What is podcasting?
Listen to this useful introduction to the medium of podcasting by Anna Butrico who explores the rhetoric of podcasting. This is an introduction to a dissertation which offers an explanation of what a podcast is and an introduction to Aristotle’s rhetoric.
Or listen to this TED talk on The Power of Podcasting by Beau York, the Founder and Executive Producer of Podastery Studios.
How to create a podcast episode?
I recommend to my students to follow a step-by-step approach that has them familiarise themselves with podcasting, do detailed research on the topic of their choice, prepare an outline and write a script, all before they start considering the production. This allows them to consider the topic, gather the necessary research for an informed episode and plan out the episode to fit within the time and to present relevant and focused arguments.
There are hundreds of pages on podcasting when you do a simple google search. That said, here are few that I find student-friendly and that cover a whole range of topics from structure and process, through editing software to music and hosting.
- Creating a Podcast Assignment by Swarthmore College ITS Blog
- And a more professional resource from Dr Colin Gray’s website on podcasting, including how to start a podcast, how to record a podcast, and a guide to podcast editing.
Tools you can use to record and edit your podcast:
- My students are free to use whatever audio production tools they’re comfortable with. If you’re not sure where to start, an easy option is recording audio using the voice memo app on your phone, then edit that audio the free open source tool Audacity.
- Audacity (free open source tool for editing) – Audacity tutorial
- Garage Band (comes on all Macs) – Garage Band tutorial
- Windows Movie Maker is another option
- A useful thing to help clarity is to remove background noise: How To Remove Background Noise In Audacity
Editing a podcast takes time. You may want to re-record smaller sections if you need to. Here my students are reminder that we are not looking for professionally produced podcasts that are technically perfect (though they are more than welcome to try if they wish). What is important is that the podcast is communicated clearly and understandably, and that it has a good narrative.
Creativity is welcome – why not add music or sound effects if you feel up to it. Some copyright-free music sources are below (just remember to credit them!):
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- Pixabay Royalty-free Podcast Music
- Silverman Sound Studios Royalty Free Music
- And explore ‘7 Best places to get free music for your podcast’ to find more sources and an explanation of what kind of music you can use legally.
Marcomms Ethics Pod – specific resources
To find some inspiration for topics related to our podcast, you can explore some of the below:
- ‘A Campaign for ‘Real’ Women?‘ – 14 min episode of Marketing: Hacking the Unconscious focusing on gender portrayals in advertising – a great short episode considering one of the hihgly debated issues in marcomms ethics.
- Advertising junk food to children – 18 min episode by BMJ talk medicine
- ‘The power of shame’ – 14 min episode of Marketing: Hacking the Unconscious (focuses on guilt and shame in marketing)
- Marketing that Matters: How ‘This Girl Can’ broke the mould for behaviour change campaigns – 31 min episode from Marketing Week
- Marketing and advertising to children: a necessary evil? – 36 min episode by Guardian Sustainable Business
- Age of Woke: Moral Marketing and The Ethical Dilemma – Episode 3 of Podcast – Social Antics, hosted by Dave Doyle and Dave Alton (1h) — “In this episode, the lads discuss a number of topical news items, including: Facebook’s rebuttal of the Netflix documentary ‘The Social Dilemma’; Twitter removing retweets; and the release of the Anti-Trust Report which criticise big-tech companies (Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google) and their control within a number of industries. On this weeks focus, Woke Marketing is the topic of discussion, covering brands such as Nike, Gillette, Disney and more, whilst exploring how marketers must embed ‘purposeful marketing’ within their overall brand strategy.” (episode description)