Scoping your project
Consider the following questions to help your group clarify the scope and specifics of your podcast.
Purpose - Your motivation behind creating this project.
- What is the purpose of the podcast? Is it to inform? teach? motivate? persuade? entertain? advocate? share?
- What essential message do you want to communicate?
- How does this story benefit from sound? Why audio storytelling and not a paper or a video?
- What other podcasts has been made on this topic and how does yours differ?
Audience - Who is this project for?
- Who is your intended audience?
- How will you reach this audience?
- What prior knowledge (if any) might they have of the topic?
- What do you want your audience to do after hearing your project? (e.g., check out a website? talk to their friend about a topic? contact their legislative representative? etc.)
Perspective - The point of view from which you will speak from
- Who is telling your story and why?
- From what perspective will your story be told? How does that impact the language used?
- Is your perspective made explicit to your audience? Why or why not?
- Does your perspective reinforce or challenge harmful stereotypes in your field?
Design - How you organize and present the components of this project
- How would you characterize the tone of your podcast? (e.g., formal/informal? upbeat?).
- How will the content be sequenced? (e.g., lead with problem, lead with context, chronological)
- Who is represented in the audio and when? Why?
- How does your structure and organization support the purpose of your podcast?
- If doing community work, who has ownership of the media when the project is over? Why?
- Proposal TemplateThis proposal template can help you solidify the scope of your podcast after considering the questions above.
Structuring your podcast
There are a variety ways to structure your podcast can take. Depending on your topic, your podcast might be best served picking one approach or having a variety of approaches to help break up distinct sections. Consider how your structure supports the information you are trying to convey.
Solo/Monologue
One person speaking, usually with in-depth expertise on a particular subject.
- Podcast example: The most prolific American lyricist you've probably never heard ofPodcast series: Seven-Minute Explainers
Produced by:
From the website, "Fanny Crosby wrote more than 9,000 hymns in her lifetime."
Asking questions (with intention) to elicit information, experiences, emotion on a specific topic. With this format the interview may be used as is or be heavily edited.
- Podcast example: Naomi Shihab Nye “Before You Know Kindness As the Deepest Thing Inside...”Podcast series: On Being with Krista Tippett
Produced by: Krista Tippett
This platform provides access to the unedited and edited versions of the interview, both in audio format and in transcripts. These can be useful for understanding how the interview evolves and the process for editing.
From the website, "It’s pretty intriguing to follow poet Naomi Shihab Nye’s idea that most of us actually “think in poems” whether we know it or not. "
- Podcast example: Sister Girl Bonds (with Dr. Kimberle Crenshaw)Podcast series: Another Round
Produced by: Another Round
From the prodcuer, "This week we chat with Dr. Kimberle Crenshaw about her term "intersectionality," the #SayHerName campaign, and her favorite Prince song." - Podcast example: Talking Latinidad, Perreo & Reggaeton with La Gata from Perreo 101Podcast series: Bag Ladiez
Produced by Bag Ladiez
From the producers, "We talk with Gata about the history of reggaeton and perreo, it’s role in her life, Black Latinx identity and more!"
Content warning: There are discussions of suicide, r*pe, and suicidal ideations, these moments are timestamped on their page which is a great model for giving listeners the information they need to make informed decisions when listening.
The story is told directly by the storyteller, usually with little interruption from a narrator.
- Podcast example: Finding where you fitPodcast series: Storycorps
Produced by: Storycorps
From the producer, "All season long, we’ve heard from trailblazers at the top of their game in every field. In this episode, we mean that literally."
Content warning: second stories contains brief mention of suicide - Podcast example: We are the Wo Wakan, Two Spirit of our PeopleProduced by Storycorps
From the producer, "Felipa DeLeon Mousseau Grew up in Manderson on the Pine Ridge Reservation. When she was young she knew a few gay people, including her cousin, and while they were accepted in the community they were not always respected." - Shereen goes quiet"On this episode of HowSound, Shereen lays out her rationale for going the difficult route and making a non-narrated story. Along the way, she drops a few tips on how to approach production. You may be inspired to make your next story non-narrated." - Podcast description
Content warning: Excerpts from the non-narrated piece have graphic descriptions of a lynching.
Some podcasts have a narrator that is interwoven throughout a story to help push the narrative forward.
