Mr. Marc Tien Education • Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, National Taiwan University     Current position • Sports Commentator, FOX Sports

1) TV Sports Commentator

Q1： How do you train yourself to handle unexpected situations?
A1： Spontaneity is cultivated through training and experience. As news correspondent, I used to conduct interviews on location. It got easier and easier as time passed by, to the point that you stop being nervous. In a word, experience is the key.

Q2： How do you amend when you make a mistake doing commentary on a sports event?
A2： Since most sports events are broadcasted LIVE, there is no remedy if there is a slip of the tongue. We would simply apologize to the audience. A more technical solution is to make up for the mistakes in later comments. I think this is acceptable for most audiences.

Q3： How do you deal with discontent in the way the news was reported from the person concerned?
A3： For a person working in the field of media, the most important thing is to never criticize any specific person. The focus should always be placed on the performance of the players on the field, which must also be supported by figures or records. A news event could be good or bad either way, so it is advisable for a journalist or commentator to never put things in a manner that is too sharp. This way, it would prevent discontent on the part of the person concerned.

Q4： How to effectively combine charitable activities and sports news?
A4： Charitable activities and sports could be combined effectively. For example, there are charitable road running, basketball games, baseball games and cycling races. In addition, many athletes are actually the idols of children and teenagers. It is therefore possible to stimulate great chemistry between charitable activities and sports, thus bringing more attention to both.

Q5： What’s so attractive about basketball that draws the group of deaf players’ full devotion?
A5： The most attractive thing about basketball is that it is a team sport. In this sport, you will learn to cooperate with others and throughout the process learn about teamwork. It’s just like members of your team are now working together to complete your research.

Q6： In your opinion, how can Deaf Women’s Basketball Team improve their visibility and obtain more resources for their development?
A6： Given the vastness of media nowadays, they could try to improve visibility through the Internet, Facebook or other means of social media, rather than just the television. The precondition, however, is to understand the life stories behind the Deaf Women’s Basketball Team, and find out which ones of these stories are most inspiring to share.

Q7： What is the requirement for a sports team or athlete to be featured in interview or news coverage?
A7： The interviewees should be able to express their opinions clearly. They should tell a story to get people to notice them. More importantly, they should have someone who is good at telling their story to represent the team.

Q8： If you were to produce a featured program about Deaf Women’s Basketball, how would you present them?
A8： First of all, I will interview all the members of the Deaf Women’s Basketball Team to dig out the highlights in their lives. In the featured program, I will introduce their family background, stories during their growth, and the reasons why they joined the team.