Former Northwestern University volleyball player, Emily Ehman, traded her uniform for a microphone, and now serves as a college volleyball analyst for Big Ten Network, ESPN, and Fox Sports. Ehman notably called the broadcast for the University of Nebraska’s historic volleyball match in their football stadium, which drew 92,003 spectators. She is the BTN Digital Host, where she has reported on major collegiate events including five NCAA Women’s Indoor Volleyball Championships, College Football Playoff games, and the Women’s College World Series. Ehman is also the Indy Ignite’s Digital Host and freelances as a commentator for Pro Volleyball Federation and VolleyballWorld.

Here are the seven essential pieces of advice Ehman shared for aspiring sports journalists:

• She aced her advice, so it is presented in her own words.
• *This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

1. Love it, if you want to make it

Sports are nights and weekends, so you’re giving up a lot of things on the side, with friends, with family, and big events that you’re not able to go to. So, you really have to love it to want to do it. That was something for me that I learned really early on, and I was okay with it because I wasn’t willing to give up.

2. Create opportunities for yourself

After I graduated, I ended up starting a web show called “Big Ten Volley Talk.” I would interview Big Ten volleyball athletes, coaches, alumni, anyone around the sport, and would splice them up with some B-roll and post them online. This was at a time where digital content wasn’t what it is now at all; the term digital host didn’t exist. No one was really doing things like this, especially for volleyball. I was essentially the first person to be in that world. I knew that the Big Ten had such a massive following that hadn’t really been tapped into in that way.

3. Become a well-rounded journalist

Having a well-rounded journalism curriculum in college ended up being a really good thing because I feel like I found my voice during that time by writing so many articles and developing how I would sound. Obviously when I’m calling games, that’s not scripted at all, but a lot of the digital content I do is somewhat scripted.

I think it’s really helpful to have had that background, one, in production and, two, in writing, so I could develop that. One of the only reasons that I was able to start the web show and pitch it in places, was because I had a strong background in video editing. I was able to make videos look, relatively at the time, really good. That was definitely a huge bonus for me.

4. Gain social media proficiency — it’s easy and user-friendly

I think video editing is so important, and you don’t have to be amazing at it, but just the ability to throw B-roll on something quick is good to know. I always used to use Premiere for this, but honestly, I don’t really feel like I have to anymore.

I can go on the Instagram app and it has a whole editing tool there. It makes it a lot easier to do and is more user friendly with the interface to then just obviously post directly on Instagram. If you are editing an actual video package, Premiere or something like that is helpful. But if it’s just for social media, a lot of times you’re really easily able to edit in Instagram or in Tiktok. For example, “a top five plays from the week” video can just be thrown into Instagram.

Emily’s Must-Sees are a great example of this. For BTN Digital, she creates a reel with her Big Ten Must-See matches of the week. Check out this one from Sept. 18, 2024.

5. Build your personal brand on platforms

I make sure that Instagram is a place where people feel like they know who I am. While I have a bunch of reels that I will collaborate with Big Ten Network or the Pro Volleyball Federation team I work for, I also have fun, social things. I’m a 27-year-old girl. I’m gonna go have fun. I think Instagram is kind of my balance of both work and play.

Whereas, Twitter is all work for me. Twitter is very much, ‘here’s volleyball news, if you want any’ and ‘if you want volleyball, you will head to my page.’ I love that I’m the go-to there, and that’s what I want to be on that platform. I’m a broadcaster with influence and have that balance of keeping most of my personal life personal, but sharing what I want and not feeling like I have to share everything with the world.

6. Keep learning, even when your academics end

I’ve been working with the broadcast coach for about three years now, and just have seen so much improvement in my analysis. I’ve been able to dive into deeper layers of my analysis and look at things differently and all of that. I have an entire 100-page notebook of stuff that we’ve gone over from simple stuff like holding the mic wrong or saying in 10 words what I can say in three. At first, [it was] can I get the mechanics down of just how to speak on air? And now, we’ve been working on contextual analysis and getting deeper. I want to put myself in a position where I feel untouchable, so you can’t replace me, because I’m so good at [my job]. That’s where I want to be.

7. Keep dreaming, even after landing your dream job

I want to call a national championship match. I want to be the analyst for it. I would love to be the analyst for the Olympics at some point. LA28, seems a little bit too soon, but I would love to be part of that broadcast at some point. And then I think, like, just overarching goal, like this isn’t something necessarily I can point to and say, like, I did that, but just continuing to get better at my craft.

Follow Emily Ehman on social media

Instagram, X, and TikTok: Big Ten Network