Lessons

Lesson Info

Why Audio is Perfect for Storytelling

just started off. I'm Alex Blumberg. For 15 years I've been telling stories on the radio for NPR for planet money. Um, and I want to start us off with, ah, piece of audio. That for me really epitomizes the power of audio. I'm Alex. Bloomberg reported on the radio for 15 years for NPR this American Life and planet money. Anyway, so that was actually that was That's not the part that epitomizes the power body that we're getting that in a second. That is me doing a promo for this creativelive course. So I was actually recording a promo for Creative Life. Creative life wants you to, you know, sort of like tell your story And then they put it on the website. They put it on the YouTube channel. So I was doing that. It was recording that promo, and I was telling other things that Chris sort of mentioned about, like, you know, I worked in radio. I've done these podcasts that have weekly audiences over over a million listeners won awards and stuff like that. I was talking about all that stuff. ...

I was basically bragging, and, uh, and in the middle of that recording, that something happened. And this is the part that epitomizes the power. So something happened in the middle. I tell stories for a living, and I'm OK now, although it wasn't always this way. Um, my wife called, uh, while I was recording while I was recording this promo, and, um and so I put her on speaker. Hello? Do you know what I'm doing right now? Then you do it right now. I'm sitting under a blanket in our bedroom with my microphone recording a promo for Creative live. You know, the online course that I'm doing? Yeah, I do know you doing. I'm sitting here like because our apartment, it's a booming. And Miller is sitting under a blanket on just to be clear, our apartment, it's like sort of like the ceilings are high on, the walls are thick, so it's very echoey. So in order to get I'm concerned with audio quality. So in order to get good audio quality, I had put myself under a blanket to try to get the eco Dad. That's what I see when I talk about booming. And so what? And with this epitomizes for me the thing that this gets across. Why? This is a really good lesson. Sort of. The power of audio is that audio is we're is, weirdly one of the most visual mediums. Uh, and that is because even though you don't see anything, you are creating scenes in your mind, Um, and what the scenes you create in your mind can often last much longer than anything you actually could see on television. Um, and actually talked about that with my with my wife as it was happening. I feel like what's happening right now is just a very live moment, a powerful mental image. Do you think I exactly with his wife on speakerphone? So So just out of curiosity. So that's one of the things that's one of the things that I want to be talking about today is sort of like how to harness the power of audio for your own towards their own ends. This this course is a distillation of of almost two decades of tricks and tips and material that I've learned about how to tell a powerful story through audio. Um, and it's in many ways, it's a distillation of this course that I taught at Columbia University, a graduate level audio journalism course that I taught there for many years. Um, so So if you are in the field of audio journalism journalism, if you work in public radio, if you tell stories on the radio if you run, if you do, podcasts of that kind of this course is definitely for you. But it's also for people who are any kind of podcasters. If you are a podcaster and you wanna and you conduct a lot of interviews, I'm gonna be talking a lot about tips for conducting successful interviews, how to make your interviews really stand out, Be live. So that could work for you if you simply need to communicate effectively as part of your job. If you're what you're trying to do is engage people through through the power of telling stories. Um, this course will will be very helpful for you, or if you just have a story to tell about something that's going on your life about your business or about something that you're that you're involved in, that you're trying to get off the ground. Storytelling can really help you create an impact and make and connect with people to make that interesting. So that's so That's what I'm gonna be talking about. Um, and the tricks that I will be teaching the nuts and bolts of what an actual what? What a good story actually is sort of like the math and physics of what a good story is. I have a formula that I'm gonna be talking about, and I'm gonna be talking about, sort of like what it actually looks like breaking it down the art of the interview, where to everything from, like, sort of really, really basic mechanics like, where do you sit? How do you make people feel comfortable to? What do you actually going for when you're conducting an interview? What makes a good interview? What are the things that you're trying to get out of it? Um, we're gonna talk about how to write scripts for the ear. Writing for the page and writing for the Here are very different things. Ongoing talk a little bit about how toe how to make that work. And then towards the end, I'll talk about how to get fancy. I'll talk about music if you want to use music a little bit about ambiance. um, and just sort of, like some of the more high level stuff. So, um, I'm gonna play another, so gonna start us off and just sort of, like, just out of place in a couple of examples of sort of, like audio. That is really, really powerful. And that sort of demonstrates what we're talking about. Um, so this is the first clipping on a plate. We're going to start this segment off with Kerry in Kankakee, Illinois. WK in 13. 