- Podcast example: “Asian American” | Tell Me MorePodcast series: Quick Hits
Produced by Vox
From the producer, "The term “Asian American” applies to more than 50 ethnic groups and people who speak upwards of 100 languages. While it’s served Asian Americans to build political power, it’s also left many people feeling marginalized and erased." - Podcast example: The SpinPodcast series: UNCIVIL
Produced by: Gimlet Media
From the producers, "From the cemetery to the big screen, a 150 year old push to rewrite American history."
- Podcast example: Jump BluePodcast series: Between the ears
Produced by: BBC
Contains sound effects, music, and uses a fictional script based on extensive research of their subject.
From the producer, "On 2 August 2015, the great Russian freediver Natalia Molchanova disappeared in Spanish territorial waters. Through sound, text and music, “Jump Blue” takes us to extraordinary depths in this immersive re-imagining of her final descent."
- Podcast example: The Rising Sea SymphonyPodcast series: Between the ears
Produced by: BBC
From the website, "The dramatic effects of climate change evoked in words, sounds and a powerful new musical work."
Creating a script
Creating a script can help you organize your ideas before you even open an editing application. Not all podcasts require a script but having some structure will help your listeners understand what they are listening to and why. Below are some organizing structures to consider as well as a template to get you started. Scripts can take many shapes and they can be helpful even when recording non-vocal sounds. You may even find that your podcast has segments that have different formats and thus different relationships to script creation. Don’t hesitate to invent a script format that works for your project!
- Scripted Narrative - An approach that maps out, in a very detailed fashion, the narrative arc and trajectory of the podcast.
- Loose Script - Helpful for conversational formats, as well as approaches that focus on non-vocal sounds, outlining topics or a conversational thread
- Unscripted - Being open to wandering, listening and shifting your subject based on what you encounter, doesn’t mean you can’t establish a structure during recording or editing
Writing for listening
Writing a script is different than reading a script. If you plan to work from a script, try writing the way you speak instead of writing the way you read. When writing, also consider your audience. What prior knowledge do they already have about your topic? Is the language you're using accessible to your listeners?
This is an example from the book Soundwriting: A guide to making audio projects on how your writing might shift for audio.
| Newspaper Copy | Audio Script |
|---|---|
|
Even in the best of times, dating can be a nerve-racking experience. The isolation brought on by the coronavirus has left many singles even more apprehensive (and simultaneously, perhaps, more eager). Logan Ury, the director of relationship science for the dating app Hinge, calls for phenomenon F.O.D.A., or fear of dating again. "People are worried about their rusty social skills, not having anything to talk about," she said. Ms.Ury, who also ran Google's behavioral science team, also notes singles who suffered from loneliness during lockdown are now prioritizing dating over their career, family, and friends after realizing that their jobs were not keeping them warm at night. |
Dating is scary. There's no doubt about it. It's even scarier when you've been cooped up in the house for more than a year because of a global pandemic. Logan Ury, who's a relationship scientist for the dating app Hinge, calls this foda - that's F.O.D.A...in other words, fear of dating again. She says people are nervous they won't know what to say, but they're also eager to get out there for some human connection. |
Rodrigue, Tanya K., and Kyle D. Stedman. “Planning and Gathering Sounds.” Soundwriting: A Guide to Making Audio Projects, Broadview Press, Peterborough, Ontario, 2023, p. 154.
Soundwriting by ISBN: 9781554815111Publication Date: 2022-12-30From the publisher, "Written in an encouraging and accessible way, this unique textbook is about how to compose with sound--how to make powerful podcast episodes, audio essays, personal narratives, and audio documentaries."
- Podcast: Don't write, tellProduced by: Transom Radio
From the website, "Noel says if you sit down at a computer and start writing a radio story, there’s a good chance it’ll sound just like that, writing. Instead, for radio, a narrator should sound like they’re telling a story." - Online Course: Narrative Tools for ResearchersThis course is available to Tufts students using their Tuft's UTLN. It has great
modules for finding ways to break down your research into narrative elements.
Your main character doesn't necessarily need to be a human! From the website, "‘Narrative Tools for Researchers’ explains how to use narrative techniques to help you communicate your research to the scientific community in an effective, compelling and memorable way."