The Broadcast Meteorologist

College College Lyndon State Alumni Meteorology Programs

College

Lyndon State Alumni

Meteorology Programs

Skills

Finding Jobs

Local News

Social Media

Learn More

About Dan

26 October 2011

4 Comments

If you talk to a broadcast meteorologist, they’ll probably tell you that they were interested in weather at a very early age. It grabs us, and we’re hooked for life. In high school, we take a special interest in earth science, mathematics and computer science. What you don’t see as much is a pursuit in skills on the broadcasting side. Maybe students don’t know right away that they want to work in television, perhaps they don’t realize the opportunities they have to build those skills, or maybe its just scary.

It was scary for me. Not only did I wait till college to get into broadcasting, I waited till senior year. By then, there just wasn’t enough time to get myself to a level of comfort that had me ready for a local television job. I went back to college and picked up a second degree in broadcasting, and even after that nerves still got the best of me for the first few months of my first broadcast meteorology job.

I know I’m not alone. I see students all the time that battle with nerves, first in the classroom, and then on live campus television. Its something that can take a while to stamp out, and leads to a whole host of other problems. You can work on talking slower, or stop fidgeting with your hands, or trying to smile more, but it likely all stems from a lack of being comfortable and confident. It’s also a challenge to teach out of a student because it’s usually something that just takes time. Just like jumping in a pool of cold water, it just takes time to get used to, and there is not a lot else you can do to speed up the process.

If you are in high school, now is the time to start building your confidence. The students who get started sooner end up coming to college better equipped for the opportunities they will find there. I spoke with a couple of Lyndon State College alumni who to me appeared confident early in the process, to see what they did before college that made fighting the fear a bit easier.

Matt DiPirro , meteorologist at KSWO in Lawton, Oklahoma got involved in his local community access tv station early in high school. “I showed interest in being on air and they allowed me to gain experience in front of the camera doing live shots during winter storms and also anchoring the storm center cut-ins. I started becoming involved at this station around my freshman or sophomore year of high school. If I did not have that experience I might not have ever tried it out so I would always suggest becoming involved in anything prior to school.”

Brandon Wholey , who is now the chief meteorologist at KRNV in Reno, Nevada, also sought out opportunities in high school. “Late in my high school years, I did a taped weathercast (from PowerPoint graphics) that appeared on Fridays during the video announcements. To be honest, I believe I have always been really confident in front of the camera doing weather because I had wanted to do this profession since 8th grade. I took some public speaking classes and did a play, but I think just knowing what I was good at and knowing what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, is what came through as confidence on the air.”

Not all of us have access to studio equipment in high school, but there are so many other things you can do to build that level of confidence. It all starts by pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone. If it’s a little scary, you are probably headed in the right direction. Try acting or singing in a play, or being in a band or chorus. Get out in front of people. Play a sport. Get involved with a speaking or debate club. Whatever you do, make it fun.

Broadcasting and meteorology involve an interesting mix of skills. The students who develop both sides equally will be the ones who do the best. Just like you wouldn’t want a meteorologist who knew nothing about weather, most viewers aren’t interested in a broadcaster who can’t communicate ideas in a clear and interesting way. If you are in high school now and interested in broadcast meteorology, start building those skills now.

Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)

Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)

Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)

Pingback: Never To Early To Complement Your Meteorology Skills

CMS January 23, 2012 @ 8:53 PM a great article as we are looking at broadcast meteorology with our daughter…she participates in spokesmodel competitions and pageants and is an extremely bright high honor math and science student……….her pageant work is preparing her for the broadcasting part of this career Reply dandowling3 January 23, 2012 @ 9:04 PM Thanks for the comment. I think its often times easier to help train a broadcaster to be a met, rather than a met to be a broadcaster. The best route is to have a nice balance of both. Good luck to you and your daughter. Please let me know if I can ever be of any help. -Dan Reply

a great article as we are looking at broadcast meteorology with our daughter…she participates in spokesmodel competitions and pageants and is an extremely bright high honor math and science student……….her pageant work is preparing her for the broadcasting part of this career

dandowling3 January 23, 2012 @ 9:04 PM Thanks for the comment. I think its often times easier to help train a broadcaster to be a met, rather than a met to be a broadcaster. The best route is to have a nice balance of both. Good luck to you and your daughter. Please let me know if I can ever be of any help. -Dan Reply

