This is the first of a six-part series on our 6S Audience Engagement Framework. Read the overview here.

The 6S Framework is a set of practices that work separately and in combination to ratchet up the wow factor of your podcast or radio show. Before we get into sound vision, here are some brief definitions of each practice.

1. Sound Vision — Can you hear the story in your head? (continue reading below)

2. Structure — Take listeners on a journey. (read about Structure)

3. Scenes — The engagement backbone. (read about Scenes)

4. Surprise! — Even the most straightforward of episodes should contain surprises. Look for them. (read about Surprise)

5. Suspense — Intrigue creates forward momentum. (read about Suspense)

6. Specifics — Details create driveway moments. (read about Specifics)

What is sound vision (not sound design) and why should you care?  

A sound vision is everything that makes your story or show uniquely suited to audio, rather than to print, video, or the stage. A powerful sound vision is relevant: It addresses how you want your ideal listener to feel.

Think of two wildly different hosts — say, On Being’s Krista Tippett and Howard Stern. Their sound visions attract their listenership. But listeners to each of their shows wouldn’t tolerate the other for a second. 

Sound vision encompasses your performance and identity as a host and the tone of your show: earnest, irreverent, dramatic, contemplative, fast-paced, snarky, and so on. It also includes sound design: theme music, scoring, sound effects, etc. 

I first heard the term from John Barth, who was the founding producer of Marketplace and who has developed many prominent shows since. About Marketplace, he told me, “It took me a while to get to a host who embodied the sound that I heard from the show…I always imagined how the audience was listening to the show and the kind of listener I wanted to attract. So that had to be a certain sound.”

A sound vision can start with intuition: You hear a new show or story in your head and get excited about making it real. Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Gilbert King was planning to write a book about the wrongful conviction of Leo Schofield for murder. But driving away from a Florida prison after he and his eventual co-host, Kelsey Decker, that plan changed. Speaking with the gravel-voiced, emotionally dynamic Schofield, they felt deeply that the story would leap into people’s hearts through their ears, not off the page. “The power of their voices…made us pivot,” King said. “I love the way their voices break and crackle and emote. It’s just more powerful in the audio experience.”

We all create some kind of sound “brand,” regardless of whether we plan carefully or fail to plan. Without design, that sound is often subconsciously influenced by what we’ve been hearing for years. That’s why Ira Glass is so widely mimicked or why so many of us still adopt the “anchor voice.” It’s also why so many shows don’t hook listeners: they’re flat, bland, unemotional — frankly, boring.

A well thought-out sound vision makes your show memorable. It’s exciting to work on, because you’re taking advantage of everything that the audio medium offers, the reason you were drawn to radio or podcasting in the first place.

What’s your sound vision?

How do you use sound intentionally to attract your ideal listener? Or how do you plan to change it?

Email me your answer or send a short voice memo or a clip from your show demonstrating your sound vision. We’ll use your responses in future newsletters or in an episode of Sound Judgment Season 3, coming up in September. Whatever you send, make sure to include a link to your podcast or radio piece!