How to use classic storytelling techniques to make podcasts that impact on listeners

Summary: No matter what format your podcast is - interview, panel discussion, documentary, monologue - you can employ structures and techniques used in literature and screenplays to make powerful stories and keep your listeners hooked. This article describes the most popular techniques with examples of how they can be applied.

Storytelling is as old as humans are. In the 1800s, anthropologists and academics began to assemble common patterns in stories and myths from all around the world, and the Hero's Journey became known as the single most common story form. Today this story structure is still widely practised in varying forms, across films and other media too.

Other, more modern story techniques include non-linear storytelling (e.g. start at the story's end), character arcs, backstory, and flashbacks.

Below are examples of these structures and techniques, and suggestions as to how they can be applied for the purpose of podcasts.

Example One: The Three Act Structure / Hero's Journey

Act 1. The Hero's Journey / Three Act Structure

Almost every popular film out of Hollywood follows the three act structure. The three acts are roughly 1. Setup, inciting incident 2. Rising action, conflict 3. Climax, conclusion. Let's apply this example to a very famous film, The Wizard of Oz.

Our heroine, Dorothy, lives happily on a farm in Kansas with her friend, the dog Toto. A hurricane strikes, and whisks Dorothy, Toto, even Dorothy's house into the sky and they all fall onto the Land of Oz. This is the inciting incident.

Act 2. It turns out that the house has squashed a witch! And the witch's sister, who is also a witch, sees this and becomes a sworn enemy to Dorothy. So already very quickly in Act II, our hero's life is turned upside down (almost literally) and she is in lots of conflict. From there she starts an adventure to find her way home, making friends and more enemies along the way, being at times happy, at times terrified. The new world is fantastic and surreal, it is unnatural and so Dorothy craves Kansas (resolution, return). The conflict with the Wicked Witch of the West deepens and threatens the life of her friends.

Act 3. Ultimately, Dorothy reaches the Emerald City, home of the Wizard of Oz. The Wizard offers to take Dorothy home in his air balloon, but in an attempt to rescue Toto she misses her place on the balloon! This is the final crisis - now Dorothy can never go home! Suddenly, the good witch of the East appears and tells Dorothy she has the power to return to Kansas by using her Ruby Slippers. When Dorothy wakes up, she awakens surrounded by her family and friends in Kansas. We see that these people were also her friends in her dream, as different characters. This is the "new", improved normal.

OK, so this is a nice story, but how can this be applied to a podcast?

Say you are interviewing someone for your podcast show. The person you are talking to is likely someone who has rich experience and skills, both in their personal life and in the industry, subject matter or area of knowledge. We can apply the three act structure to any of these things. For example, what was a setback or challenge faced by this industry or person? How did it happen, why did it happen, and how did they recover from it? How were they changed by the incident?

1. Explain how the industry/person was, then describe the setback/incident

2. Explain the consequences and impact of the incident, emotions, problems, crises, attempts to recover

3. Climax / the most challenging moments and then resolution, how the industry or person recovered

Example Two: Use classic character functions and character arcs

Stories almost always have people or things in them that function as the following:

The Protagonist - the main person, probably good, who we follow and have an interest in, care about

The Antagonist - person or thing which creates conflict and blocks the journey of the protagonist

The Mentor/Guide - a person or thing who assists the protagonist, shows or suggests the right path to resolution

Here's one way these character functions can be used: in a panel-format podcast with multiple guests, the host could function as the protagonist and is looking for the right answer to a question or concept. One guest could function as antagonist and block ideas with counter arguments. A second guest could offer more balanced arguments and ideas which the host uses to "win" the debate with the antagonist. By the end of the discussion, some or all of the speakers have changed their views and their position to some degree, their characters have changed (this change is called a character arc in storytelling).

