All language subtitles for MasterClass LeVar Burton Teaches the Power of Storytelling - 11 Case Study Podcasting

[MUSIC PLAYING]

LEVAR BURTON (VOICEOVER): Hi.

I'm LeVar Burton.

And this is "LeVar
Burton Reads."

In every episode, I
handpick a different piece

of short fiction,
and I read it to you.

Only thing these stories have
in common is that I love them.

And I hope you will, too.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

As an artist these
days, there are so

many outlets for
expression that simply

didn't exist when I got into
the business in the late '70s.

And the change that
has most recently sort

of infiltrated entertainment
and storytelling

is our ability to create
content on our own

and find a way to
share it with people.

And that's really important.

I call it the democratization
of content creation.

The barrier to entry is so low.

We all have the tools or can,
with a very small investment,

have the tools that
give us the opportunity

to produce a quality,
professional grade

product that we can then
share with an audience.

It's permission to read a story,
the text, a microphone, just

a quiet environment, and a
bottle of water, and I'm good.

My entry into
podcasting came about

because I had my
eye on the space,

and I was really impressed
with the quality of work

that was being done.

And at the time, I
was really looking

for an artistic expression
where I really didn't

need anyone's permission.

For a lot of the work
that I do, there's

a network or a studio involved,
and to get the green light,

to get the permission,
to get the opportunity

to do that which
it is I love to do,

there's a chain of yeses
that have to take place.

I was able to pitch this idea,
"LeVar Burton Reads," where

I read a short story
in every episode.

So it was an opportunity for
me with very little barrier

to entry, do something that
I love that was creative

and that I could share
with other people.

I tend to lean heavily in the
area of speculative fiction,

because it's my favorite
genre of literature to read,

especially for enjoyment.

But I'm doing this
for myself knowing

that it provides a great
benefit for others, as well.

At the beginning of
the pandemic in 2020,

I made a decision to read live
on the internet via Twitter.

"Cece was mad.

Who were those boys to say
she couldn't be a pirate?

They had probably never
even been on a boat."

And there's just something
really comforting for folks,

especially in
uncertain times to be

able to engage in an activity
that is familiar and soothing.

And for the audience
of adults now

that grew up on "Reading
Rainbow," for some reason

hearing the sound of my
voice is a balm for them.

And I love that.

And so I lean into it.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

I think the best thing
that a person at home

could do for themselves if they
were interested in starting

a podcast is know what it
is you want your podcast

to be about and offer something
of value to your audience.

Right?

Don't think that just
because you have a microphone

you have something
interesting to say,

unless it is on a subject
or a subject matter

that you know well.

It's hard to be the singular
presence on a podcast.

I do it because my podcast
has a very specific format.

And unless I'm interviewing
an author, which

I do do on occasion,
it really is

about me introducing the
story, reading the story,

and then doing a
postscript on the story.

I call them little
epistles that I

do at the end, where I
comment on how the story moved

me or impacted me.

And sometimes that leads me into
a conversation or discussion

about other topics
that are related.

So most of the
time, you're going

to find yourself, though, with
a partner, a podcast partner.

So make sure that
this is somebody

that you can get along
with, have a history

of getting along with.

After all, you're going
to be cooped up in a booth

with that person
for hours on end,

depending upon how long
you do the podcast for.

So it's just a good idea to
know your subject matter.

I don't think it's necessary
for one to have sound design,

but if it is
appropriate, there is

a wealth of material--
music, sound effects-- that

are in the public domain that
can be had for no money that

will definitely
bring a finishing,

a grace note to your effort.

Especially if you are doing
a storytelling podcast,

if you're sharing
stories with folks,

it really does
help to enhance it

to locate that audience
member in the environment

of the story.

And if you're reading on your
podcast, please make sure you

have permissions from
the author and publisher.

People have worked
hard to produce

this intellectual property.

Find out who the publisher
is and contact them.

They get inquiries all the time.

So find out who
the publisher is,

who is it that handles
the artists that you're

interested in licensing
material from,

and they will lead you
through the process.

Plan ahead and make sure that
your episodes are mapped out,

that you have something of
value to offer your audience.

And then, of course,
as always, have fun.

Right?

Enjoy what you do,
and your audience

will tend to enjoy it
right along with you.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

This is an excerpt from
one of my favorite authors,

a short story of NK Jemison's.

The story is entitled
"Cuisine des Memoires."

And in the story,
our protagonist

has been invited to a
meal, and the restaurant

advertises that they
can produce any meal

from any moment in time,
if you give them the date.

And he's been instructed
to not wander.

He makes a ruse that he
has to go to the bathroom,

and he sneaks downstairs
to the kitchen.

"I reached the bottom
of the stairwell.

I would tell them I had gotten
lost looking for the bathroom.

'Very sorry.

You understand.' I reached the
bottom step and silence fell.

The kitchen was empty.

I blinked, unsure of
my eyes for a moment.

