There’s a common misperception that people just walk into a StoryCorps recording booth and tell a perfect little jewel of a story. This is partly the result of an editorial philosophy and style that makes the producer invisible and allows the storyteller to step into the spotlight. Michael Garofalo has spent more than a decade refining this disappearing act, and in this talk he’ll reveal some of the techniques that he and his team use to craft the stories you hear each morning on NPR.

Michael Garofalo is the executive producer/editor for StoryCorps, where he began his radio career in 2004. He leads the Peabody Award-winning production team responsible for StoryCorps’ long-running weekly series on NPR, hosts and produces the podcast, and is a consulting producer for StoryCorps’ Emmy-nominated, animated shorts. In 2010, Michael launched a podcast for the film journal, Reverse Shot. Michael also makes music with radios, among other things, and has worked with free103point9/Wave Farm as a transmission artist. In 2012, he was a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists.

Image: Courtesy Michael Garofalo.