Focus On The STORY Of Your Podcast's Episodes

Many podcasters say they want to improve their shows. One easily overlooked area of improvement is you. Specifically, your ability to tell better stories with your episodes. This mnemonic device can help.

One of the most crucial skills a podcaster must possess is the ability to tell stories. Your ability to tell stories is more important than the timbre of voice, your equipment stack, and your marketing efforts. 

Fortunately, storytelling is a skill that can be acquired, with many practitioners offering workshops, classes, and one-on-one training. One of those practitioners is Dawn Fraser. I learned a clever mnemonic device from her that will you can tell better stories on your podcast—S-T-O-R-Y.

S is for stakes. Not the why of the episode, but the want of the episode. It's the hunger. It's the expectation you set for your audience that keeps you on track and keeps your audience locked in place.

T is for theme. The main through-line or meat of the story. It's your topic, angle, and where you're taking the story. If you know your theme, you can trim away the excess bits so that only the best parts make it into your episode.

O is for organization. Every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. But sometimes, starting in the middle and guiding your listeners through a less obvious path makes for a better episode. 

R is for recreating. Your audience wasn't there when the thing happened. They're here now, relying on you to summarize points and recreate scenes to make your story work as a podcast episode. 

Finally, the Y is for you. You are an integral part of every single story. You are our proxy. You get us deeper into the stories you tell on your podcasting episodes. We want some of your personality and even biases in the episode. 

With some odd edge cases aside, every podcaster is a storyteller. 200,000 years have shaped the human brain into a story-receiving vessel. Podcasters will do well to remember that.

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Links

Getting more than 10K downloads per episode? Talk to Gumball.fm! Storyteller Dawn FraserOver 100K active podcasters trust Buzzsprout.Serious about podcasting? Join the Advancing Podcasting Community today!

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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. New episodes are released four times a week, providing ideas and questions every serious podcaster should be thinking about.

It's created and hosted by Evo Terra. Follow him on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come. Allie Press assists with the production and transcription of the show.

If you received value from today's episode of Podcast Pontifications, return some of that! We call it value-for-value, and there are many ways to show your support.

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is...

Many podcasters say they want to improve their shows. One easily overlooked area of improvement is you. Specifically, your ability to tell better stories with your episodes. This mnemonic device can help.

One of the most crucial skills a podcaster must possess is the ability to tell stories. Your ability to tell stories is more important than the timbre of voice, your equipment stack, and your marketing efforts. 

Fortunately, storytelling is a skill that can be acquired, with many practitioners offering workshops, classes, and one-on-one training. One of those practitioners is Dawn Fraser. I learned a clever mnemonic device from her that will you can tell better stories on your podcast—S-T-O-R-Y.

S is for stakes. Not the why of the episode, but the want of the episode. It's the hunger. It's the expectation you set for your audience that keeps you on track and keeps your audience locked in place.

T is for theme. The main through-line or meat of the story. It's your topic, angle, and where you're taking the story. If you know your theme, you can trim away the excess bits so that only the best parts make it into your episode.

O is for organization. Every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. But sometimes, starting in the middle and guiding your listeners through a less obvious path makes for a better episode. 

R is for recreating. Your audience wasn't there when the thing happened. They're here now, relying on you to summarize points and recreate scenes to make your story work as a podcast episode. 

Finally, the Y is for you. You are an integral part of every single story. You are our proxy. You get us deeper into the stories you tell on your podcasting episodes. We want some of your personality and even biases in the episode. 

With some odd edge cases aside, every podcaster is a storyteller. 200,000 years have shaped the human brain into a story-receiving vessel. Podcasters will do well to remember that.

-----

Links

Getting more than 10K downloads per episode? Talk to Gumball.fm! Storyteller Dawn FraserOver 100K active podcasters trust Buzzsprout.Serious about podcasting? Join the Advancing Podcasting Community today!

------ 

Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. New episodes are released four times a week, providing ideas and questions every serious podcaster should be thinking about.

It's created and hosted by Evo Terra. Follow him on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come. Allie Press assists with the production and transcription of the show.

If you received value from today's episode of Podcast Pontifications, return some of that! We call it value-for-value, and there are many ways to show your support.

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

Abortion is a basic healthcare need for the millions of people who can become pregnant. Everyone should have the freedom to decide what’s best for themselves and their families, including when it comes to ending a pregnancy. This decision has dire consequences for individual health and safety, and could have harsh repercussions for other landmark decisions.

Restricting access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion, threatens the health and independence of all Americans. Even if you live in a state where abortion rights are upheld, access to safe medical procedures shouldn’t be determined by location, and it shouldn't be the privilege of a small few.

You can help by donating to local abortion funds. To find out where to donate for each state, visit donations4abortion.com.

If you or someone you know needs help, or if you want to get more involved, here are 5 resources:

1. ShoutYourAbortion.com is a campaign to normalize abortion.
2. DontBanEquality.com is a campaign for companies to take a stand against abortion restrictions.
3. Abortion.cafe has information about where to find clinics.
4. PlanCPills.org provides early at-home abortion pills that you can keep in your medicine cabinet.
5. Choice.CRD.co has a collection of these resources and more.

We encourage you to speak up! And spread the word.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy
Podsights - https://podsights.com/privacy