Each month, members of the Smart Gigabit Communities program gather to discuss trends and best practices from smart city deployment projects. Recently, in a discussion of outreach methods, the topic of audio podcasts surfaced as a tool to reach a wide base of stakeholders. It seems particularly relevant now with few if any in-person gatherings. Please be safe during the coronavirus health emergency! We wish everyone well.
Check out one of these great podcast examples, proudly hosted by an SGC member!
If you are thinking of launching a podcast, or want a few ideas to make it even better, check out the recommendations below.
Building the right content for your podcast
Depending on preferences and experience, set aside between four and eight hours for each 30 minutes of final podcast product. Divide the time across several areas of work:
- Choose content: Pick a topic that is interesting to you and your audience.
- Storyboard and script: How will you make your argument?
- Record: Get a mic and make some magic happen!
- Edit: Aside from length, decide how you want to handle background sound, breathing noises, and volume setting across multiple voices.
- Prepare: Export or upload files and publish.
- Promote: How can you use social media to get your podcast to a wider audience?
It sounds fun, but what do you need?
- A condenser mic. There are lots of options including this Fifine USB microphone, and the Audio Technica AT2020 Cardioid mic
- Some free software like Audacity or Garage Band (Mac)
- Podcast hosting and other tools – so that audio files live in a permanent place with a supporting RSS feed attached. Examples: Blubrry and Lybsyn
- A nice and quiet space to record.
Anything else?
- Consider soundproofing capabilities.
- Use headphones for audio playback in editing.
- Get your podcast listed with Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, and other services.
- Use audio clips and intro music. There are plenty of free options – search for audio backing tracks tagged with creative commons.
- If you want it to sound fancy, you can go more professional with a mixer board and an audio engineer, but maybe that’s another blog!