Guidance for Teaching Audio Stories and Podcasts

by JD Allen, journalism lecturer and graduate program director in the School of Communication and Journalism at Stony Brook University, one of five Solutions Journalism Network University Hubs 

Audio storytelling offers unique opportunities for solutions journalism. Sound brings responses to life through voices, ambient audio and narrative pacing that immerse listeners in the world of a solution. While text can explain a fix, sound lets you experience it. 

One common structure is the narrative radio feature, which works well for in-depth explorations of a single response. A few tips for a four- to seven-minute audio story: 

• Open with natural sound (10 to 15 seconds):  Host narration sets the scene with ambient audio.
• Scene with character (30 to 45 seconds): Introduce your main character experiencing the response with sound underneath. Sound bites from this character  should demonstrate agency, not victimhood.
• Problem context (20 to 30 seconds): Briefly explain the challenge.
• The “howdunit” chronology (two to three minutes) Show how the response came about and works, alternating between host narration, interview excerpts and natural sound.
• Evidence and limitations (45 to 60 seconds): Include data, outcomes and honest challenges
• Insights (30 to 45 seconds): -Suggest what others can learn.
• Return to opening character (20 to 30 seconds):  Provide a resolution showing impact.
• Close with key takeaway (10 to 15 seconds).

For a shorter radio spot of 90 seconds or less:

• Describe the problem in the host lede, tease the solution: 15 to 20 seconds
• Start with a person’s experience: 15 second description, 10-second sound bite from person
• Describe the response: 20 seconds
• Include a sound bite from expert insight on how it works and why: 15 seconds
• Provide evidence of success: 15 seconds 
• Describe a few limitations: 10 seconds
   

Audio-specific techniques:

• Natural sound is evidence. The sounds of a response in action — students reading aloud, construction happening, community meetings — provide texture and credibility. Record two to three minutes of clean natural sound from each location. Give listeners three to five seconds of full sound to establish scenes.
• Balance audio elements: Aim for 40% to 50% host narration, 40% to 50% interview excerpts and 10% natural sound.
• Keep interview excerpts tight. Most should be eight to 18 seconds. The magic number is 12 seconds.
• Script for the ear: Sentences are short. (One breath equals one sentence.) Use present tense when possible; active voice; and round numbers (“about 200,” not “197”). Attribution comes before information. Institutions can speak (“The White House says …”).
   

An interview-based podcast of 20 to 30 minutes works well for a conversation with experts and implementers. A few tips for this type of audio story:

• Host introduces response and guest (one to two minutes): Include  context and credentials.
• The problem (two to three minutes): Guest explains what challenge prompted this response.
• Origin story (three to five minutes): How did this response come about? What obstacles did those implementing it face?
• How it works (five to eight minutes): Provide a detailed explanation with concrete examples.
• Evidence of impact (three to five minutes): What data shows the reponse is working? Guest shares specific outcomes and stories.
• Limitations and challenges (three to five minutes): What hasn't worked? What barriers remain?
• Insights for replicability (two to four minutes): What would you tell others trying to do this? What’s essential vs. adaptable?
• Host synthesis (one to two minutes): Describe key takeaways.
   

Audio-specific techniques:

• Ask questions that elicit stories, not data: “Walk me through what happens when someone first arrives” gets better audio than “How many people do you serve?”
• Follow-up questions deepen answers: When someone being interviewed mentions something interesting, pause and ask, “Tell me more about that,” or “What does that look like in practice?”
• Get specifics: “Tell me about a specific time when …” prompts concrete examples rather than abstractions.
• Working on a narrative podcast instead? Ask guests to incorporate your question into their answer so responses make sense without the listener’s hearing the question: Instead of “What year?” / “2018,” ask, “When and how did this start?” to get: “We launched in 2018 after …”
• Avoid making the implementer the hero: Focus on the response itself.
• Press gently on limitations: “What didn't work as planned?” “What would you do differently?”
• Ask for insights: “What should someone in another city know before trying this?”
• Don’t let jargon slide: Ask for plain-language explanations.
   

How to teach this: Audio interviews require questions that prompt descriptive, story-based answers. Questions that work include:

• “Can you walk me through what happens when ...?” (chronological description)
• “What does that look like in practice?” (concrete details)
• “Tell me about a specific time when …” (storytelling)
• “How did you feel when ...?” (emotional texture)
   

Step-by-step teaching tips:
 

1. Listen and map structure 
Have students listen to a model audio story (narrative feature or interview podcast) and create a structural map that includes the following:

• Time markers for each section
• Length of interview excerpts
• Where does natural sound appear?
• What does host narration provide? (Context? Transition? Evidence?)
   

2. Interview preparation 
Students write 10 to 15 questions that will elicit descriptive answers. Practice asking follow-ups like “Tell me more,” “What does that look like?” or “Can you give me an example?” 

Listen to radio examples of solutions journalism from WSHU, including the “Sound Science” and “Trash Talkin” series, as well as the podcast “Higher Ground”.

3. Record and transcribe selectively 
Students record interviews, then transcribe only the five or six best excerpts (not the whole interview). This helps them identify the strongest quotes. 

4. Script with structure 

Using their model story’s structure, students script their piece, writing narration that sets up (not repeats) their interview excerpts.

Tip: Students often struggle to ask open-ended questions in the moment. Have them practice interviewing one another on low-stakes topics first. The muscle memory of asking “Tell me about a time when…” transfers to real reporting.

Tips:

• Avoid too much narration, not enough quotes: If your piece is 80% host voice, it becomes a lecture. Audio journalism should be voice-rich.
• Record in quiet spaces. Background noise that seems minor in person overwhelms audio.
• Quotes should add value: Every interview excerpt should provide new information, add emotional texture, demonstrate a point with a concrete example or offer insight. If narration would work just as well, cut those quotes.
• Use clear structure: Listeners can’t scan back. Your story needs clear signposts through transitions, consistent pacing and obvious sections.
• Write to recorded audio: Your narration should set up what a source will say, not repeat it. Write transitions that create context for the quotes that follow.
• Remember the solutions journalism framework: Even in audio, you need all four pillars: clear response to a problem, evidence of effectiveness, insights for replicability, and acknowledgment of limitations.