Recipe for a Compelling Radio Story 📻
Ingredients that make for intriguing short-form nonfiction
Happy whatever-holy-day-you-may-be-celebrating-this-weekend, Besties!
I’m currently reporting a radio story for KCRW’s Greater LA after quite some time away. The last radio story I produced was pre-pandemic, so I’m dusting off my chops for how to tell a compelling narrative in just 8-14 minutes (sometimes even less!).
Professionally, most of my experience has been in interview shows, chatcasts, and the talk side of the industry. And even when I’m producing a narrative podcast, I rarely have a super tight timeframe to tell the story. With Private Parts Unknown — although we vary the format quite a bit, we’re typically zhooshing up interview tape versus crafting the narrative in post. For us, creating the narrative arc usually lies in the interview itself and the line of questioning. All that to say, I’m rusty when it comes to radio stories.
Since I’m currently getting ready to make selects and write the script, I’m refreshing my memory on how the hell you do this and thought it would be useful to share.
Recipe for a Compelling Radio Story
A cup of this and a dash of that, the exact measurements change from story to story, but typically you’re going to need these ingredients:
Ambi - Collect ambient sound or background noise that gives the listener context and sets the scene. Anticipate the sounds you’ll hear. Ask yourself, What noises are indigenous to my story? Gather this as you’re reporting, if possible.
Characters - You need good talkers to help you tell the story — experts who can communicate big ideas in succinct, memorable soundbites, and colorful characters who have been through the experience. Typically, you want characters for each major perspective in the story. If you’re covering something contentious or up for debate, you want comment from both/all sides. In non-narrated stories, you’re casting for the narrator who can guide the listener through the story.
Interviews - Outline your questions in advance, unless you’re interviewing on the spot. Be intentional about the order. Your character might take a second to warm up, don’t put your most important question up top; work toward it. Ask open-ended questions. Think about scenes during your interviews. Get your character to paint a picture. If they’re telling you a story about their experience, often, good questions are more straightforward than you think. “What did it look like?” “And then what happened?” “How did that make you feel?” “How do you feel now?” “Would you do anything differently?” are simple but excellent follow-up questions. When someone says something surprising, poignant, or emotional, that’s your cue to sink in and ask follow-up questions. Before interviewing an expert, ask yourself what you don’t know. Also, use it as an opportunity to fact-check what you think you know from your research and get their perspective on things you’ve learned from previous interviews for the story. At the end of an interview, always ask, “What didn’t I ask you that you think I should know?” Get a slate or introduction from your interviewee — usually name and occupation — even if you don’t plan on using it.
Selects - Listen for soundbites that epitomize a struggle, success, statistic, or point of view. Good soundbites are engaging and/or easy to understand. When I hear someone make a good analogy, my brain goes ding! As you’re listening through your tape, ask yourself: Is it relevant? Is it interesting? Does it make you pay attention? Does it help you understand something more clearly? Does it make you laugh, cry, or feel some type of way? And obviously, for a news story: Is it factually accurate?
Structure - There are several tried and true radio structures:
Chronological: Pretty straightforward; go in order.
Altered Chronology: Start with the most important fact or event, then go back and tell the story up to that point, ending with a future-focused statement.
3-Act Structure: Classic setup, confrontation, and resolution.
Diamond: Start with a specific, go wide, then end with a specific.
The Transom ‘e’: Start with the most dramatic, vivid scene, then move back in time and tell the story from the beginning.
Script - Whittle down your selects to those that best tell the story with illustrative examples AND expert insight. Choose the structure most suitable for your story and assemble your selects accordingly. Write into and out of your selects with narration, with extra TLC at the beginning and end. Review for accuracy.
Notes - Ideally, you’ll have an editor who can give you feedback. Having another set of ears is a godsend. Most likely, your editor won’t be as familiar with the story as you are, so they’ll be able to hear the story more like a fresh listener, which is so helpful. I have a wonderful editor at KCRW — she helps me identify anything unclear or extraneous, etc.
Voilà! Now you just have to record your tracking and edit the final piece, and that’s how you make a delicious radio dish.
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So… ROLL CALL! 🗣
Share your favorite radio stories with me for inspo!
Follow me @courtneykocak on Twitter and Instagram. For more, check out my website courtneykocak.com.