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Alternative approaches to narration
One of the elements of audio storytelling I find myself thinking about all the time — as both a listener and a producer — is narration. The almighty host.
When I’m writing scripts, I’m always aware of the risks of stepping on someone’s story with overbearing sign posts, unnecessary hand-holding and clunky summations. And when I hear that kind of heavy-handed narration in a show, I get stubborn: don’t tell me what to make of this, or how to feel!
I’m drawn to non-narrated stories. When they’re done well, there’s a lovely quiet, a spaciousness, that narration can sometimes trample over. You’re just suspended there, with the character’s voice, their thoughts. There tend to be less tricky power dynamics at play when you’re platforming a subject’s story without (much) interpretation.
But — non-narrated doesn’t always suit the show. It’s not the right approach for every topic or format. I’ve noticed a few alternatives cropping up lately – approaches to hosting that sit slightly outside the narrated vs non-narrated binary. Here are a few shows and episodes that are thinking differently about narration and hosting.
Character as host
The first season of New York Magazine’s Cover Story: Power Trip explored deception and abuse in the world of psychedelic therapy. The main subject of the story also served as a quasi host. This is a complicated dynamic and tricky to pull off, but it’ll be interesting to see how this approach is used again/elsewhere.
The light touch
Okay, yes this is technically a narrated episode, but the voice over in Rumble Strip’s Finn and the Bell is so beautifully deft and hands-off that I wanted to include it. A real guiding light for gently written narration.
Montage
All the voices in this lush BBC Radio 4 piece guide you through, and you’re left to make your own meaning, though Axel Kacoutié’s voice recurs as the story’s central guide.
Memoir
Goodbye to All This sounds like fiction but you’re listening to a true story – and something about that blurring lends the narration an expansive, soft feeling.
Have you come across any alternatives to classic hosting / narration styles? I’d love to hear 💌
Jobs
🍥 Podcast Launch Operations Specialist ~ Stitcher ~ Remote, US
🍥 Producer IV - The Business ~ KCRW ~ Santa Monica, California
🍥 Audio Producer, City Cast Philly ~ City Cast ~ Local but remote
🍥 Supervising Editor, It’s Been a Minute ~ NPR ~ Remote, US
Courses and more
🐚 Storytelling for Performance ~ Salt ~ Thursdays in May
🐚 KALW Audio Academy ~ tuition-free radio journalism training ~ deadline 8 May; starting in September
🐚 The Podcast Show 2022 ~ 23-29 May ~ London
🐚 Sound design 101 ~ Be Your Change webinar ~ on your own time
🐚 Feet in 2 Worlds editing fellowship ~ June 2022 - June 2023 ~ deadline 25 April
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