GreyHart’s top tips for esports shoutcasting

Have you ever wondered how you can improve your skills as a shoutcaster? Stanley ‘GreyHart’ Barker shares his top tips on how you can improve your shoutcasting game.

GreyHart is an English play-by-play League of Legends caster with many years of experience at all levels of competitive play. When he is not working the Belong Arena Clash, Stanley is creating content over on his Twitch channel, as well as getting stuck into different esports events.

Most recently, you may have seen him casting for the BYOC Open Finals at Insomnia #68, where he brought so much energy to the event alongside Harry ‘DocDa’ Evans. 

1. Practice:

It may seem like the obvious answer, but making sure you get lots of practice in will make a world of difference when it comes to shoutcasting.

Stanley says: “Once you know whether you want to be a play-by-play, colour, or flex caster, take as much time as you can to cast over games. Spectating high-elo play or friends on the client and just casting along is a great way to get started.

If you can do it with someone else who’s looking to improve and is the play-by-play to your colour or vice versa then that’s extra helpful.” 

2. Play:

The only way you will be able to maintain your knowledge for casting is to play your respective title as much as you can. Knowing the ins and outs of the game, its mechanics and characters will make shoutcasting a lot easier for you.

“Keep playing the game. Hours spent on the rift will translate into game knowledge. Keeping up to date with patches will help you not be surprised or sound like you don’t know what you’re talking about when casting live events,” Stanley says.

3. Listen:

Without taking the time to reflect on your casting performance, you may struggle with what you need to improve on in future casts. Therefore, listening back on your casting can give you insight you might have otherwise missed on how to improve.

Stanley says: “As annoying as it can be to hear your own voice back, listening to your own casts and making some notes on what you did well and what you’d like to improve is so helpful.” 

4. Ask:

Reaching out to casters already established in the field can provide you with valuable insight that you may have otherwise never had.

“There are so many experienced and helpful casters out there these days who are willing to listen to VODs and give feedback that hopefully you can find someone whose work you respect that is happy to review your work. Rather than just sending them a VOD and saying “what do you think?” it’s useful to ask for opinions on specific things. My DMs are always open!” Stanley adds.

5. Avoid filler:

The more you cast, the better you will become, and you will be able to cut out filler words to make you sound more professional.

Stanley says: “Just a personal pet peeve to end on, but if you can avoid use of filler words and sounds then your cast will sound much smoother and have much less hesitancy. Practising getting “ums” and needless words out of your spiel definitely feels to me like a skill of an accomplished broadcaster.”

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You can keep up to date with Stanley, and everything he is up to over on his Twitter – and be sure to reach out if you would like further advice for shoutcasting.

Is there someone in the industry you would like some advice from in their respective field? Let us know on the British Esports Twitter and we may feature them in future content.