What is good Mic Skills?

[WWEvsJosh]

Alot of people give their opinion on who has good mic skills and who does not have good mic skills. My questions to everyone are. What makes for good mic skills and who really needs them?

In my opinion having good mic skills means that you are able to advance your character by what you do or not do on the mic.
Here are examples.

Undertaker- The Undertaker does not get on the mic and tell jokes, he does not talk alot, and his voice is monotone. Sounds like a boring person butttttt that is how he is supposed to sound. For you to get the whole character he needs to talk like that. That to me makes his mic skills good.

The Rock and Austin- I put these two together because I want to use an example with them. Imagine if Austin was still the rattlesnake and the beer drinker he was but he talked like The Rock. Imagine if The Rock did the same moves he did in the ring and gave the eyebrow but he talked like Austin. Both would be funny but it would not fit. Austin cant just talk like anybody he has to talk like the way he does and say the things he does because it fits his character. The Rock talking in the third person helps build his "The Great One" character.

Orton- This is one that people may not like but it think its true. Orton does not talk much and when he does he talks slow and monotone. Why would he tell jokes? The guy almost never looks happy and looks like he wants to kill someone when he wrestles them. So the way I look at it he has good mic skills because he talks the way he does.

Goldberg- The guy and mic skill never come to mind. So why did I bring him up? Because he never talked when he was big. It helped his character. You would not get the impact of the character if he talked like The Rock.

Cena- He is a super good guy who does everything right. Yes that makes people sick but that is what makes him not stale in my opinion. Him talking about "rising above the hate" and "hustle loyalty and respect" helps you believe this guy is like superman. It helps make him seem like a hero for kids.

If you have not gotten what I am saying yet then that stinks haha. The way i see it for you to have good mic skills you just need to know how to use the mic to make help push your character.

Now with all that said here is my second question. Who in the WWE do you think needs mic skills and what do they need to do?

 

[BaconBits]

IMO, good mic skills mean being able to add depth to your character with every promo. That can only happen when the words spoken are interesting or captivating to the audience.

Who do I think needs mic skills currently in the WWE?

Everybody could use some work. Most people around here think Cena and Punk are the best talkers, and I have a tendency to agree. However, that doesn't mean they are above needing work. Cena needs to add a little levity to his work and Punk needs to tone down the smarkiness. Beyond those two, the pickings for good talkers in the WWE are quite slim.

Of course, it's hard to really flex your muscle or look good on the mic if the gimmick and/or storyline you're given is crap to begin with, but that's a different thread for a different day.

 

[Mr. HD]

IMO, good mic skills depend on how deep or average your voice is and your ability to articulate words to make the character your own. Also, you have to add depth to your character like someone mentioned earlier.

You can go out there and be yourself, but you need to go that extra mile. You need a voice that demands attention. You can't jus go out there and stumble all over your words, nor can you speak low and soft. That's where Bobby Lashley failed IMO. He had the body and the talent, but his voice was so low and so soft. Even I stopped taking him seriously.

People need to understand what you're saying, so you can't speak too fast either.

Not everybody with a good voice can cut a promo. You still need articulate, and feel comfortable in your character to avoid nervousness.

An important thing is you can't come out and say the same things over and over because people will get really bored of you, real fast. They gotta change it up a bit.

It's about character, articulation, and depth. How well you can make your character believeable, how you speak and get people to listen and how well you go above and beyond and add that extra layer to your character and really make it your own.

Guys like Austin, Rock, HHH, Taker, and Angle could cut great Promos and now the new generation have guys Punk, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Miz, Truth, and Wade Barrett have really come into their own with their characters and can sound really solid on the Mic because of how they act, what they say, and they have a voice that demands attention.

 

[Frogsplsh38]

I think mic skills come from your natural speaking ability with articulation and rate and volume. But also, from a wrestling standpoint, having great mic skills means you are able to show who you are through your words. You can control the crowd and make them love you or hate you. Truly great mic skills are hard to come by. The best of the best are guys like The Rock, Triple H, Chris Jericho, CM Punk, John Cena, Steve Austin and guys like that. Some of the worst are John Laurinaitis, Mike Adamle and Bobby Lashley. Laurinaitis just struggles to get out what he wants to say and his articulation is awful. I don't even have to explain Adamle. And Bobby Lashley was such a good wrestler but his mic skills were just non existent. And it was very disappointing to see because he had such a bright future.

