The episode discussed on today's Sound Judgment is Weight for It: Episode 2, Shame Spiral. It’s produced by ohitsbigron Studios and distributed by Radiotopia. 

Ronald Young Jr. is a critically acclaimed audio producer, host, and storyteller, based in Alexandria, Va. He is an avid pop-culture enthusiast and the host of the television and film review podcast Leaving the Theater.  He is also a regular contributor to NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour as a guest panelist. He has hosted shows such as Pushkin’s Solvable and HBO Docs Club, from Pineapple Street Studios.  Selected as Vulture Magazine podcaster to watch, 2023 Ronald is currently developing new series, both scripted and narrative, that seek to unpack the human experience. His newest show, Weight For It, tells the vulnerable stories of fat folks and folks everywhere who think about their weight constantly.

Weight for It: Credits
Host/Producer: Ronald Young, Jr. 
Story Editor: Sarah Dealy

Sound Design/Mixing: John Delore

Theme music is The Talk, composed by Jey Redd

Follow Ronald Young, Jr.:

www.ohitsbigron.com
Instagram and Facebook: ohitsbigron

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronaldyoungjr/

Twitter/X: ohitsbigron

Follow the hashtags #ohitsbigron and #ohitsbigronstudios

If you liked my conversation with Ronald Young, Jr., you’ll love: 
Sound Judgment Season 1/Episode 2: The Host Defines the Brand with John Barth
Sound Judgment Season 3/Episode 1: Classy’s Jonathan Menjivar: The Fine, Awkward Art of the Personal Audio Documentary
Sound Judgment Season 2/Episode 9: Best of: Emotional Bravery with Last Day’s Stephanie Wittels Wachs

We need your support! Please give Sound Judgment a five-star rating and a review. Visit our website to easily give us a 5-star rating and a review that’ll go to Apple or Spotify instantly. We’re grateful.
 

The Sound Judgment team is: 
Host & Producer: Elaine Appleton Grant

Production Assistant: Audrey Nelson
Audio engineer/sound designer: Kevin Kline
Podcast manager: Tina Bassir

Cover art by Sarah Edgell
Sound Judgment is a production of Podcast Allies, LLC

Contact Us
To contact us with questions, collaborations, media interviews, speaking engagements, or sponsorships, write to us at [email protected]. We encourage your voice memos! Click the microphone icon at soundjudgmentpodcast.com. 

To follow Elaine Appleton Grant and the show: 
Subscribe to the Sound Judgment newsletter, about creative choices in audio storytelling
Sound Judgment website
Elaine's LinkedIn

Elaine's Facebook

Sound Judgment Instagram
http://podcastallies.com  Podcast Allies is a boutique production and consulting company making magical podcasts for NGOs and nonprofits, higher ed, and media organizations. 

Ronald Young, Jr’s takeaways
These are the takeaways from the end of the episode. For more takeaways from all of our guests, subscribe to the Sound Judgment newsletter and visit our blog. 

1. Learn to draw upon rhythm and music to improve your delivery on the mic. Ronald grew up with the musicality of the storytelling and the singing he heard in church, and that turned him into a storyteller who is enchanting to listen to. But we can all do this by feeling the rhythm and cadence of language: Where are the beats? Where are the breaths? It’s not just storyboarding that makes great stories; it’s how we deliver our stories. 
2. Don’t censor yourself. At the beginning of the scripting process, Ronald’s story editor, Sarah Deeley, had him write down all the ideas he had for each episode. Only then did they narrow those ideas down into a structured narrative. 
3. Build stories in layers. Think about context: what does the listener need to know, right now, to understand this episode? To tell a story about his college girlfriend, Ronald had to first explain some stuff about his childhood. What context do you need to offer to make your story land?

Improve your storytelling Check out our popular workshops on interviewing, story editing, story structure, longform narrative, audience engagement, guesting, scriptwriting and more. 

Hire Elaine to speak at your conference or company. Subjects include: Effective Storytelling; Communicating for Leaders; Communicating about Change; Mastering the Art of the Interview; Success in Guesting, and much more. 

Discover our strategic communication services and coaching for thought leaders using storytelling tools to make the world a better place. Serving writers, podcasters, public speakers, and others in journalism & public media, climate change, health care, policy, and higher education. Visit us at www.podcastallies.com.

Subscribe to Sound Judgment, the Newsletter, our twice-monthly newsletter about creative choices in audio storytelling. 

Connect:

Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram

✉️ Email Elaine at [email protected]

💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify 

🗣️ Share the show by word of mouth and on your socials

Help us find and celebrate today’s best hosts
Who’s your Sound Judgment dream guest? Email me: [email protected]. Because of you, that host may appear on Sound Judgment.

Credits 

Sound Judgment is a production of Podcast Allies, LLC. 

Host: Elaine Appleton Grant

Podcast Manager: Tina Bassir

Production Manager: Andrew Parrella

Audio Engineer: Kevin Kline

Production Assistant: Audrey Nelson