20. Hi, Carrie. How are you? How are you? Good. How can I help? So this is Dave Ramsey. A few guys probably familiar with him. He's a He's a podcaster. He's, ah, host of, ah, very popular show about money. And he's sort of, uh, he's one part sort of interviewer, one part financial guru, One part sort of like, support group. You know, a lot of people calm, and they asked all sorts of questions about money. How do I get out of debt? And he's sort of, like helps through sort of practical tips and sort of emotional support as well. Um, and this is a piece of This is a story that he told that this is a moment in audio that happened on his show a long time ago that we put on this American life. A while ago on this American life, we did a story about Dave Ramsey on. We talked about sort of. This is early on in the phenomenon, and we talked about like what he was doing and like the impact that he was having on on his listeners. And we were playing clips from his show. And so this is one of those clips a woman had called him, giving financial advice a woman called talking About and she wanted to supply his advice. She had two sons who were living with their She was working in a factory. She was making about $300 a week and she was living with a boyfriend. And she wanted to know she and she had some questions for days. The thing is, um, he's, like, very to appoint controlling. We share expenses. I have to give up half of my paycheck to pay for the bill, help pay for the bills. When I'm done doing that, then I have hardly any money left to do for my kids for myself for Detroit and put money back. Okay? He says that I can't leave because I would never be able to make it on my own. I will admit I'm not very good at handling money. I don't know how. Let me ask you something. If you were sitting down over a cup of coffee, How old are you? I'm 41. If you were sit down over a cup of coffee with a a year old single young lady that was living with a guy and she told you what you just told me, what would you tell her to get out? You can make it on your own. Good advice. Okay. But we're how do I start on my income? I mean, well, I'm not positive. You don't make a lot of money. I agree with that. But let me tell you what. You're in a really unhealthy relationship. You're dealing with a guy who, um he's not hitting you, is he? No. You sure? Yeah. I'm not sure. I believe you is spurring. I'm sorry. It's OK. I just I mean to you got to get out of there, girl. You gotta get other now. Do you think he says you know that? It means it's not you, darling. This guy's sick, Okay? You got to get away from him. Okay? I think I can I can tell you this if nothing else, you could start by going to a domestic violence shelter right now, huh? And checking in with your kids and they will help you. And, you know, you may have taken a part time job. Um, you may have to move into subsidized housing of some kind. I don't know exactly what the short term the next six months is gonna look like. But I can tell you this, Carrie, you were not designed by God for this man. Okay, so, um, one of the powerful things about audio What What it has, I think the most the most power to convey is honesty. Um, and that's why I love that clip. There's there's a there's There's something very, very tangible and real that is happening right there. Um, I was often I've listened to it, like, five or six times. I often I sometimes I can't help but cry a lot of the time it managed to keep it together this time, but I feel like there might be a couple of people out there tearing up, Uh, but But it is just that moment where you realize, like, he, Dave Ramsey realizes what's going on. The woman in the tape, you know, it becomes clear what's happening, and he is sort of changes his tune a little bit and sort of focuses on what's going on with in her life, and it's all because you can hear it. You can hear the honesty of what's going on. Um, so I wanted to ask you, though, What? What did that um, make you feel like talking? Let's talk about that clip for a second. Um, I know why I find it powerful, but I want to know what you guys find. A powerful. What did you talk about your emotions as you were listening to the collar? Who wants to go? It wants to talk about that. Yeah, I've been the back Richard. I mean, you can really hear in her voice when he asked the question. Is he hitting you? And then you can hear it in her voice that she's saying No. But you can hear that she's actually saying yes. So let me ask again and you can even hear its stronger. So he knows the answer is not know. It's yes, right, right. And that to me, is a he key thing about audio. There was a study done a while ago where they were asking they did this. They did this study about, um, which form of media is it easier to lie through. So they had. They had a fake story and they put a fake story in the newspaper. They put a fixed around TV and they put a fake story on Radiant is the same fake story, and then they played it. They gave it to a bunch of different people to look at, and they ask people to tell whether it was true or not. Um, and the easiest, the most people who are full fooled where the ones we're watching the television story. So it's easiest to lie through TV. Uh, and then the people who were reading the story could were a little bit more able to discern the lie. And then the people who are listening to it on audio that they had the easiest time determining whether it was true or not. Audio is the most honest medium. You can hear honesty in a way that you can't really read it or you can't really see it. Um, I think that is what is going on in this in this clip. That's why it's so powerful. You can hear a person being sort of dishonest with themselves, and then you can hear them making the realization. And even though she's hardly saying anything, you just hear it. Um, Ray, did you wanna have? Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Struck by how it's a financial show, right? And it becomes something entirely different. That's, you know exactly well, that I mean and that's another thing that's so so great about audio is what you're going for. Authentic emotion a lot of the time. And even though you're talking and that comes through, um, I mean, that's been my stock and trade, sort of, you know, for a long time that planet money is you know, we were ostensibly a financial show as well. We're talking about numbers, and we're talking about economic concepts. But what we were really trying to do was talk about the emotions and the feelings and the drama that is sort of behind those numbers as well, and that the interesting stories that are behind there so that's that's absolutely that's absolutely anybody else. Have a reaction to what the feelings were about. The collar. Yeah. Willow. I got one of the things that was really powerful. There was the pause, like when he says he asks, Is he hitting you? She says, No, he says, You sure? And then there's this really long pause and that I mean, you just know the answers, Not what she's saying. Right? Right? Yeah, absolutely. There's And that's something. I think also, that I'm gonna be talking about that a lot, you know, sort of like the power of shutting up. Uh, and, uh, Dave Ramsey was great There. Like the impulse that human impulse when you're doing an interview when you're talking to somebody or anything, is to fill the silence and filling the silence is often a form of inauthenticity because you're filling it with small talk. You're filling it with chit chat, and so have the bravery to just sit there and say I'm not sure I believe you and then shut up and lessons to see what happens there. Any questions from the chat room? We have people charming in the chat room, sharing their their views on this Now, Kristie says. The brilliance wasn't Dave's listening. He was completely present and he shifted gears on a dime, giving her space. Paul Choi says, Not gonna lie. I teared up. That was really moving. Yeah, yeah, And that's and that was the second thing when she talks about Dave Ramsey. How did you feel about the host in that inner? Yeah, Amanda, What I found most surprising about my own reaction was that I don't believe in God. And yet when he said you are not designed by God to be with this man, that was so moving to me right now is the fact that somebody could say something. I don't even really that that has no association for me, and yet it really got me. I think what you were responding to is the same thing that I was responding to, which is like it was not might not be something that resonates with you, but you got the sense that that was exactly what she needed to hear. And that's what's So moving about, you know, is that there is somebody who's connected in this way with with that person. And so that's the other part of the power of audio is that you were forming such unauthentic If you're if you were being honest and if you were getting true, honest authenticity, Um, you're forming a really, really powerful connection, uh, through that. Through that authenticity, she's revealing something about her. He is opening up. She's revealing her something about herself. He is opening up and allowing himself to be kind and feel something back towards her. And you can hear it happening yet, Jeff, I think, because I couldn't see either of them my feelings about them or based solely on what they're saying on and how they're saying it. And I think that that's really important is that you don't get caught up in some preconceived ideas of who someone is, because how they look, absolutely. And I think that's another huge thing. So we did a this American life we did for a long, ah, couple of years ago. Like five years ago, we did. We did this make a TV show, and so we thought we thought. Okay, well, that's fine. Where, Whatever master storytellers, we're gonna come in and, you know, just dominate this medium and we got our ass is handed to us. We don't We didn't know really very much about how to do television on one of the big issues that we faced was way had sort of taken for granted. The fact that you are that when you're just hearing the voice you as a listener almost put yourselves in the in. I just sort of automatically put yourselves in the foot steps of the person who's talking. Where's with TV? The sort of the Unless there, I realized this is why people are really good looking on TV is that everybody wants to become the good looking person, right? Like we all want to be. Oh, yeah, I'm good looking person on TV. That's why everybody's really good looking. It's important to be because that's the only way you can sort of generate sympathy for a character. Uh, and so and so. But really, what? What you're really doing is you're judging were like judgy creatures, and then we judge visually and so when you went on TV, you sort of like you draw all sorts of, you know, assumptions about people just based on how they look. Then those air all again, you're doing the same thing that you did with me and my in my bedroom. You are creating the person who you want to hear in your mind, you know? So you're creating, um, a version of somebody that I'm betting looks a lot like you, you know, uh, because that's what we dio. But that allows you to have much more sympathy to the person because you're just hearing them.