Having fun with radio
“Radio is storytelling without props”
NPR Guru Michael Skoler shared some of his sounds from his radio days. Skoler has ten years of experience in public radio in addition to experience in video and the web. He is currently a fellow at the Reynolds Journalism Institute. I wanted to share some takeaways from his presentation.
Skoler has experience with making complex topics understandable especially during his science beat at NPR. To do this, he broke out of formulas.
Other lessons:
1. If the tape is boring, you have to sparkle (Skoler took pieces of the interview to finish his sentences and used tape in interesting ways. His voiceovers were engaging and conversational).
2. Break the formula (Take people out of their element. Find the most important aspect of the story that will be interesting to the audience)
3. Why radio is better? It’s the pictures. (Using words to create images)
4. Tell a simple story (Ask dumb questions to get a why it’s complex, keep asking to explain what’s going on, “give me an analogy”)
a. Before we get to this, let me tell you a story… find out where it connects to their experience, start from there
5. Make your search the story (Put yourself in it when appropriate)
6. Take risks and have fun, take challenges
Skoler ended by saying that some of the best stories are just asking a question out loud at some point – tell a good story about a good question.
Fun!