ABSTRACT
Thedescriptionofactivityandtheprovisionofbackground informationhavebeensingledoutascentrallyimportantpartsofa radiocommentator'sfunction.Butheisfacedwithtwofurther requirementswhichareperhapsevenmorefundamentalandinescapable:theneedtokeepupanunbrokenflowofspeechandto soundinterestingwhiledoingso.Inmostoftheothersituationsthat callfornon-stoplanguagethespeakeriseitherreadingfromascript, recitingfrommemory,promptinghimselfwithnotesortalking aboutawell-knowntopicthathasbeengivencarefulconsideration. Whileacommentatormaygetsomesupportfromanyoftheseaids duringthelengthiergapsinproceedings,onlyspontaneouslyproducedspeechiscapableoffollowingthefluctuationsthatarelikely tooccurineventhemostpredictableofevents.Asaresultofthese pressures,successfulcommentaryismarkedbyafluencyfarinexcess ofthatfoundinmostotherformsofunscriptedspeech.
