MAKE NOISE MAKE NOISE A CREATOR’S GUIDE TO PODCASTING AND GREAT AUDIO STORYTELLING Eric Nuzum Workman Publishing New York Copyright © 2019 by Eric Nuzum All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced—mechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopying—without written permission of the publisher. Published simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son Limited. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available. ISBN 978-1-5235-0455-8 Design by Becky Terhune Photo credits: Getty: Hill Street Studios/DigitalVision p. 44 (bottom); Lucy Lambriex/ DigitalVision p. 44 (top); Michael Prince/The Forbes Collection/Contour by Getty Images p. 17; Robin Skjoldborg/Stone p. 44 (middle). Courtesy of Eric Nuzum p. 15. Steve McFarland p. 230. Shutterstock: Alexander Lysenko (background patterns); Olgastocker (background patterns); Sylverarts Vectors p. vi. Photo by Stephen Stickler p. 16. Workman books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk for premiums and sales promotions as well as for fund-raising or educational use. Special editions or book excerpts can also be created to specification. For details, contact the Special Sales Director at the address below or send an email to [email protected]. Workman Publishing Co., Inc. 225 Varick Street New York, NY 10014-4381 workman.com WORKMAN is a registered trademark of Workman Publishing Co., Inc. Printed in the United States of America First printing December 2019 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For Calvin Q: What does your Daddy do? Calvin: He tells stories. CONTENT S Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 1 . Story .Character .Voice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 2 . The .Only .Ten .Words .That .Matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 3 . Function .and .Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 4 . Asking .Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 5 . How .to .Tell .a .Story, .aka .Don’t .Be .Boring . . . . . . . . . . . . .106 6 . Audience .Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149 7 . Leading .Creative .Teams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .193 . 8 . Time .to .Go .Forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 Bonus Episode Four .Pivotal .Moments .in .the .History .of .Podcasting . . . . . . . . 232 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 Recommended Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 . W EL COME H i. I’m glad you are here. I’ve been told to set my expectations low for this introduc- tion, that “no one reads an introduction.” Well, thank you for showing that assumptions are dangerous things and rarely work out the way people think. (That’s a theme we’ll touch on a lot in our time together.) Let’s start off with a truth: I’ve never heard a perfect podcast. Ever. I’ve also never heard a podcast that didn’t have lots of room for improvement (including my own, by the way). Even the best work I’ve ever done never felt fully finished to me. I felt there was always something I could do to make it better. That’s one reason that I rarely go back and listen to things I’ve produced in the past—all I can hear are the things I should have caught, tweaked, improved, or fixed. The French poet Paul Valéry once said, “A poem is never finished, it is only abandoned.” The same can be said for a podcast episode.