What is Your Story About-About-About
As I’ve been homebound I’ve been catching up on podcasts while cooking.
Yesterday, I had to bring my laptop into the kitchen because I had to take notes!
I was listening to the Third Coast Pocket Conference, Start from the Beginning, a talk given by Karen Duffin, a reporter from Planet Money, who spoke about how to conduct an interview for story.
One term she used, which I love, is ‘what is your story about about?’
In fiction, there is an overarching story, the plot. And there is the inner story, what the events that unfold mean to the main character(s).
I find that when my clients are stuck with launching an idea or sharing a story, it usually has to do with them not knowing all the layers of their about.
In my experience, there is an about, about, about.
About #1. Your internal reason for sharing your work.
About #2. Your external reason for sharing your work.
About #3. Your hope for your audience.
Let me make this concrete.
I was recently working with a client who is in the process of launching a podcast for a foreign policy-centric organization.
We worked on defining the podcast based on what content the organization wants to share. But we also looked at the other two abouts.
About #1 – this person wanted to expand their knowledge from writing to podcasting. Knowing this helps one find the resources to overcome roadblocks that might come up in getting the project off the ground.
About #2 – mapping the goal of the podcast to the goal of the organization, they wanted to share behind-the-scenes information that would humanize the policy information they share in their blogs. Knowing the specific angle provides a touchstone the organization can use when bringing on help, looking for partnerships, and getting the project launched.
About #3 – engaged audiences will listen to get a different perspective on policy, new audiences will listen because the storytelling approach and partnerships built around different groups of interviewees. The topic needs to address not just the desires of your organization (or your brand) but also the desires of your target audience.
When you are creating content, whether it be a podcast, video, blog post, web content, can you step back for a moment and check-in with the about-about-about?
What is your internal motivation, organizational needs, and the audience's interest?
Taking even 5 minutes to think about your underlying motivations and the motivations of your audience will help you create work that connects more deeply with your audience.
Even if you are not currently working on a podcast, I’d recommend listening to Start from The Beginning, by Third Coast International Audio Festival. They bring together audio producers, journalists, artists, reporters, editors and sound designers. Nonprofit arts organization based in Chicago and the destination for narrative audio storytelling. They are committed to access, equity and creative expression.