The road won't be easy, but being able to do what you love for a living rarely is. Good hunting.