Example Three: Non linear storytelling

In recent times, Quentin Tarantino became celebrated for his use of non-linear storytelling. The simplest example of this is, start at the end. Think of true crime podcasts; a grisly murder described at the beginning triggers endless questions, which the podcast then dissects from the beginning of the story. Here's how we can use this technique in an interview podcast:

A guest speaker you are interviewing has made a significant career achievement. They have won a prize in their field. To start the show, either the speaker or you describe this incredible moment, receiving an award on stage, meeting world leaders or their personal heroes.. the feelings they are experiencing.. they take us inside this moment, this experience. But how did they arrive here? Now we start back at the beginning of their story.

Example Four: Backstory

When films become successful, the filmmakers often seek to create spinoffs - then backstories for characters and settings which maybe were not featured in the original story now are told in the spinoffs. A format for interview podcasts could be:

The podcast host interviews an expert or interesting subject. During the course of the interview, other characters or subjects are introduced as interesting topics. In future episodes, the host follows up on this secondary characters or subjects and the storytelling of the series becomes a web of connections between the interviewees and subjects.

Conclusion:

Seek inspiration from your favourite books, plays, tv shows and movies. As shown from the examples above, once you apply these techniques to a different medium and context they lose all resemblance to the original examples you emulate. It can be creatively rewarding, and a highly effective method for hooking in the listener.

How to record guests in different locations for your Podcast

Summary: There are solutions at every budget level for remote recording in podcasts. At the low budget end, there can be issues cropping up such as sound quality and audio drift. Professional connections such as ISDN undoubtedly provide the best results: pristine studio to studio real time audio recording. But this can be cost-prohibitive for many. Now, many mid-range solutions have entered the market. Read on to discover which solution best fits your needs.

The only limit to your creativity today is your imagination. And time zones! It is definitely possible to record multiple guests in various locations around the world for your podcast. Below you find three different methods to connect multiple podcast guests, each in a different international location. These solutions are listed in order of complexity, cost, and quality (lowest to highest). Recording locations can be pretty much anywhere, so long as the guests, host and engineer can access a stable internet connection.

Video meeting software (e.g Zoom, Skype)

If the same guests and host are featured in every episode, it could be worthwhile making small investments into home recording solutions, so that each contributor can send reasonably clean audio using a USB podcasting microphone, headphones and a computer.

A rudimentary setup would be for the engineer or engineer/host to host a video call using Google Meet, Skype, Zoom, or any free popular video meeting platform. Then using audio routing and recording software such as Soundflower or Audio Hijack, the engineer/host can capture the audio from the guests and has the option to record their own voice at a good quality. There are limitations to this method. For example, the guests will be recorded onto a single audio track, so editing and mixing guests individually will not be possible in post-production. The sound signals from video calls are, as we all know, erratic and can be very poor sometimes.

An improvement on this would be for each speaker to record their own voice locally (on their own computer) at the same time they are on the video call, then send over their files to the engineer to assemble and edit later. The engineer can use a recording of the entire video call to synchronise the received higher quality files. Warning: sometimes there is a problem due to the phenomenon of audio drift, whereby different recording devices have slight different internal clocks and the result is that files are slower or faster than each other, making it difficult to assemble the files in postproduction.

Remote Podcast Recording Platforms

More professional but still consumer-friendly versions of the above setup are now appearing on the market, whereby a podcast engineer can connect host and all guests remotely using web software such as Riverside.FM, Squadcast, and Anchor. Whilst these appear very similar to video meeting software, the difference is that the audio from host and guests is uploaded in realtime to the web server.

This does come at a price, though. Subscription fees vary from platform to platform and also depending on which additional features you choose, such as video capture as well as audio capture.

Recording Studios, hardwire ISDN connections or internet based variations

The "best", but most costly and complex solution, is that some or all guests visit a recording studio or radio station and connect via ISDN, Source Connect or ipDTL.

Studios, and radio stations have a hard line installed for pristine audio connections, called ISDN. The engineers at these stations set everything up with professional recording equipment, meaning the host and guests just need to deliver their performance well on the day in the studio.

In recent times more cost effective solutions like Source Connect and ipDTL have appeared, which work over the internet and require less infrastructure. Professional speakers and narrators sometimes even have their own accounts and setup with these connections at home.

An engineer/producer, either at a studio (or remotely) can then record all the various signals coming in from international locations, and even live mix/broadcast them.

