Consider the following questions to help your group clarify the scope and specifics of your podcast.
Purpose - Your motivation behind creating this project.
Audience - Who is this project for?
Perspective - The point of view from which you will speak from
Design - How you organize and present the components of this project
There are a variety ways to structure your podcast can take. Depending on your topic, your podcast might be best served picking one approach or having a variety of approaches to help break up distinct sections. Consider how your structure supports the information you are trying to convey.
One person speaking, usually with in-depth expertise on a particular subject.
Podcast series: Seven-Minute Explainers
Produced by:
From the website, "Fanny Crosby wrote more than 9,000 hymns in her lifetime."
Asking questions (with intention) to elicit information, experiences, emotion on a specific topic. With this format the interview may be used as is or be heavily edited.
Podcast series: On Being with Krista Tippett
Produced by: Krista Tippett
This platform provides access to the unedited and edited versions of the interview, both in audio format and in transcripts. These can be useful for understanding how the interview evolves and the process for editing.
From the website, "It’s pretty intriguing to follow poet Naomi Shihab Nye’s idea that most of us actually “think in poems” whether we know it or not. "
Group of people discuss various topics, often informally
Podcast series: Another Round
Produced by: Another Round
From the prodcuer, "This week we chat with Dr. Kimberle Crenshaw about her term "intersectionality," the #SayHerName campaign, and her favorite Prince song."
Podcast series: Bag Ladiez
Produced by Bag Ladiez
From the producers, "We talk with Gata about the history of reggaeton and perreo, it’s role in her life, Black Latinx identity and more!"
Content warning: There are discussions of suicide, r*pe, and suicidal ideations, these moments are timestamped on their page which is a great model for giving listeners the information they need to make informed decisions when listening.
The story is told directly by the storyteller, usually with little interruption from a narrator.
Podcast series: Storycorps
Produced by: Storycorps
From the producer, "All season long, we’ve heard from trailblazers at the top of their game in every field. In this episode, we mean that literally."
Content warning: second stories contains brief mention of suicide
Produced by Storycorps
From the producer, "Felipa DeLeon Mousseau Grew up in Manderson on the Pine Ridge Reservation. When she was young she knew a few gay people, including her cousin, and while they were accepted in the community they were not always respected."
Some podcasts have a narrator that is interwoven throughout a story to help push the narrative forward.
Podcast series: Quick Hits
Produced by Vox
From the producer, "The term “Asian American” applies to more than 50 ethnic groups and people who speak upwards of 100 languages. While it’s served Asian Americans to build political power, it’s also left many people feeling marginalized and erased."
Podcast series: UNCIVIL
Produced by: Gimlet Media
From the producers, "From the cemetery to the big screen, a 150 year old push to rewrite American history."
Story (fiction / non-fiction) using anecdotes and scenes exploring larger concept
Podcast series: Between the ears
Produced by: BBC
Contains sound effects, music, and uses a fictional script based on extensive research of their subject.
From the producer, "On 2 August 2015, the great Russian freediver Natalia Molchanova disappeared in Spanish territorial waters. Through sound, text and music, “Jump Blue” takes us to extraordinary depths in this immersive re-imagining of her final descent."
Layering and intercutting various types of audio on a subject or theme without a narrator
Podcast series: Between the ears
Produced by: BBC
From the website, "The dramatic effects of climate change evoked in words, sounds and a powerful new musical work."
You may find that as record your podcast it isn't enough to simply read your script; you likely will need to perform it. The energy in your voice, or lack of energy, will be heard by your audience. To help with this process try some of the following:
Finding your voice for a podcast can come naturally for some and be a complex, difficult process for others. Below are a few posts about folks who struggled to find their voice, how they did it and what it meant for them.
Creating a script can help you organize your ideas before you even open an editing application. Not all podcasts require a script but having some structure will help your listeners understand what they are listening to and why. Below are some organizing structures to consider as well as a template to get you started. Scripts can take many shapes and they can be helpful even when recording non-vocal sounds. You may even find that your podcast has segments that have different formats and thus different relationships to script creation. Don’t hesitate to invent a script format that works for your project!
