This time, I'll tell you how to create an exciting flashforward. If you don't know what it is and why it's needed, then read my previous article first - about the 7-minute rule.
1. We collect the best fragments
That cut you hear at the beginning of many of our episodes is called a flash forward. It's a mix of phrases taken out of context - the most intriguing and striking. Although the flash-forward lasts only 15 seconds, creating it is not an easy task.
This is how I work on it:
While editing an episode, I cut out all the potentially interesting bits and put them on a separate track. Which ones exactly? There are five types of eligible pieces:
- Expressing emotions: "Oh my God, this is an invitation from someone so emulating and great!" or "Well, yes, I cried" or "No, but, but, but, but, no, I'm not doing that!" - in short, all emotions.
- Speakers move to a low level of abstraction. That is, they stop talking about "responsibility," "career," or "finances" — and use concepts that can be visualized — a funny hat, a car door slamming, or a green apple.
- Action takes place: "I ran away, but the police still grabbed me," "I was rummaging around the apartment looking for a souvenir from Prague," "Barefoot, I ran into this beautiful waterfall lake" - everything that hints at exciting stories.
- People say controversial things. For example, "The closer my father became to God, the more convinced he became that women should lead the world!" - taken out of context, you want to know what the conversation was about.
- Big names and familiar titles are mentioned - "At least I'll play PlayStation!," "I come to my friends and say - hey, I saw Tom Cruise today." I don't use this often, but if there was a joke about Musk or Kardashian in the episode, then such fragments have a chance to be included in a flash forward.
- At the same time, all these phrases must be clearly pronounced, very audible - otherwise, taken out of context, they simply will not be understood.
Usually, there are about 30 of these throughout the entire podcast.
Then I put all these pieces side by side and begin to select the most interesting ones and the ones that best fit the concept, theme, and spirit of the episode. Usually, 15 pieces are left.
2. Apply the fragments to each other
And then I begin to apply the fragments to each other, observing several principles. The flash forward should be:
- no longer than 20 seconds;
- very succinct - not a single extra word, much less parasitic words;
- dynamic - even the most interesting pieces are left out if they waste energy and tempo;
- it must be varied in voices and intonation - listeners must immediately understand that this is a collage, and not a whole statement;
- but at the same time, the fragments must resonate with each other.
This last principle is the most difficult to understand, but at the same time my favorite. I like to edit the flash forward so that phrases taken out of context create new, funny meanings. For example:
— Geometrically it's impossible!
— That's why you and I are not married.
Obviously, these two phrases are taken out of context, but I can hear them resonating. And you?
Or another example, from a career podcast:
— I've sold 5000 bottles of perfume and I made so much money!
— It's glamorous! It pays you very well.
— For me, all work is not about money at all.
I love that a flash forward can set the tone for the entire episode and even highlight the contradictions in the character’s words. Add an extra layer to your podcast.
As you can tell, I'm a big fan of flash forwards, but you don't have to use them.
When a flash forward is not needed
There are several arguments against the flash forward:
- For example, because it contains phrases taken out of context, a flash forward may give a false impression of the podcast's content.
- If you are working with poor quality recordings, a flash forward will not work. In the context of a conversation, even poorly written phrases can be understood, but once taken out of context, they become unintelligible. As a result, instead of an enticing preview, you will get a jumble of indistinct sounds - and scare away your listeners.
- If your jingle and intro are rich and dense, containing a lot of detail, then the flash forward may sound redundant. For example, we once made a jingle consisting of music and shouts from market traders. With such a jingle, the flash forward sounded overloaded and redundant - and we abandoned it.
Whether to include a flashforward at the beginning of your episodes is up to your taste. And lastly, I'll show you one of my favorite alternative ways to do a preview.
An alternative way to do a flash forward
Mike Birbiglia's podcast "Working It Out" employs an intriguing technique for its episode introductions.
- Instead of a short flash-forward, he presents a full, emotional, and captivating conversation snippet lasting almost a minute.
- Following this, the intro begins with music, and for a minute and a half, he introduces the episode's guest, listing their projects and accolades.
- After that, he advertises his tour for another minute and a half, followed by an additional 40 seconds of intro.
- Only then, around five minutes into the podcast, does Mike delve into the conversation.
The technique here is to use an entire dialogue segment as a flash-forward instead of hectic, out-of-context phrase cuts. This flash-forward immediately immerses the listener in the most interesting part, grabs their attention, and demonstrates why the episode is worth their time. However, it does not artificially intensify the dynamics or squeeze out emotions; rather, it prepares listeners for a calm, detailed, and intelligent conversation.
🎧🎧🎧🎧
That's all. Use guides, look up techniques in your favorite podcasts, or invent new ones.
And don't forget that you can entrust this work to us - we do it brilliantly.
For example, listen to our ongoing podcasts:
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