Conclusion

Advances in technology mean that audio engineering setups which were once only possible in high budget tv and radio productions are in reach of podcasters. Which setup you choose depends greatly on your technical capabilities and your budget. Most independent podcasters would likely start with the first scenario and as they become more serious and professional adopt the later methods.

At Adventurous Media we are familiar with all technologies and can provide remote international podcasting recording services or work with you to set you up to your needs. For more information contact Michael Reaney at michael@adventurous.media.

Can I make a podcast myself, or do I need to use a production company?

Summary: It is possible to make reasonable quality podcasts yourself, but it will take time and effort to learn the production techniques involved and having a background in media or audio will be very useful. The resulting quality may not meet future audio standards which could be introduced by major platforms, as podcasts become a mainstream media format. At its core, your decision is time versus cost. Making a podcast yourself will have a lower cost than hiring a production company, but it will be far more time consuming. Pursue this option if you have lots of time and a keen interest to learn recording and editing.

As I write this in 2021, it's possible to make a basic podcast with little more than your smartphone. If production values are not important for you right now, or if you have low to no budget, then using an app such as Spotify's Anchor is a great choice. You could also prototype your ideas there first before going into full production. After all, the message is the most important aspect. Inspiring ideas and meaningful exchanges should be top priority.

But before you download Anchor and call up your first guest in the next 5 minutes, think about this.. What would you think about your favorite brand if their podcast contained distorted voices, constant mic bumps, background noise, and extreme volume changes? It wouldn’t instil confidence. It might send the wrong message and backfire badly on the reputation of that brand.

Crisp, clean audio is definitely important then. If you are reading this, you are likely a brand or community leader who prides themselves on superior products or services, and you are justifiably concerned about making your podcasts sound as good as possible. Let's remember why we make podcasts in the first place: to allow our communities to get to know us. We probably don't want our audiences to have any doubts about what our values and standards are, which they might do if they listen to low-fidelity episodes that have hum and hiss, bumps and plosives, silences and background noise. It’s distracting at best, and could lose you supporters at worst.

There's also an existential risk to consider. Whilst there are no strict audio standards required by the major podcast platforms such as Spotify and Apple today, there could yet be in future (reference). These changes could limit or stop your episodes' availability on major platforms in the future. Even if such standards are not introduced by platforms, listeners are accustomed to ever-improving media quality. Just think of how the technical and production quality standards of videos on YouTube have increased since the platform launched. Does anyone watch older, low resolution videos on there anymore? Having the best possible quality now, means your archive of content should last longer with listeners in the future. Given the reasons above, at Adventurous Media we already record and publish podcasts which meet the stricter audio mastering standards used in broadcast media.

If you still prefer to make your podcasts yourself, here are some brief links and tips on purchasing the necessary equipment, assessing and treating your recording environment, and consumer grade podcasting software.

Recording

In a nutshell, you’ll need a mic, headphones, a computer, and a quiet place to record.

For simplicity, we recommend using a USB microphone, as this is less complicated than using professional microphones (which require XLR connections, preamps and A-D converters). The Blue Yeti USB Microphone is a very popular midrange choice, ideally paired with a shock mount to reduce rumble and noise.

There are a huge selection of headphones on the market, and anything from 50 dollars upwards should be ok. We recommend the Audio-Technica ATH-M30x.

Recording location: These types of USB podcast mics are highly sensitive to other noises around you, so you need to find a quiet space, ideally a small room with lots of soft furnishings and not too many hard surfaces or edges nearby. You can also use blankets, cushions, foam and other absorbant materials to block the hard surfaces which reflect sounds. The purpose of doing so is to avoid an echoey or a "boxy" sound quality to the voice recordings.

Editing

You can plug the microphone directly into your PC or Mac via USB, open your chosen recording software, and start recording. Below are two software suggestions which can be used both for the recording and the editing of the audio.

Garageband (native with Mac) - here's a great post on how to use Garageband for podcasting.

Audacity (shareware for PC or Mac) - there is a rich wiki on the features and techniques for Audacity, updated regularly by the community. And here is a great simple article about podcast editing using Audacity.

