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WARM-UP

Tell me a story about a time that you pitched a story for a print publication.

How did you go about it?
How did it land?
What, if anything, would you change?

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PITCHING

Stories for Radio

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DESCRIBE

How to pitch narrative short form pieces for radio, using common best practices

IDENTIFY

Common errors made when pitching narrative short form pieces for radio

DRAFT

A practice pitch for radio using a current or past story you’ve reported for print

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WHAT’S INVOLVED

IN A PITCH?

A written document that:

✔️ outlines the beats of a story

✔️ introduces key characters

✔️ establishes the stakes

✔️ states how/if other coverage exists

✔️ names the “big” idea

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HOW ARE PITCHES DIFFERENT FOR RADIO?

The Tape!

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Sound

Archival…Scene Tape…Sound Design…etc.

Characters

Are they good talkers? Prove it with tape!

Beats

Can you record key moments?

Big Idea

Do the characters express it? Is it written in?

You

What interests you in this piece?

…

★ Consider the organization’s style & guidelines for submission

Duration 🕐

4-6 minutes

Direction Instruction 🎤

So when you’re pitching for radio, you’ll want to add to and modify whatever structure or template you use when pitching for print. Here are some common best practices.
Click to reveal:

SOUND: This is an addition to a print pitch. You’ll want to discuss the overall sound of the piece (achival tape, scene tape, will there be sound design…etc.)
CHARACTERS: This is a modification to a print pitch. You’d always describe characters but for radio, a “bad talker” can undo an otherwise compelling character. If you’ve pre-interviewed them, or have existing tape with the characters to prove that they’ll work, provide some!
BEATS: This is a modification to what you’d include in a print pitch because you’ll want to explicitly indicate if audio exists or if you can be present to record audio at key moments. This is also a great time to discuss reveals.
BIG IDEA: This is a modification to what you’d include in a print pitch. If you know how your story will wrap up, it’s great to know in advance whether your character(s) buy into the big idea…will they state it out loud? Will the big idea be written in? Will the characters be at adds with the listeners? All of this is great to know.
YOU: This is an addition to what you’d include in a print pitch. Producers and reporters have a different kind of presence in audio reporting than they do in print media (Sometimes they are effectively characters). It’s helpful to state what brings you to this piece because that might be what make it more compelling.
ORGANIZATIONAL STYLE & GUIDELINES: This isn’t an addition or a modification, but something that should be in the back of your head whenever you pitch…does your story match the show…the themes that they cover and the style that they work in. In addition, consider the guidelines or rules for submitting a pitch…Some orgs will have specific requests…that means that if you’re pitching around a story, you might not be able to use the same pitch for each org.

Allow for questions from students before moving forward.

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WHAT DO I DO WITH ALL THIS INFORMATION?

You’re going to create a hybrid pitch doc.

Written Pitch

≈ 1 page

Audio

Clips

≈ 3-5 minutes

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Duration 🕐

8-10 minutes

Direction Instruction 🎤

To help you get comfortable writing pitches for radio, I’ve created a document that you can use:
It consists of a checklist and a template. Feel free to use one or both to get you started. Both of them can be found in your participant guide, pages 2 and 3. You may wish to use the digital version at some point, which is fine. I’ll provide the link for that as well.
Right now I’m going to give you a few minutes to look them over.
Click to reveal the QR code.
If you want to use this template, you’ll need to make a copy, so just keep that in mind.

Allow 5-7 minutes for students to examine the doc before asking if there are any clarifying questions.

Links 🔗

https://docs.google.com/document/d/111uYFSAdZEThUOwG7JLCJ-OAeAqDCQuVvQxpmUBi6Bw/edit?usp=sharing

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WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON ERRORS MADE WHILE PITCHING?

❌ Pitcher has not adhered to submission guidelines

❌ Story is not a match for the show

❌ Too much or too little audio is included

❌ Pitch ends on a cliffhanger

❌ Unclear how pitcher feels toward story

Duration 🕐

5-7 minutes

Direction Instruction 🎤

Begin by asking the class what they’d imagine some of the biggest mistakes are. Allow 3-4 students to respond before transitioning into the content on the slide.
Click to reveal, reading one at a time.
Ask students what the result might be if this mistake is made. (See below)

Pitcher has not adhered to submission guidelines → pitch might be tossed out
Too much or too little audio → difficult to focus…doesn’t provide a good idea…has the potential to kill an otherwise good story
Pitch ends on a cliffhanger → can be annoying…unclear whether or not the story will pan out…unclear whether it fits the theme or style of a show
Unclear how pitcher feels toward story → story won’t stand out (especially in a news space where “importance” is motivation to cover a piece
Story is not a match for the show→ pitch will be rejected

Click to reveal the red circle around “Story is not a match for the show.” Emphasize that this is going to be a skill that develops over time, as they spend more time in the radio space. So while the pitch doc template will help learners avoid most of these issues, this is perhaps one of the likeliest they’ll encounter in their early reporting days. (Don’t stress, just keep listening, learning, talking to other reporters, etc.)

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Group Work

Independently read through sample pitch. Then, as a group, discuss:

1

What the pitch does well

2

Errors and how you’d fix them

3

Other areas for improvement

LET’S CRITIQUE A FEW SAMPLE PITCHES!

Duration 🕐

30 minutes, including group work and share-out.

Direction Instruction 🎤

Instruct class that it’s time to begin group work.
Click to reveal each step that the groups will follow.
Steps 2&3 - Remind students that they have the information to complete this (based on the lecture) and that they may use the pitch doc to guide their responses.
Step 4 - Encourage learners to go deeper and use skills that they’ve gained from other lectures and previous classes to improve the pitch. (Including identifying other shows that these might better fit the style of.)

Group Work 👯‍♀️

Grouping is flexible, but pitches are leveled. Consider grouping according to experience in the field (considering how many pieces each person has gotten on air) and creating groups for each pitch (easy…medium…difficult).
All pitches are included in a packet…each students receive a packet and the sample number that they’ll be working on.
Allow approximately 12 minutes for group work…given timed warnings (5 minutes…10 minutes…after 12 consider giving a 1-2 minute wrap up if students indicate they need more time.)
Ask each group to nominate a speaker to share out their group, allocate approximately 3 minutes for each group to share their findings.

Invite other groups to weigh in, but only after the group has finished their presentation.

★★★ Samples pitches are not currently provided as the instructor did not agree to making them public for the sake of this portfolio. They include identifying information about people, sources, and organizations that are involved in the stories.

(There are 4 different pitches…all of which are leveled…from easy, to medium, to difficult, to the most difficult.)

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Solo Work

NOW LET’S DRAFT OUR OWN ORIGINAL PITCH!

Duration 🕐

30 minutes, including questions & work-time

Direction Instruction 🎤

Indicate that you’ll allow approximately 30 minutes for this activity (time permitting) but that you don’t expect finalized pitches by the end of class. They will be due at the beginning of the next class.
Indicate that the assignment can also be found in the participant guide (page 8) that you previously gave to students for group work.

Solo Work 🚹

Prior to class you were asked to bring a story to pitch for radio. It has to be either a story you’re currently working on (independently or for another class, or a story that you’ve previously done for print that you think could be adapted for radio.)
Working on your own, you’ll create a pitch doc. You may submit it around but you aren’t required to. You are required to submit it to me for feedback at the beginning of next week’s class.
You are encouraged to use the pitch doc, though you are not required to submit it in that format.
There is a rubric attached, so that you understand what you’ll be assessed on.
For the next 30 or so minutes, I’ll be available and circulating to answer any clarifying questions that you may have.

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TIME FOR A QUICK SURVEY!