Sharing a personal experience, especially a traumatic one, is a particularly popular scripted podcast form. Memoir done well often shoots to the top of the podcast charts or the bestseller list. It moves us, leaves us breathless, inspires standing ovations and prompts us into conversations and confessions of our own. Sometimes memoir creates change.But memoir produced without first grappling with why your experience matters to others can sound cheap, sensation-grabbing, and empty. As listeners, readers, and viewers, we are bombarded with confessions.There is a fine line between transformative and indulgent.Moreover, stories of heartbreak are hard to choose to listen to these days, because the world is showering us with trauma. Given the circumstances, why make memoir?The decision to make the private public isn’t easy. Nor should it be.In the first episode of Sound Judgment, Season 4, I explore this question with producer Maribel Quezada Smith, who shares her extraordinary experience with life and death in <a href="https://blog.pod.link/1530966488/episode/ee85c04dd0295050d5eb4f49144936b3">The Pulso Podcast</a> piece, “The Latino Experience of Fertility: A Story of Pregnancy Loss.”It took Maribel two years to write and produce this remarkable story about the birth of her son — and the death of her daughter. Her story succeeds, in part, because she identified something fresh: Miscarriage and other forms of pregnancy loss are particularly common in the Latino community, Pulso’s audience. And so is the incredible societal pressure to bear children, setting up an impossible, often hidden, conflict.That her story succeeds in transforming, not indulging, is evident in the piles of grateful responses she received from listeners who shared her experience, but who had never heard their story reflected out loud. Shame and secrecy had dogged their lives. Maribel’s story brought in the light. Along the way, Maribel had to answer several questions for herself about motivation, format, theme, mood, and point of view. Which private moments should she capture on tape? How much could she bear? To whom did she owe privacy? Which scenes and reflections would create momentum — and which pieces would she have to leave out?Maribel Quezada Smith is a bilingual video and podcast producer and the founder of <a href="https://www.maribelqs.com/">Diferente Creative.</a> Her video credits include producing TV shows for Discovery Networks, Netflix, TLC and A&E, and digital content for brands like AARP, NBC GolfNow and SquadCast FM. Her podcasting credits include Sacred Scandal (iHeart), Birdies Not BS and Pulso Podcast, to name a few. In 2021, Maribel co-founded <a href="https://www.bipocpodcastcreators.com/" target="_blank">BIPOC Podcast Creators</a>, an organization devoted to amplifying the voices and stories of people of color.Maribel’s passion is creating meaningful, standout content.
Learn more about our voice coaching, show development, and production services for public media, higher ed, purpose-driven brands and nonprofits. &nbsp;Visit podcastallies.com or email us at allies@podcastallies.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://soundjudgment.substack.com" target="_blank">Subscribe to Sound Judgment, the Newsletter,</a> our twice-monthly newsletter about creative choices in audio storytelling.&nbsp;Connect! Follow Elaine:<a href="https://www.facebook.com/elaine.a.grant/">Facebook</a> | <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/appletongrant/">LinkedIn</a> | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/soundjudgmentpod">Instagram</a>Let's talk!✉️ Email me at allies@podcastallies.com💜 <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sound-judgment/id1643414362" target="_blank">Leave a review on Apple Podcasts</a>🟢 <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/3hRKcZjxV648UmUH98Te4d?si=9dc1da571cb44a12" target="_blank">Leave a rating on Spotify&nbsp;</a>🗣️ Share the show by word of mouth and on your socialsHelp us find and celebrate today’s best hostsWho’s your Sound Judgment dream guest? Email me: <a href="mailto:allies@podcastallies.com">allies@podcastallies.com</a>. Because of you, that host may appear on Sound Judgment.&nbsp;Credits&nbsp;Sound Judgment is a production of <a href="https://dashboard.simplecast.com/accounts/18eb3e16-b2fe-43de-8edd-1e80c07e2aa3/shows/c1685ff0-f215-4bea-80ff-1a461a015253/episodes/a8f824dd-5b06-4ddf-9391-febab2f0a094/www.podcastallies.com" target="_blank">Podcast Allies, LLC.&nbsp;</a>Host: Elaine Appleton GrantPodcast Manager: Tina BassirProduction Manager: Andrew ParrellaAudio Engineer: Kevin KlineProduction Assistant: Audrey Nelson

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Should you tell your own story? Navigating the tricky art of memoir

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