Exporting

You should export your final file as MP3, 192kbps, VBR (variable bitrate).

To publish your episode, it will not matter whether your final file is stereo or mono, but note that stereo files are twice as large (two audio channels, left and right, instead of one). If your show is a typical interview-style format with just voices, then mono will likely be perfectly fine.

Conclusion

Your main reason for making a podcast by yourself should be that you don’t have a budget. If you are a start up for example, you probably have the people and the time, but no capital to spare - in which case this option makes a lot of sense. There’s no external time pressure, you can experiment and take your time. But if you are making the recording yourself, it means it is your responsibility - it is rarely possible to fix bad recordings if you change your mind afterwards. Can you dedicate yourself to podcasting fully? Shut out the work chaos and noise, carve out space to make your podcast properly?

But if you do have a budget, then you should definitely use a producer. Sure, using a producer or production company does cost more than doing it alone - but it has many benefits, the biggest being high quality audio. Producers use professional microphones and equipment, recorded in quiet rooms or studios, carefully prepared so that voices sound good all the time. All technical matters are the responsibility of the producer, so you can forget about technical matters and focus on the content; the dialogue; the guest; the messages.

Not only that, a producer will work with you on the speaker performances, suggest changes, spot mistakes or things to improve and rerecord. Editing might be bundled or discounted with the costs. It will be quicker too: producers deliver episodes just days, sometimes hours after recordings. Mastering (final process where clarity and loudness are optimised) is typically included, which will future-proof your episodes to a greater extent, should platforms changes their publishing guidelines in the future. Lastly, producers know how to distribute the episodes you make for maximum results.

Adventurous Media offers bespoke podcast production training courses online and in person, as well as a full production and distribution service. For more information contact Michael Reaney via email: michael@adventurous.media.

Should I write a script for my podcast?

Summary: it is necessary to write at least a very simple structure for your podcast episodes, but during production and editing scripts are best employed as a guide, rather than being used word for word.

We all know that the best interview and panel podcasts feature conversations which seem to flow freely, giving the audience a feeling that we are sitting in on a real conversation about a topic we are interested in. So why then write a script for a Podcast we are making ourselves? When our host or guests are simply reading out their prepared answers, surely this goes against the whole purpose of podcasting? Not quite.

Actually, you'd be surprised how good some people are at making their fully scripted conversations sound convincingly natural and unprepared. But more than that, there are important reasons to carefully script your podcast episodes in advance. Here's why.

1. Having a script ensures that production happens.

There couldn’t be a worse scenario than a guest sounding like they are reading out loud. What if they don't actually have an answer or comment at all? By working out a script together with guests, even just a loose list of sentences, phrases or keywords, you create a structure which everyone involved can understand and follow during the recording. It means you can record your session methodically and know whether you have got what you need before you head into the edit.

2. Having a script ensures that you know what your message is.

Maybe your guest is surprised by a question. What if they give an answer which doesn't represent them, you, or the topic in a positive way? Again, having a script or list prepared and agreed with the guest in advance ensures that everyone knows the essence of what you wish to communicate together. Having a script helps guests every bit as much as it does you. Anyone supervising the recording also can check that they have enough material which covers the important areas planned out for that particular episode. Also important, is that the podcast’s editor can use the script as a reference to ensure they are including important dialogue sections and meet your communication goals.

3. But - it is not essential to stick doggedly to the script.

Now you've done all the hard work of preparing a script, you could choose to put it to one side. Maybe all the important ideas have now been internalised by the speakers, and the podcast magic takes full effect! A well-used technique is to firstly record the script as closely as possible to what is written on in the script, then record a repeat performance or additional questions without any prompts whatsoever. By releasing everyone from the stress of worrying whether you have enough usable dialogue on tape, now you can all relax and just see what happens when you leave the red record button running for a while! In my own experience, this last method often works best.

Conclusion

So, in a sentence, yes, definitely write a script for your podcast episodes. But remember that scripts are best employed as a guide, rather than an absolute text which must be followed verbatim.