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How marking / scripts < can help 🤔 you sound / more > natural ‼️

by George Bodarky

September 29, 2025 • When we read from scripts, our natural speech rhythm can disappear. Marking your copy can help.

Amr Bo Shanab/Connect Images/Getty Images

The art of coaching vocal performance: How to help hosts and reporters own the mic

by George Bodarky

September 5, 2025 • A reporter or host's delivery — presence, tone, pacing, energy — can be the difference between a story that resonates and one that just gets skipped.

Silhouette of a woman singing a song in a recording studio. Black and White.

Vadym Terelyuk/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Try these vocal warmups to sound your best on air

by Cara Stevens

July 21, 2025 • Your speaking voice is created by vibrations of your vocal cords. Warming up increases the blood flow to your larynx and the muscles around it.

C.J. Burton/The Image Bank RF/Getty Images

How to build — and keep — a source's trust (Hint: Start way before deadline)

by George Bodarky

July 3, 2025 • Start your reporting with the question, "Who trusts me enough to tell me something meaningful?"

Malte Mueller/Getty Images/fStop

Taking your story on the road: 6 considerations for broadening your reach

by George Bodarky

June 24, 2025 • Here's how to recognize when a local issue has broader appeal and make your story speak to a larger audience.

Protesters demanding the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza hold up signs with Israeli a on Feb.

Protesters demanding the release of hostages held by Palestinian militants in Gaza hold up signs of Israeli-American Keith Siegel in Tel Aviv as he was being freed on Feb. 1, 2025, as part of a cease-fire agreement between the Israeli government and Hamas. Jerome Socolovsky/NPR hide caption

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Jerome Socolovsky/NPR

Reporting

The story behind the story on a Middle East reporting assignment

by Jerome Socolovsky

June 6, 2025 • In my book, "Sound Reporting," I asked NPR journalists to reflect on the decisions that go into their stories. In this post, I do that with a piece I did.

NPR Training

NPR Style Guide

June 1, 2025 • It's the guide to AP exceptions and other NPR style differences.

Chelsea Conrad/NPR

Audio

'Butt cut what?' A glossary of audio production terms

by NPR Training Team

March 7, 2025 • This is the technical lingo you need to know as an audio producer (or someone who talks to audio producers).

Audio

The aircheck: how to use it in vocal coaching

by Jerome Socolovsky , Tayla Burney

August 22, 2024 • The aircheck is an exercise focused on critiquing on-air journalists with an aim to improving how they sound. Here's what NPR looks for in one.

What journalists need to know when covering extreme weather and climate change

Chelsea Conrad/NPR

Accuracy

What journalists need to know when covering extreme weather and climate change

by NPR Climate Team

July 23, 2024 • These facts, compiled by NPR's climate editors, can provide big-picture context for weather events and other topics linked to climate change.d

If you want people to trust your reporting, attribute your sources

NPR

Accuracy

If you want people to trust your reporting, attribute your sources

by Jerome Socolovsky

April 8, 2024 • Attribution simply means revealing where you got the facts in your story. And it's absolutely essential to earning the public's trust.

NPR Training

About NPR Training

January 1, 2024 • Who is the NPR Training Team? It's these people.

We asked international reporters how they pronounce names right

NPR

Accuracy

We asked international reporters how they pronounce names right

by Des LaFave

April 26, 2023 • Pronunciation can establish — or undermine — your credibility as a reporter. These tips from global correspondents will help you get unfamiliar names correct.

Accuracy

When covering disability, avoid ableist tropes like the 'pity trap'

by Des LaFave

February 5, 2023 • Person-first or identity-first? Get answers to your questions on covering disability from the NPR journalists in this video.

Yes, you can cram your story into a one-minute TikTok. Here's how

NPR

Visual

Yes, you can cram your story into a one-minute TikTok. Here's how

by Jerome Socolovsky , Bronson Arcuri

May 25, 2022 • Writing a script for a social video means paring down your piece to the barest minimum that still makes sense.

When interviewing sources, transparency is the key to trust

Clara Longo de Freitas for NPR

Accuracy

When interviewing sources, transparency is the key to trust

by Emma Grazado

March 9, 2022 • These best practices from NPR editors and producers will help you set clear expectations for what happens during and after an interview.

How a self-taught podcaster won NPR's College Podcast Challenge

Elissa Nadworny/NPR

Audio

How a self-taught podcaster won NPR's College Podcast Challenge

by Emma Grazado

February 25, 2022 • Anya Steinberg didn't have any formal journalism training or experience, so when she set out to win the Challenge, she had a lot to learn.

Emily Whang for NPR

Audio

Find your groove when mixing audio stories about music

by Emma Grazado

February 18, 2022 • NPR producers share their techniques for mixing songs into stories about artists, shows, albums and more. Sample tip: Dance at your desk.

Louder Than a Riot hosts Rodney Carmichael and Sidney Madden. Christian Cody and Joshua Kissi/NPR, iStock hide caption

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Christian Cody and Joshua Kissi/NPR, iStock

Audio

The 'Louder Than a Riot' team's tips for starting a podcast

by Cheryl Thompson

January 26, 2022 • You need more than a cute idea to get a podcast off the ground. We have advice!

A beginner's guide to hooking audiences with Instagram Reels

Emily Whang for NPR

Visual

A beginner's guide to hooking audiences with Instagram Reels

by Emma Grazado

January 1, 2022 • Instagram's answer to TikTok, Reels are vertical videos that can last up to a minute. They can engage your existing Instagram audience and expand your reach to new users. Discover how!

Don't let colds or allergies make you sound as bad as you feel

iStock/NPR

Audio

Don't let colds or allergies make you sound as bad as you feel

by Emma Grazado , Jessica Hansen

December 6, 2021 • NPR announcer Jessica Hansen shares her tips for sounding healthy despite colds, flu, allergies and other voice-affecting afflictions.

BIPOC? Latinx? Here's how to describe people accurately

Chelsea Conrad/NPR

Accuracy

BIPOC? Latinx? Here's how to describe people accurately

by Jerome Socolovsky

December 1, 2021 • Group descriptors require the same kind of research and scrutiny as other facts journalists report on. Here's a guide to getting it right.

Equipment can be intimidating, so acclimate your interviewee to the mic before getting started. (Holly J. Morris/NPR Training and iStock) iStock/NPR hide caption

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iStock/NPR

Audio

Feign ignorance, demystify the mic and other audio interview tips

by Emma Grazado

November 11, 2021 • Here's how to prepare for an interview, set your sources at ease and get all your questions answered.

Before recording an interview, unplug noisy appliances, silence phones and put the dog outside. Holly J. Morris/NPR hide caption

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Holly J. Morris/NPR

Audio

Catch audio problems in radio interviews — before they happen

by James Willetts

October 21, 2021 • Our checklist will help producers catch potential pitfalls before and during interviews, whether remote or in-person.