On the surface, this is a book about cooking, restaurants, and chefs — but at a deeper level, it’s a book about the creative process and what’s behind the scenes in creating greatness, whether in dining or podcasting.

How is audio editing like fine dining? They both rely on precise cuts. Read or watch more from Narrative Podcasts creative director Nate Davis, and see an audio editing screenshot, and hear the example episode.

“What’s your podcast about?” It’s a very tough question to give a concise, punchy answer to in person — and it’s the same question a new listener has in mind when they click on your show. That’s why you have to write and record so many drafts of the intro to your scripted podcast. Here are two of mine.

“You’re never going to get out of writing anything real without getting your clothes wrinkled and your hair mussed up at the very least. And when you write something that really changes you, you’ll feel wrung out and just want to space out under a long, hot shower.”

If you have any sort of online presence or thing to sell or promote, you’ve probably heard someone say “You should be on YouTube!” But those exhortations always gave me the same feeling as things like eating less sugar or tracking tax-deductible expenses: odious things that would probably be good for me.

“We fear what we don’t understand — and that thing might be an issue outside of us, like gun control, or something inside us, like how we grew up.”

“If you can hang in there and not let discouragement take over, you may just learn something about yourself.”

The secret to making your podcast engaging lies in answering this one simple diagnostic question: what’s your skin in the game?

Add pep and personality to any kind of writing with this one simple editing tip. From audio dramas to blog posts to fiction podcasts, this one move will spice up your writing and help unlock your voice as an author.

How do you keep growing in your scripted podcast sound design skills? Become a student of the auditory environment. This fun little exercise will help you do that.

Want to make a better scripted podcast? Or just keep people entertained at your next happy hour? Incorporate the four universal story elements when you share something, and watch people listen up.

It's eye-opening and idea-sparking to talk to someone who's approaching your same discipline, but from a different angle.

Like a lot of people, I always hated hearing a recording of my own voice. Some people have noticeably nice voices: warm and funny, or deep and rich . . . but I was obviously not one of those people.

“Follow your passions.” You too have probably heard this as career advice, as all of us from Gen X on down are reacting against that dispiriting image of the grizzled Boomer Dad grimly reporting to his prison/factory job every day for 30 years, the spark of life gradually retreating from his eyes.

Review and recommendation for A Most Beautiful Thing, by Arshay Cooper: a gripping memoir that checks all the great sports book (and storytelling) boxes. A race-through-it read full of lessons for audio storytelling, scripted podcasting, and short-form narrative.