Narrative Podcasts; The Invisible Art of Audio storytelling, a Masterclass with Siobhan McHugh

Course Summary

Narrative podcasts have hooked millions of listeners because of their extraordinary intimacy and ability to trigger the imagination. But though podcasts can SOUND effortless, that doesn’t mean audio storytelling is easy.

Distilling a narrative into must-listen serialised storytelling requires an understanding of the audio medium as well as conventional elements such as rounded characters, strong writing, engaging plot and twists.

In this masterclass, acclaimed podcast creator and critic Siobhán McHugh will reveal the invisible art of audio storytelling and show how words, voice and sound itself can be woven into a rich crafted aesthetic to make your story irresistible.

Course Outline

The masterclass will

• Show you how to write for voice, not print
• Explore how sound and scenes can advance and energise an audio story
• Discuss editing, use of music, textures and timing: pillars of audio
• Deconstruct McHugh’s multi-award-winning podcasts from idea to serialised story
• Show Before and After versions of acclaimed podcasts in production phase
• Survey the narrative podcast canon and analyse exemplars
• Workshop your budding audio stories or podcasts (bring ideas to pitch!)

Course Outcomes

• Participants will be more critically attuned to the audio medium and understand how to adapt their writing to harness its strengths for podcast.
• They will appreciate how sound itself can add extra layers of meaning to their writing.
• They will be able to deploy voice, emotion and timing to engage listeners more fully with their podcast story.
• They will learn how to critically listen to acclaimed narrative podcasts and deconstruct what makes them effective, so as to apply these principles to their own work.

Biography

Siobhan McHugh is a podcast producer, critic, author and academic, whose documentaries /podcasts have won dozens of awards including seven gold at New York Festivals. The Greatest Menace (‘Australia’s S-Town’) triggered a parliamentary apology to men incarcerated for being gay. Siobhán’s book, The Power of Podcasting: telling stories through sound is in Harvard’s best Books on Storytelling (with Stephen King and Toni Morrison) and the Oprah Winfrey Network. Siobhán co-hosts Heart of Artness, about Aboriginal art in Australia and its dark colonial past. Dublin-born Siobhán is Associate Professor (honorary) of Journalism, University of Wollongong, Australia.