 

[Psyclone]

mic skills are the ability to tell the "story".. True as you mentioned taker doesnt talk much and when he does he doesn't show emotion.. however his mannerisms and the inflection he gives tells the story... He's not "great" on the mic because he doesn't need to be tell the story of what goes on.... Goldberg is NOT great on the mic because if given the opportunity to talk it doesn't work... same as if it was scott steiner or others who can't get more interest through words alone..

The people who are legitimately great on the mic have the ability to take any storyline, any premise, and make the audience invest in it... they make them interested no matter how crappy it may seem if you were just told about it... They make the audience CARE about what's going on... Those are the people with mic skills.. those are the one's where you make it a point to listen to what they say even on a DVR'd show that you know the results of.... You LISTEN to them just to hear how they put it...

 

[FlairFan2003]

Mic skills really revolve around a character's ability to keep you hooked on their promos, essentially its the promos more than anything else that make us love or hate a guy and want to see their matches. Charisma plays a big part and that's just something some guys have and others dont.

There is no one or two defining things that determine this. A guy like the Rock feeds off the energy of the crowd and spews memorable, often funny one liners like leaves falling off trees. He is able to excite a crowd by the way he works his delivery.

Cena isnt bad, his delivery is strong & smooth, and on occassion he can be very funny, or cutting against his opponents.


HHH is a guy like The Rock who knows how to move a crowd with his delivery, though he relies more on a menacing persona, which fits his Cerebral Assasin character, more than the humor Rock uses.

Flair was much like Rock, catch phrases, lots of audience interaction. He has a smooth clear delivery also and as an actor was able to portray different characters, his promos during his 80's heel heyday were far different than the ones he did during his NWO feud in 98 and 99 but both eras produced great interviews. Rock hasnt shown that ability to switch delivery style and effectively convince the audience.

Jericho does possess some of that ability, Kevin Nash as well. Undertaker has a ton of charisma and benefits from playing a character that isnt usually verbal - Jericho could go on a 10 minute rant, same with HHH, Taker's character is not built for that. His delivery, word choice, and the way he acts make his promos very effective. We'll never know if he could display the versatility of some of the others but he excells at what he is asked to do.

 

[MasterHavik]

Good mic skills ot me? Umm....All I ask for is that you try to be different from the others and I can actually understand you. Also....no cheesy jokes.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Good mic skills involve the ability to make the crowd care about your character in the way you intend. If you are a heel, then your words should make the crowd hate you, and if you are a face then you want to make the fans love you.

Your mic skills need to be able to make the crowd believe in what you are saying, help to further the rivalry, feud or storyline that you are involved in, and as someone else mentioned- add further depth to your character.

Having good mic skills can be the final piece in the puzzle to make a good superstar into a great one. You can be the best wrestler in the world with more technical ability than anyone, but if you can't talk then fewer people are going to pay to see you as they will no feel emotionally involved in the storyline. They simply will not care about the character.

That is why wrestlers such as Hulk Hogan, The Rock and Stone Cold are so special. They had the ability to talk and captivate on the mic, they were so comfortable in the characters they were playing and it showed when they spoke on the mic. People believed in them, they got the desired reaction from the fans and made people want to see them either win or losr depending on their role at the time.

WWE needs more wrestlers with strong mic skills, most of the current roster cannot talk for shit.

 

[pessimism101]

To make a long answer short, "good mic skills" quite simply means the ability to get people invested in what you have to say. Whether's it's being funny like Chris Jericho when he first debuted in the WWF, cerebral like Jake Roberts in the 80's and 90's, or swearing a lot like Steve Austin or the Rock.. as long as the wrestler has the crowd hanging on their every word and/or entertains them with their promo, they are considered to have good mic skills.

Of course, this all boils down to opinions as I don't believe the Rock has good mic skills because he just repeats himself over and over again, but many people would disagree with me.

 

[Defekt]

I guess the most cliche'd response would be that mic skills are "giving the character a voice."

People rag on Bret Hart for being bad on the mic, but he was portraying a serious wrestler in a time where guys like Doink the Clown and Papa Shango were running amok. It made sense for him to deliver his promos in a very straight to the point manner and tell his story in the ring.

At the same time, Shawn Michael's original gimmick was an obnoxious, cocky, self obsessed heel, so a guy like that would need more charisma and flair on the mic.

As you were saying, if you switched their promo styles, neither would work.

As for who in the WWE needs to improve on their mic skills, I'm sure there are many, but Sheamus comes to mind.