This is part 3 of our new Sound Judgment quick-hit series on six storytelling strategies for hooking your audience and keeping them with you. Today, we’re talking about scenes. They’re obviously a staple in longform narrative storytelling, like true crime and documentaries. Don’t ignore them, though, for interview shows; you just have to interview well to elicit good, sensory anecdotes from your guests. Between the lines, you’ll hear how useful they are on the page and the stage as well. As a reminder, all six strategies come from today’s best audio storytellers. But these are storytelling strategies that don’t care what media is yours, so stick around, writers, public speakers, screenwriters and video producers — and of course, podcasters. With examples featuring Rich Roll, author Charles Duhigg, and Crime Show's Emma Courtland.

Apply the six storytelling strategies for creating unforgettable content to your own work!
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Thursday, March 14, 2024
By developing skills from story structure to scene-making, suspense to specifics, you'll learn to create or improve the show, story, article or speech that expresses what you want to express, captivates the people you want to reach, and achieves quality and depth you can be proud of. You'll move from likes and follows to building trusted, engaged relationships with your audience.

These practices work separately and together to ratchet up both the substance and the "wow factor" of your content, no matter the platform.

Did you miss Part 1 on Sound Vision? Listen here.

Be sure to follow Sound Judgment so you don't miss the next bite-sized episodes on:
Part 3: Scenes
Part 4: Surprise
Part 5: Suspense
Part 6: Specifics

All of these segments — each around 10 minutes or less — will come together soon for a full episode on How to Hook Your Audience and Keep Them Coming Back.

You won't miss a thing if you sign up for my Sound Judgment newsletter, which includes the popular hands-on segment "Try This in Your Studio," kudos to creators who are lifting up the art and business of audio storytelling, news about the show, and useful resources.

"Six S" Storytelling Resources

Shows and storytellers mentioned in this series:

Bone Valley

Cohosts: Gilbert King and Kelsey Decker

Marketplace
John Barth, Creative Media LLC

The 13th Step, an award-winning documentary series on sexual misconduct in the addiction treatment

Reporter: Lauren Chooljian
Story Editor: Alison Macadam
New Hampshire Public Radio

Daily Creative

Host: Todd Henry
Producer: Joshua Gott

Famous & Gravy
Cohosts: Amit Kapoor & Michael Osborne

The Rich Roll Podcast
Host: Rich Roll
Guest: Charles Duhigg
Book: Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg

Crime Show
"Paging Dr. Barnes"
Host & Executive Producer: Emma Courtland

Katie Colaneri
Senior Podcast Editor
New Hampshire Public Radio

Kelly Corrigan Wonders
Tell Me More with Kelly Corrigan
"Bryan Stevenson"
"Samantha Power"
Host: Kelly Corrigan

This American Life
"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Quorum"
Reporter: Sarah Gibson

Chameleon: Wild Boys
Host: Sam Mullins

Full Sound Judgment episodes featuring these storytellers

Bone Valley: How to Make a True Crime Podcast That Makes a Difference (Gilbert King, Kelsey Decker)

The Host Defines the Brand with John Barth

How to Make Serious Topics Fun with the Hosts of Famous & Gravy (Amit Kapoor, Michael Osborne)

Cinematic Storytelling with Crime Show's Emma Courtland

How to Pitch an Audio Documentary and the Unusual Origin of a This American Life Story (Katie Colaneri)

The Art of True Curiosity with Kelly Corrigan of Kelly Corrigan Wonders

How to Make Listeners Breathless for More with Wild Boys' Sam Mullins

Improve your storytelling Check out our popular workshops on interviewing, story editing, story structure, longform narrative, audience engagement, guesting, scriptwriting and more.

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Credits

Sound Judgment is a production of Podcast Allies, LLC.

Host: Elaine Appleton Grant

Podcast Manager: Tina Bassir

Production Manager: Andrew Parrella

Audio Engineer: Kevin Kline

Production Assistant: Audrey Nelson

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