When recording voice for this important project, make sure you know your equipment! The Media Center has quality voice recorders and microphones to use, that will give you excellent quality. Never use a microphone located inside a computer. External microphones are fine when hooked up to a computer, but make sure your computer is actually using that microphone.
We recommend using Audacity or GarageBand (computer programs) with and external microphone, when recording onto a computer.
Pro Tip! Use headphones to monitor what the device is picking up. Microphones are typically more sensitive than your ears. They can also be very unforgiving in what they capture. Every cough, sniffle or chair creak will be captured.
Test: Do a test recording and make sure your audio is at a good volume and is picking up what you want to capture. Then, play it back on the device to make sure everything is working.
Gain: Adjusting the gain on a microphone is great for picking up a voice that is quiet and soft. But beware, it also magnifies other sounds such as background and ambient noises that you may not realize are being recorded.
Ambient Noises: Those sounds that seem to be really distant, but can be picked up in a sensitive microphone. These can be florescent lights humming, air conditioning blowing, the wind, door squeaks, etc. Some you can control by just choosing a better place to record.
Surroundings: Be aware of possible interruptions and sounds that might leak in due to the location you happen to be recording in.
Using creative media (like images, audio, or videos) made by other people is different from using other people's research. Here are some things to consider when choosing what you include in your video:
1. Go ahead and use images, audio, and video that have a Creative Commons (CC) license. Creative Commons licenses are a way for authors to allow people to re-use their works without the restrictions of traditional Copyright.
2. Go ahead and use images, music, and video that are in the public domain. Public domain means that these documents are no longer restricted by copyright. Most works produced by the US government are also in the public domain.
3. If something does not have a CC license/is not in the public domain, it should be assumed to be protected under Copyright and you must either:
When looking for audio to include in a multimedia project, it is important to be aware of how format and sample rate can impact the quality of your audio. Mp3 files compress sound files while .wav files are uncompressed and can store higher quality audio.
The standard sample for a project that combines video, image and audio elements is 48kHz. It is important that you make sure all of the files you download and record are the sample sample rate. You can check your files resolution by opening in a media player or video application and checking the properties of the audio file.
The sites below provide access to audio that you can download and manipulate in your project. Some sites may require you to create a free account before downloading.
Contains many creative commons licensed songs. Click on individual song titles to see the terms of use.
16,000 sound effects in wav format
Free to use with attribution.
Database of recordings release under Creative Commons
Free to use, as long as you give attribution.
Sound effects can be more than just a background to your story. The specificity that sounds effects provides can help more effectively communicate your story to your audience. For example, saying, "Near the ocean...." is different than hearing the ocean on a specific day; are the waves crashing? Is it windy? Are there shore birds? Are there people or traffic heard in the distance? Because of this specificity using just any "wind with birds" sound effect could locate your audience in the wrong place if they are familiar with bird calls and the regions they frequent. Sound effects communicate so much about a place so choose carefully and intentionally.
CONTENT WARNING- Guantanamo, discussion of torture
Produced by the BBC
This example helps illustrate how what is considered ambient, or in the background, is content and can be brought forward as subject.
From the website, "Jordan Scott, a poet who stutters, grew interested in how detainees' stutters were systematically interpreted as signs of their dishonesty. Scott applied to tour the prison to interview interrogators about this, but at the last minute was informed tha this interviews wouldn't be possible. With Guantánamo's strict censorship policies in mind, Scott changed tactics. He asked to record ambient sound at the prison instead."
Questions to consider:
• How does giving space to ambience work in this piece?
• Where did you feel the sound of the air conditioner in your body?
• How can sound communicate about our environment differently than descriptive text/narration?
Music can be used in a number of ways in a podcast. It can be used at the intro and/or outro of your podcast, between segments to mark a transition or under an interview or narration to help supplement a particular emotion you are trying to evoke. But the music shouldn't distract your listeners, it should compliment the story. Remember that music carries a lot of cultural meaning so make sure the genre and style you choose is appropriate for your topic. Doing research of specific types of music you are using can help add another layer of content to your story.
*Special thanks to Kimbery Forero-Arnias, Digital Media Specialist at the Tufts University Libraries for permission to reuse content.