top of page

Podcast creation

Who would have thought talk radio would actually be the part of the old radio stations that stick around. If people want music they go to Spotify so that is still around but I never thought a couple of radio hosts talking to each other would be the thing that piqued people's interest. But Podcasts are a great resource for entertainment and for me I particularly like it for learning. As a writer, I gobbled up things like Writing Excuses and even do my own about writing with Specficnz.

 

You could do this lesson on whatever podcast you already listen to but for this lesson, we will be focusing on Stuff you should know.

 

Stuff you should know is a podcast about things that most people don't know a lot about. From beekeeping to how to train dogs to rescue people. The first thing you need to do is pick a topic. It could be something you know about that others don't or it could be something that you are interested in and want to learn about. Once you feel like you are an expert in a topic you are ready to write a script for your podcast. (Keep all your references as you can hand this in for research)

 

The Script

 

From experience, you want to keep a balance between enough written down so you don't get lost and little enough that it sounds like you are naturally speaking. The other alternative is to practise it a lot. If you are working in a group the byplay is part of what makes the podcast interesting. (You can use the script for a Media Studies unit so make sure you make it the best you can)

 

How to write a podcast script

Five elements of a good podcast

10 characteristics of a great podcast

There are a lot of software out there but I find Audacity works very well if all you want is sound. If you want to have a visual aspect then try Zoom. Zoom separates the audio from the visual so you can sync up the sound with the image afterwards. You can use any video editing software but Shotcut is free to use.

 

Practise and do your show over and over until you get one that you are proud of.

 

Level 1 - 3 min of talking

Level 2 - 4-5 min of talking

Level 3 - 6 min of talking

 

If you are in a group you should keep in mind that everyone should have equal time on the podcast.

Podcasts fall into a strange place in the entertainment and performance domains in NCEA so what is taught here might not get credits but is an essential part of the process because if you don't get the sound right no one will listen.

 

So when you are recording your podcast here are some tips. I have another lesson here that has some other things about podcasts. I talk more about software and types of microphones in that one.

The first step is to get familiar with Audacity.

If you are artistic then do this lesson but if you have no skills in this regard then I suggest that you use some of the free logo designs you can find here. But if you do have some artistic chops then why not design your own logo.

 

Here is a guide to podcast logos that you should check out first.

 

Once you've read the guide you should be able to create a brief: What things must your logo have?

 

Step 1

Brainstorm ideas for your podcast, what are some images that are related to your themes and ideas that will convey the topic of your podcast clearly?

 

Step 2

Find examples of logos that you like. Make a list of techniques and things that you like about the different logos.

 

Step 3

Create some mock-ups of possible logos.

Step 4

Typography - either take an existing font and adapt and change it for your logo or create your own using Adobe Illustrator.

I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.

bottom of page