Through various activities in this workshop, participants will learn to create their own podcast. This will involve learning how to search for information, how to organize or package it and how to deliver that information to an audience. This resource will help participants to choose and agree on a theme, which is the first of five stages in the podcast creation series.
General Objective
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Introduction
This series will allow participants to put themselves in the shoes of a journalist or podcast. This first activity aims to explain what goes in to the preparation of a radio show. It should last 20 minutes (a little less if there are not many in the group). Everyone will have a particular role to play while all working towards a common goal. By the end of this first workshop a theme will be chosen. Workshops 2, 3 and 4 will focus on recording tools and interview techniques. The final one will culminate in the recording of the interview.
Preparation
Talk about, if needed, the basics of sound production. Advice: choose between Audacity, Netia (a free version is available) and Garageband (only on Apple devices). This will be useful for the later sections. Here is a list of simple applications for use on Android.
Writing room
Hold a brain storming session to determine the theme of the podcast and how to organise the following steps. Try choosing something simple and quotidian, for example life at your local library. Or take a theme broad but not easy to approach like: what is it to be young today? Or take a theme more specific like the World Cup, sexism, climate change, etc. Participants will have to decide on a name. The show should last 20 minutes. The time can be shorter if there are few participants. Everything needs to be timed to the second! The show will consist of:
- a report
- a studio interview
- a info brief
- a debate
- the presenter’s speaking time
Allocating roles
Allocate or choose at random each participant’s role. The facilitator manages proceedings but will not have another specific role in the production. There will be:
- Presenter (the will facilitate the debate)
- Reporters (two per report)
- Interviewer
- Debate experts
- Journalist to deliver the info brief
Determining the content for each portion of the show
Once the theme is decided, determine the content of each part of the show. For this, each participant will do research. They can divide themselves into groups of 2 or 3. They need to find:
- A reporting subject (there can be two subjects if there are many participants)
- A debate subject
- A person to interview
For the info brief, everyone can write down ideas. It will be the journalist in charge who will decide what they want to develop. Leave two hours for the groups to research using the available resources: computers, books, magazines, etc. Insist that the more the exchange ideas between them, the more those ideas will develop. After two hours, discuss what they came up with. Each group will propose their ideas for a report, an invitee (has to be realistic) and for the debate. They will defend their ideas.
Their goal is to have their ideas accepted for the show. When everyone has defended their ideas, go to a vote to determine the subjects. For example: The invitee: A person who has established an organisation to support victims of sexual harassment The subject: A day with the local women’s soccer team, focusing on addressing sexist prejudice in sport The round table: Where should we draw the line between humour and sexism?
Determining the show's runtime and sequence
Question the participants on the running order of the show and the length of each section. For example:
- Introduction/summary: 1 minute
- Info brief: 2 minutes
- Report intro: 1 minute
- Report: 1.5 minutes
- The presenter questions the journalist on the subject report: 2 minutes
- The presenter introduces the interview: 30 seconds
- Interview: 4 minutes
- Debate: 7 minutes
- Conclusion: 1 minute
If time remains, everyone can start working on their subject and the structure. For example: The report – possible format:
- Introduction by presenter
- First clip/first piece of reporting
- Back to presenter for follow-up
- Second clip/second piece of reporting
Example on the theme of sexism
- The presenter says: ‘Nina and Tom headed to streets to ask passers-by if their vision of sexism has changed since the #MeToo debacle. For some, not at all, like for example with these two men Gilroy and Mick’.
- First clip: two testimonies of unchanged visions
- Back to the presenter: ‘On the contrary, Babette and Fiona have completely change how they think of and relate to sexism’.
- Second clip: two further responses
Going further
This workshop will be much easier if participants have prior experience in some of the areas elaborated in this series. Nothing prevents you from doing some introductory workshops beforehand. You could refer to other workshop plans, for example ‘Defining Sources’ and ‘Knowing, Using Search Engines’.