Storytelling is crucial to our lives, and yet storytelling can sometimes seem like a mystery. What makes a good story? How can we tell stories better? And what if that story is told using only sound?

In this workshop, you'll learn audio storytelling by doing — or more specifically judging. For 17 years, the Third Coast International Audio Festival has hosted the premiere competition in audio storytelling. In 2017, The TC/RHDF Competition narrowed 600 entries down to 11 winning pieces. But how? And why?

In this workshop, you get to be the judge… of a new, one-time-only audio competition: “The Ruby + Third Coast Best Audio Story Under 10 Minutes & Made By A Woman Award.” Join fellow members of The Ruby alongside Bay Area audio producers to listen & critique an array of short audio stories with the same materials used by judges of the TC/RHDF Competition. Together, you’ll evaluate work, pulling apart the strengths & weaknesses of each story, and considering a range of storytelling techniques in sound. And by the end of the 1.5 hour workshop, your team of judges will crown “the winner!”

This workshop will be led by Third Coast’s executive director and co-founder Johanna Zorn and artistic director Maya Goldberg-Safir.

PLEASE NOTE: Participants should bring a listening device that can connect to Google Drive (laptop or smart phone is great!) and headphones

About Third Coast International Audio Festival

Based in Chicago, Third Coast supports generations of audio makers & curates sound-rich stories from around the world. We share these stories — and the techniques to make them — with as many ears as possible: via podcast, online archive, public events, an annual conference, and more.