Great storytelling is ‘vital’ to engage and hold audience attention in a competitive media landscape, delegates at RadioAsia 2014 in Colombo, Sri Lanka were reminded on Thursday.

Bringing several examples of great radio from around the world, German radio consultant Wolfram Tech showed how the biggest radio personalities were mostly great storytellers.

Stories that were relevant to the audience, topical and had emotional or cultural ‘closeness’ worked best, Tech said. He challenged attendees to pick topics that would great ‘talkability’ among fans of their station.

Radio presenters and producers were encouraged to use a variety of tools to help them tell their stories more effectively, including music, sound effects, listeners vox pops and co-hosts/sidekicks.

Here are some of his storytelling tips:

1. Find a story that captures heart and mind.

2. A good story has a beginning, middle and end.

3. Create a visual story in your audience’s head.

4. Emotion will make your story stick.

5. Get the audience’s sympathy.

6. Tell us why we should care.

Tech, whose consultancy works with some of the biggest radio brands in Europe, kicked-off the ABU-organised conference with one of two workshops for content teams.

Representatives from many of the largest radio broadcasters in Asia Pacfiic are in Colombo for the three-day conference which will also see the ABU Radio Song Festival on Friday night.