If you harbour any interest at all in doing freelance non-fiction radio work, especially if it involves storytelling, then I strongly recommend –

– no, actually: I command –

– that you hie thee over to Tod Maffin’s upcoming “How to Be a Radio Storyteller” seminar, coming to Toronto and Vancouver:

I’m thrilled to announce that I will be conducting two seminars (one in Toronto and one in Vancouver) aimed at independent producers, freelancers, writers, and people who want to get into radio — specifically non-fiction radio storytelling. This will be a full-day, in-depth seminar covering: Storytelling, narrative structure, how to pitch (and how NOT to pitch!), how to voicetrack at home, what microphone you should use, field recording, how to interview someone, and much much more.

You will also receive a free copy of my e-book, “From Idea to Air: A Freelancer’s Field Guide to Selling to CBC Radio.”

And most importantly, this session will be admission by donation.

(The donations, by the way, will go to Tod’s campaign to raise $5,000 for the Canadian M.S. society.)

Why am I so insistent? Because I took a similar seminar with Tod a few years ago, and it was absolutely marvellous. And I learned more about telling a good story (let alone a good radio story) than I got out of the Robert McKee seminar, several dozen screenwriting books and that Jam This Thing Into a Socket in The Back of Your Head and It Will Download Everything You Need to Know about Storywriting Straight Into Your Brain gizmo I bought on eBay.

Combined.

Seriously, this is a steal. And I’m guessing it’s good for podcasters, too. So go. Learn more here.