When I opened them, I
saw what I had before--

a stainless steel, perfectly
modern industrial kitchen

so spick and span, that
it's every surface gleamed.

And it was completely empty.

There were no chefs
at work, though,

I knew I'd heard voices.

There were no
plates half-filled,

no pans sizzling
over leaping flames.

There were no flames.

If this kitchen had ever been
used, there was no sign of it.

I took a step forward,
and the kitchen changed.

Where there had been
bright light and gleaming

antiseptic surfaces, now
basket-crowded shelves

lined sooty stone walls.

Only light in the place
came from a few candles

and a briskly burning
fire at the hearth--

hearth nearby.

Where there had been a
starkly empty chamber,

now three men
bustled frantically

about a claustrophobic kitchen,
one of them shouting orders

in French--

true French, not the
New Orleans patois--

at two others who
hasten to obey.

The pan that he moved back and
forth over a black iron stove

was a flame, its
ingredients filling the air

with the aroma of garlic and
cilantro and perhaps brandy.

'What?' It was the most
intelligent question I could

come up with.

'Who?' The chefs ignored me.

They were too busy.

Where had the
steel kitchen gone?

What had just happened?

I would have to brave the
head chef's wrath for answers.

So I took another step
forward, intending

to touch the man
on the shoulder.

But as my foot touched
the floor tiles,

the kitchen changed again.

And this time, I stiffened
in a shock so profound,

that if I had been
an orthodox man,

I would have said that God had
tapped me on the shoulder."

[MUSIC PLAYING]

One of the reasons I love
this story in particular,

"Cuisine des Memoire,"
is that the concept,

the conceit of the story, is
so out there, so fantastic.

And what she manages
to do in this story

is present a tale of this really
unusual, fantastic event--

the ability of this
restaurant and its kitchen

to reproduce any meal
from any period in time.

At the beginning
of the story, it's

offered to produce Marie
Antoinette's last meal.

And so our hero decides to
really test the kitchen.

And he decides to order
a meal that only two

people were present for,
him and his beloved.

And his beloved and
he are divorced,

and so he knows that they have
no opportunity to contact her.

And so he orders a meal
that they shared together.

And what we discover throughout
the course of the tale,

is that this is indeed
a fantastical place,

and the way these meals
are prepared and delivered

may have, in fact, do have
some kind of supernatural bent

to them.

So for those reasons
alone, I love this story.

It's also set in
New Orleans, which

is one of my favorite cities.

And I love food.

And the descriptions
of the meals

that NK includes in
the story are really

fun to read out loud and savor
as I'm reading the words.

You know?

"Garlic and cilantro and
perhaps brandy," right?

So it's an opportunity to
really, in that moment,

experience those
smells, experience--

have that experience
recreated in my imagination.

The expression that is
important in podcasting really--

because you only have
you're listening ear

as an audience member.

So what you want to do is
be as expressive as you can.

And, of course,
on my podcast, we

do a little light scoring
just to sort of locate

the listener in the environment
in which the scene or the story

takes place.

So here's what I really want you
to take away from this section.

And that is that
the skills that one

uses in reading aloud
to children or adults

or podcasting, they're
really all the same.

Right?

It's just you
adjust them slightly

for the environment in
which you're performing.

And so it's not like there
are different techniques

that you use for one thing
as opposed to another.

The skill and the level of
comfort and comfortability

with what you're
doing remain constant.

They're consistent.

It's how you apply them in
each given situation that

determines they're appropriate
and most natural use.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Podcasting is so
popular these days,

almost everybody,
it seems, has one.

So there are a couple of
things to really remember.

When I am recording a
podcast, on the day I record,

I don't drink any cold liquids.

Physics.

Heat tends to expand things,
cold tends to contract them.

The vocal chords
in the larynx, you

don't want them contracting,
creating that tension.

On a podcast day, I
like a nice hot tea,

either licorice for me,
because I love licorice.

Or there's a wonderful
tea that comes

from a variety of manufactures
that's specifically

for actors and singers,
called Throat Coat.

When I'm podcasting, I sit
in a chair for four and 1/2,

five hours reading a story.

I generally read it twice.

And one of the key elements
to doing that successfully

is comfort.

Comfortability.

Right?

Where comfortable clothes,
have a nice relationship

to the text, to the material.

Also the sounds that
are picked up by the mic

have to really be mitigated.

You'll notice that I took
all my bracelets off,

because that will be
picked up by the mic.

So when I'm recording
for my podcast,

I always remove all of
my jewelry, my bracelets.

The microphone is so
sensitive that it picks up

everything, even the rustling of
pages when you're turning them.

Now I've used
regular paper before,

but I just find
that the technology

of the tablet computer
really lends itself

to the podcasting activity.

And I really don't make
a distinction necessarily

where bound copy or digitally
processed copy are concerned.

Obviously, it's the
text and my ability

to connect to the text
that's most important,

not the device on
which I read it.