From radio documentaries to narrative podcasts, the art of audio storytelling \u00a0can be complicated and confusing \u2014 not just for beginners, but also experienced journalists.<\/p>\n
IJNet spoke to two producers of narrative podcasts about key storytelling skills, from finding the best stories to tell using audio to recording natural narration.<\/p>\n
Hebah Fisher is the co-founder of\u00a0Kerning Cultures<\/a>, a podcast that brings audio stories from the Middle East and its diaspora to the region and the world. Maeve McClenaghan is the founder of the\u00a0The Tip Off\u00a0<\/a>podcast that tells behind-the-scenes stories about investigative news stories. They both shared insights about their productions.<\/p>\n Since Kerning Cultures is very character-driven, Fisher and her team look for characters who are \u201cvery articulate and vulnerable\u201d when being interviewed.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are times we sit for interviews and we find that the person is too guarded and that it\u2019s difficult for them to open up so we will find another character to tell the story,\u201d said Fisher. \u201cThe point that we want to get across to our listeners won\u2019t come through without that vulnerability.\u201d<\/p>\n After many interviews, Fisher finds that being vulnerable as an interviewer helps building a safe space with the interviewee, and encourages them to do the same.<\/p>\n \u201cI will ask a question and answer it myself and share something about myself and my family, open my heart a little and so it makes it a lot easier for the person in front of me to open up too,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n McClenaghan doesn\u2019t pre-interview her guests to let the conversation flow naturally. She often meets them at their home and leads detailed interviews, recording for an hour. Although many people begin the interview quiet and modest, she asks questions to draw them in.<\/p>\n She will also often go back over parts of the interview to ask the interviewee specific questions about the weather, what they were wearing or what they were thinking during a specific moment.<\/p>\n As an investigative journalist, McClenaghan tries to use the same technique she uses in her day job: reading between the lines.<\/p>\n \u201cWith every investigation, there\u2019s a clear narrative arc [from] when they come up with the idea to the point when they bring out the story,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Do not try to restructure the narrative arc that already exists. Instead, McClenaghan \u00a0suggests framing your story around the natural story progression.<\/p>\n Fisher and a few other producers read through the transcripts and highlight the best parts of an interview. They use these pieces to form a script around them, which she describes as a \u201claborious\u201d process.<\/p>\n \u201cWe often go through five or six drafts \u2014 maybe closer to ten at times \u2014 before it\u2019s ready to release,\u201d said Fisher.<\/p>\n McClenaghan records at her home by herself. \u201cI have the script in front of me but if it\u2019s not a section that needs to be every single world, I try to relax,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n At times, she sends the audio to friends who give her feedback and help her catch unnatural intonations or awkward sentences.<\/p>\n Fisher lives in Seattle while many of her collaborators live in the rest of the U.S., U.K. and the Middle East. However, she finds that if she records alone, she speaks a very soft voice. To avoid this, she records her narration while on Skype with another collaborator. She mutes them, records and then unmutes to ask them for feedback.<\/p>\n \u201cTo get a nice voice that\u2019s projecting where you actually sound like you\u2019re talking to a listener,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n McClenaghan uses music to create drama and enhance her storytelling. She had a musician she knew create theme music that she uses throughout the piece.<\/p>\n When she has spare time, McClenaghan creates a library of music tracks and labels them based on the mood they convey or emotion they illicit, to prepare for future episodes. You can find free music on websites including\u00a0Incompetech<\/a>,\u00a0Free Music Archive<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Youtube\u2019s audio Library<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fisher says that her team has learned how to produce great stories through trial and error. In the beginning, they would sometimes reach post-production and realize the story did not work.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to allow yourself to make these mistakes, and over time you\u2019ll have a much easier time producing great narratives.<\/p>\n Main image CC-licensed by\u00a0Flickr\u00a0<\/a>via\u00a0Badlands National Park.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Source: ijnet.org<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n1. Find eloquent characters<\/h4>\n
2. Think about the story\u2019s narrative arc before production<\/h4>\n
3. Use the transcript to build your script<\/h4>\n
4. Find out your own best setting to record narration<\/h4>\n
5. Consider how music could supplement your piece<\/h4>\n
6. Allow yourself time to learn<\/h4>\n