Thanks for the comment. I think its often times easier to help train a broadcaster to be a met, rather than a met to be a broadcaster. The best route is to have a nice balance of both. Good luck to you and your daughter. Please let me know if I can ever be of any help. -Dan

Tyler Simpson March 7, 2013 @ 10:25 PM I do the same thing that Brandon did! Reply

I do the same thing that Brandon did!

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out / Change )

You are commenting using your Google account. ( Log Out / Change )

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out / Change )

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s

Notify me of new comments via email.

Notify me of new posts via email.

Hi there. My name is Dan Dowling and I teach broadcast performance for meteorologists at Lyndon State College in Vermont. I'm also the 5 & 11pm meteorologist at WCAX-TV .

The Broadcast Meteorologist is my spot to help college and entry-level broadcast meteorologists get started. Whether you are in high school, college, or in your first job, you'll find resources here to guide you along your way to a career in TV weather.

If you have any questions, or a demo you'd like me to check out, shoot me an email at broadcastmet@broadcastmet.com. Thanks for checking out the site and good luck!

Jim Politis - Moving On To WSI

The Anatomy of a TV News Job Opening

What We Make - The Salary of Broadcast Meteorologists

Yes, Appearance is a Big Thing - From College Kid to TV Pro

Moving Up: Hayley LaPoint

RT @ CelineTVNEWS : Snow in Stowe! I can ski that. 🎿 😂 #snow #summer #vermont @ ski_vermont https://t.co/FIUAN8pmbX 2 weeks ago

RT @ outageforecast : Picturesque thunderstorm at HQ, we managed to capture this cloud-to-ground lightning action! @ SeanMParker @ WCAX_Dan @ Th … 3 weeks ago

RT @ ajfroggie : @ NWSBurlington @ WeatherEric @ TylerJankoski @ SeanMParker @ HaleyBouleyWX @ WCAX_Dan @ wxpeterk @ VermontJen @ VermonsterWx @ Michae … 3 weeks ago

RT @ ajfroggie : @ NWSBurlington @ WeatherEric @ TomMessner @ WCAX_Dan @ SeanMParker @ MichaelPageWx Mammatus over Lowell. https://t.co/a2LfkMlRGH 3 weeks ago

RT @ CelineTVNEWS : Lightning over Lake Champlain at the Burlington waterfront. @ WCAX_Dan @ wcax https://t.co/bo40RS7tfd 3 weeks ago

AccuWeather issues 90-day forecasts and meteorologists are not amused There is no scientific basis to support detailed forecasts beyond 10 days.See it on Scoop.it, via FreeTVJobs.com News

Have Comment Sections on News Media Websites Failed? In recent years, many media companies have disabled them because of widespread abuse and obscenity.See it on Scoop.it, via FreeTVJobs.com News

Americans don’t have much trust in social media as a source of news, a new report says Though about half of Americans say they get news from social media, they don't have much trust in what they read or watch there, according to a study released Sunday.See it on Scoop.it, via FreeTVJobs.com News

Michael Jordan: ‘I always wanted to be the weatherman’ His Airness has an affinity for the skies that extends beyond soaring above the rim.Dan Dowling's insight:It's interesting because I always wanted to be a 6-time NBA world champion, so it all balances out.See it on Scoop.it, via FreeTVJobs.com News

Golfers Who Give Back: The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore plays in as many charity events as he can, for favorite causes ranging from Boys & Girls Clubs to the South Carolina charities supported by the Monday After the Masters.See it on Scoop.it, via FreeTVJobs.com News

The Broadcast Meteorologist by Dan Dowling is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License .

© Dan Dowling and The Broadcast Meteorologist, 2011-2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Dan Dowling and The Broadcast Meteorologist with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.