Wolverhampton City Learning Centre (CLC)

During the Autumn and Spring Terms, Paul Porter from Wolverhampton Local Authority and I have been visiting primary and secondary schools in the city to train teaching staff and students to create podcasts for publication on the Learning2Go Blog and Podcast. We’ve really enjoyed working with students during these sessions and have been very impressed by their enthusiasm and creativity in putting together great broadcasts.

I think we’ve also learned a lot ourselves about what makes a successful podcast. I therefore thought it might be useful to collect together in one place some ideas about what works and what doesn’t. I’m not going to focus here on the technological side of podcasting; instead, I want to consider some principles for planning and recording a good school podcast. Of course, all this is just a matter of opinion, but our experience so far indicates that certain ideas do work well.

I’ve included audio snippets from the Learning2Go podcasts to illustrate some of the ideas. To hear the full podcasts, visit learning2goblog.org.

1. Don’t go it alone

It’s really difficult to record a podcast alone. If you listen to professional radio broadcasts, particularly those that are talk-based (Radio 5 Live, for example), broadcasters often present in pairs or groups. Why? Because this naturally allows the broadcast to include conversations (”banter”) between the presenters.

Recording in pairs or groups allows you to explore topics using questions and answers, and to react to what each other are saying. If you’re presenting the key points of a topic (maybe in a revision podcast), working in groups allows you to spread those key points between you. The differences in the way your voices sound help to keep your audience interested and prevent any one speaker from sliding into a dull drone.

Recording in groups also allows you to take on different roles - in a revision podcast, one of you can play the panicky student who doesn’t understand the topic for their SATs exam tomorrow and another can play the calm, knowledgeable saviour. In a sports report, one of you plays the interviewer and the other the disappointed football manager. In a history podcast, one of you plays Henry VIII and the other Anne Boleyn. You get the idea . . . .

Audio clip: Parkfield High “The Tempest” podcast - interview with the characters

2. Short and sweet and fast-paced

Always remember that your audience has chosen to listen to your podcast. Keep it short, keep it snappy. It’s so much better to have a podcast that is 5 - 10 minutes long and which is fast-paced, interesting and informative, than one which is 30 minutes of dull waffle. If your audience gets bored, they will just switch off.

If you’ve collected lots of audio material (maybe interviews with other students or teachers) be ruthless in editing it down to the most interesting snippets.

3. Record in small sections

Record your podcast in small sections. You’re less likely to stumble over your words, and if you do, it’s easier to delete out the mistake from the audio. I think it works best to record all of the spoken audio first, then begin editing - cropping audio clips, moving them around, adding jingles and so on.

3. Tell stories

If your podcast is audio-only (i.e. it’s not an “enhanced” podcast) then you must remember that the only way you are communicating is via sound. Tell stories, use analogies, use songs, raps or poetry to get your point across. Take on the role of different characters in the story. Use sound effects to help you to create an atmosphere.

Human brains love stories - in fact, people with extraordinary memories often tell stories to themselves to help them to remember huge lists of information. Use our natural love of stories and songs to keep your audience interested.

Audio clip: Heath Park Science podcast - a potassium present

4. A strong beginning

The beginning of your podcast is very important. Don’t just jump straight in to the “content” of the podcast. Instead, introduce yourselves (first-names only) and your school / class and briefly highlight the main things your audience is going to hear. (”On the podcast today . . . . .”). This gives your audience an idea of what to expect and is more likely to keep them listening. If the first section of your podcast is not something that interests them, but they know that something interesting is coming up, they are more likely to stay with you.

An introductory jingle provides an inviting start to your broadcast. If you’re going to record a series of podcasts, devise a jingle that you reuse in each episode. If there are students in the school who play in a band, why not ask them to record a unique theme tune for your podcast?

Audio clip: Corpus Christi podcast - introduction

5. Break it into sections

A clear structure to your podcast helps to keep it fast-paced and interesting. A maximum of 3-4 minutes per section is probably appropriate. Make it clear when one section is ending and another is starting. For the Learning2Go podcasts, we typically achieved this by having a “studio” - when one section finished, the presenter would pass back to the studio team to introduce the next section.

“Stingers” - small pieces of music or a sound effect - are great for separating different parts of your podcast. A well-placed stinger tells a listener “now we’re moving on to something different”. Don’t, however, use a stinger every 10 seconds . . . . it would quickly get annoying for any listener.

6. Know your audience . . . . and speak to them

Who is listening to your podcast? Try to imagine your listener and to speak using language they will understand. For a revision podcast, imagine a student going into school on the morning of their exam listening to your podcast on an MP3 player. What would they want to hear? For a “school news” type podcast, your audience will include parents as well as students - try to give information that will be relevant to both groups of listeners.

7. Keep it natural

As far as possible, avoid reading from paper as you record. In particular, don’t read large sections from text books. If you don’t understand what you’re saying (”my teacher told me that this was an important point, so I’ve got to say it”) then it’s a fair bet that your audience won’t understand it either. Try to give your podcast a conversational, friendly tone.

8. Encourage feedback

Everyone loves to be told that they’ve done something great, so encourage your audience to let you know what they think of the podcast. For the Learning2Go Blog and podcast, there’s a comment form for every podcast (moderated, so that innappropriate comments can’t appear!). If you haven’t got this, then encourage feedback via email (don’t give out personal email addresses of course). If you do get feedback, mention it in the next edition of your podcast - “Fred from London really enjoyed the last podcast . . . . ” - this makes it more likely that other people will comment too.

Audio clip: St. Alban’s podcast - goodbye

9. No personal information

You wouldn’t broadcast personal information in an internet chat-room, so don’t in your podcast either. Don’t use your surnames at all, and be careful not to give information about your home address, email address, phone number etc.

10. Have fun!

If you’ve enjoyed making your podcast, it’s a fair bet that your audience will enjoy listening to it. Don’t be afraid to experiment with sound effects and audio effects. Lowering and raising your voices, or adding a little echo to your voice for a short time will add a sense of fun to your broadcast. Don’t overdo it though . . . . . make sure that effects add something to your podcast.

Audio clip: Long Knowle podcast - favourite PDA games

I hope that these ideas are useful. Let me know if you agree, disagree, or think I’ve missed something critical, by commenting on this post.