Podcast story editing workshop (January 6, 2024)

Whether you are working on your own narrative podcast, or want to be a story editor for another show, this workshop is for you. In this 90-minute session, Stanford podcasting lecturer Laura Joyce Davis and Radio-Mercury Award winner Nate Davis share practical tools and award-winning strategies for scriptwriting and editing narrative podcasts. New and veteran podcasters will come away from this workshop with tools to work smarter and better immediately.

What you’ll get:

  • Techniques for improving your writing process

  • Insider insights from award-winning podcasts

  • Tips for structural feedback and line edits

  • Tools for integrating interview tape

  • Models for three act-structures, thematic arcs, and script outlines

Price: $95 each … Format: video + slides … Time: 90 minutes

This is the first in our spring workshop series; you can sign up for each one, all three as a bundle, or join the self-paced course, and get all three workshops included.

Scriptwriting & story editing workshop overview

This workshop is for story editors at studios, producers of narrative shows, or independent podcasters who want to learn the techniques of top narrative podcasts. We cover the gamut of topics that pertain to creating memorable stories in scripted podcasts, from initial ideation to line and interview edits. A mix of examples, live exercises, discussion, prompts, and diagrams, this workshop will give you the tools to sharpen your own work, and bring out the best in others’ as well.

Story editing workshop topics


  • The four key elements of every story, from biography to memoir to true crime to sci-fi

  • The simple two-part method to create dynamism in your story outlines. (Watch a preview here)

  • Tips for providing structural feedback and line edits on podcast script drafts

  • Different story models for creating thematic arcs for individual episodes and series

  • Our three most valuable tips for jump-starting your own scriptwriting and beating writers’ block

Podcast story editing workshop instructors

  • Portrait of Narrative Podcasts founder Laura Joyce Davis, Stanford lecturer and podcast course instructor

    Laura Joyce Davis

    Laura Joyce Davis teaches podcasting at Stanford, founded Narrative Podcasts, and was host and Executive Producer of the award-winning Shelter in Place. Laura has an MFA in fiction, and her work has been recognized with a Fulbright scholarship, a Social Impact award, and other podcasting and writing awards. More about Laura

  • Portrait of Narrative Podcasts creative director Nate Davis. Master scripted podcasting and creative living with our one-day workshops and self-paced course.

    Nate Davis

    Nate Davis won a Mercury Award for radio advertising, served as creative director on Shelter in Place, and co-created the Social Impact Award-winning training intensive for Narrative Podcasts. An ad copywriter by trade, Nate has written and edited brand stories for Apple, Nike, Sony, and others. More about Nate

Narrative foundations podcast workshop series


Workshop 1: scriptwriting & editing

This workshop covers the key elements of writing and editing — both universal, and specific to podcasting. We’ll cover techniques and forms for getting started, creating a story from an interview, tools and for getting unblocked, story diagrams, and tips on moving from first to final draft.

Workshop 2: recording & voiceover

This workshop will equip you for the second major narrative podcasting building block, recording and VO. We’ll practice the vocal warmups of Broadway actors, discuss effective preparation and reading, finding your vocal sweet spot, and talk about gear and maximizing your recording quality at home. More details

Workshop 3: audio editing & sound design

This third workshop in our spring series covers the third key aspect of narrative podcasting, creating a great soundscape. We’ll cover DAWs, work on your audio editing ethos, highlight surprising parallels between visual and sound design, and explore the nuances of music and emotion. More details

What’s in the full podcast course?

The workshops distill key aspects of narrative podcasting, but the 16-module course covers everything in more depth, plus many other topics we can’t fit into the workshops: interviewing, launching, marketing, networking, producing, and collaborating — as well as the practices and habits for long-term creative living, like motivation, personality, boundaries, and wayfinding. For more, see the FAQs, or the podcasting curriculum sources and inspiration.

Sign up for the course, and get the workshops included.