To learn more about audio storytelling, I listened to an episode of the NY Times podcast: Modern Love. The story was very well-told, and I recognized a few techniques that they used to enhance the story.
The first technique I noticed was the use of music. Before the guest even started telling her story, there was music played in the beginning to set the mood and tone. Then, throughout the episode, there was more music that matched the mood and just enhanced the listening experience as a whole. It also added to the emotional experience of the story which was very intense, and the music helped with enhancing those emotions.
Another technique that I noticed was how the host and the guest talked to each other. Both of them spoke as if they were having a normal conversation and not like they were recording for the show. This is a technique that Ira Glass mentioned in his series on auditory storytelling. Another thing that he mentioned in this series that I noticed the storyteller also did was speaking in actions in order to build suspense. Throughout the episode, I found myself on the edge of my seat because of the suspense that had been built up, and the host mentioned that she felt this way as well. The last thing they did that was mentioned by Ira Glass was not only having the storyteller tell their story but also having the interviewer add their opinions and reactions while also asking questions. This made the story feel more authentic and more like a conversation between two people, and it also created more characters in a way.
Overall, I thought that this episode of Modern Love was very well done, and the techniques used definitely enhanced the experience. Because of these techniques, I was engaged throughout the whole story, and I am also likely to listen to more episodes in the future.
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