Library Guides: Digital Scholarship: Podcasting

Podcasting

Just like if you were writing a paper, when making a podcast you will want to start with an outline. Try and map out all the different pieces and the order you want to present them in. Think about the podcasts you like, or that you want to emulate. What makes them so fun to listen to? Is it they dynamic between two smart people having a conversation? Is it the way that a story unravels, or gets put together piece by piece? Think about how the story you want to tell could be presented. The links below are resources to help you through the planning process of designing your podcast episode.

Tip: Sound and music are an important part of what makes podcasts so engaging. What sound clips or music could you include to amplify what you want to say? When could you use a dramatic pause, or moment of silence? This interview with NPR's composer's and producers and Radiolab talk about how they effectively use sound and music in a podcast. Don't forget that if you are not using your own sound/music recordings, that you have permission to use the clips.

UW Libraries Storytelling Fellows
The UW Libraries hosts a workshop for UW graduate students on the basics of storytelling for the podcasting platform. This website is a Open resource of their lessons and tools for anyone to follow along with.
NPR Storytelling Project Blueprint
It’s important to begin any storytelling project with intention. Before you start making things, you should have a clear sense of who you’re trying to reach, what you’re trying to say and the scope of your project on all platforms.

This project blueprint is designed to help. Fill it out at the beginning of the planning process when you have some idea about what you want to do. Once completed, it should serve as a “North Star” that will help you focus and prioritize throughout the creative process. Added bonus: It will also provide a framework for pitching your idea to other people.

Audacity

Because a podcast includes music, sound clips, and music (as opposed to a simple audio recording of someone talking), you will need to edit your various audio clips. Audacity is a software that you can use to edit your podcast.

Tip: It may be tempting to assume "I can fix it in editing" if there is an annoying background noise, or you can't complete a whole monolog in one take. However, spending time on recording high quality clips is always better and easier than trying to make mediocre clips sound good in editing.

Audacity
Audacity is a professional, open-source software that lets you edit audio. Plus, it's free!
Audacity Tutorials
There are tutorials on how to do almost anything in Audacity. I recommend the first three on this list: "Editing an Audio File," "Your First Recording," and "Mixing Voice with Background Music."

Preservation: Podcasts

Preserve this Podcast
Preserve This Podcast! is an Andrew W. Mellon grant-funded project hosted by the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO) to help podcasters protect their work against the threats of digital decay.