First: make the intro interesting!!

Think of it as a hook + thesis for an essay

In a traditional news story, there are two crucial parts to an intro:

1. A lede (or lead)

1. This is called a "lead" or "lede" its meant to get people interested in what you're talking about the same way a hook in an intro would.
2. There are different types of ledes that you can look at here: https://training.npr.org/2016/10/12/leads-are-hard-heres-how-to-write-a-good-one/

2. A nut graph

1. This is like the thesis statement of an essay. It basically tells the reader what you're going to talk about. Make sure to tell/show the listeners why they should care and why care now.
2. Here is a good source from poynter about nut graphs: https://www.poynter.org/archive/2003/the-nut-graf-part-i/

This is an example of an intro I wrote for a recent episode. It isn’t perfect, but it gets the structure across.

In 2013, Michigan students blew up in outrage after an Adidas factory supplying Michigan Athletics apparel failed to pay its workers. Seventeen colleges across the country terminated their contracts with Adidas following student protests.

*This is called an anecdotal lead. The “blew up” part is kind of tacky and probably stretches the truth a bit, I would try to avoid doing that in your intro. The bold points are points that I thought were good to annunciate words a bit more or slow down on, to make it more appealing to listen to.

Nine years later, a study by ThredUp revealed that 72% of college students bought from fast fashion brands in 2022. 2 in 5 said they only planned to wear the clothes they bought once.

So what convinced students to buy from brands with the wage theft and working conditions students protested before?

*This question, along with the point about 72% of college students buying from fast fashion brands answers the questions: why care? And why now?

In this episode of The Daily Weekly, we explore the rise of fast fashion and overconsumption on college campuses. Experts discuss how businesses persuade students to buy more than they need, and U-M’s student organization EcoThreads, shares how they’re pushing back.

*This is the end of the nut graf. It tells the listeners what the episode is about.

Second: Transitions

After the intro say: “I’m your host ____ stay tuned”

Transitions between parts look something like this:
First, we will hear from our content producer ____. *content producer’s name* interviewed *person’s name*, a *occupation* at *workplace*. About __

But, we really encourage you to add more than that. Make sure the connections between interviews are spelled out and clear. For example, if there is an interview about research funding with someone from the provost's office and then an interview with a professor who may be affected. Please talk a little bit about where the professor falls on the research funding e.g.

____ interviewed professor ______. *Professor’s last name* (always last name on subsequent reference) is one of (# of professors, if you have it) professors who could be affected by the funding cuts. They said their whole lab could be eliminated.

Here is an example of a very old episode outline that has narrative storytelling throughout.

Third: Conclusion

If there’s an interview that ends on a really good quote, leave it there. If you have a good idea for a conclusion go for it! It shouldn’t be a summary of what already happened. A good conclusion should tell readers something new, an action they can take, or make a connection.

Also, the outro looks like this, make sure to add the names of the new hires!

This was episode 1 of season 18 of the Daily Weekly. This episode was produced by Managing Podcast Editors Ava Chatlosh and Megan Gydesen, Executive Producers Quinn Murphy and Sasha Kalvert, and content producers Isabel Dubov, Katie Saunders, Eudora Brennan, Rayanna Himebaugh, Luther Hoy, Ana Torresarpi, and Sneha Dhandapani. The Daily’s theme song is produced by Gibson Gillette Barrons. As always, thank you for listening, and stay tuned.

Fourth: Speaking

Speak like a broadcast journalist does! Slow it down and make it sound interesting. Its ok to do multiple takes. Just PLEASE don’t sound sad.

Make sure to reference the name pronunciation doc to get everyone’s name right!! Ask them if they would prefer to go by a nickname (e.g. Ray vs Rayanna) Also, get their pronouns if you don’t know them.