Hi blog, itโs me again. How often do you listen to podcasts? They are a really great way to reduce boredom and can even make you smarter. My personal favourites are Stuff You Should Know and Anything Goes. I like to listen to podcasts but recently Iโve taken the role of creating a podcast.
This project was all about understanding identity, storytelling, and of course putting that knowledge into podcasting. How would I use technology to create and communicate these ideas? Letโs start at the beginning, where I was just starting to build knowledge about this.
At the beginning I wasnโt sure what identity had to do with podcasting or why we were learning about it. Not until I really had to think about it, in a post asking โwhat is identity?โ. In that assignment I was starting to realize that my voice (not just what I sound like but what I have to say) is part of my identity and is where podcasting would come into the picture.
Before I jumped right into the world of podcasting, I had to revisit my knowledge about storytelling. This is something I learned a lot about last year, but there was more to learn and it would help me with this project. The first assignment I did actually, was about storytelling. I could create an oral story about any topic I wanted. Having freedom to choose any topic was a common theme for this project. I enjoy being able to choose, but it is also challenging because there are so many different ideas to choose from, an indecisive personโs biggest fear. Back to storytelling though, eventually I chose a topic and created a story.
Looking back, I wasnโt very happy about how it turned out, but why would I talk about it if I didnโt like it? I think by making mistakes, I now know what not to do. More importantly I can look at what I wish I had done then, and make sure I do that next time. The story didnโt really inform, inspire, or entertain. I knew that next time I needed to make those aspects stronger.
Now at this point I had worked on storytelling and understanding identity. I was ready to be a podcaster, using Garage Band. I donโt think thats what most podcasts are created on but that doesnโt take away from the fact that it was a great tool for this project. I was able to record my voice and even make the music for my trailer. Trailer!? I need to know what my podcast is about to make a trailer! This is where again, I could choose pretty much any topic. I started thinking about this early in the project, knowing I would have a hard time choosing. I wanted a theme that allowed me to talk about a wide range of things, much like the podcasts I enjoy listening to. I began figuring this out thinking about what I was interested in. Finally I ended up with an idea. My podcast would be โcool stuff this weekโ, what that means? I have no idea. Donโt worry there were more details than that:
Clearly this was too vague. After some peer critique I had an idea of what I needed to work on. After critique and revision I had narrowed down my plan. It would be a hybrid style podcast, talking about relevant and trending subjects with a creative perspective. Now that I had a good plan, the next step was to create a trailer for my podcast. This process included writing a script, recording a draft, making cover art, more critique, making music, and obviously recording a final trailer. This trailer clearly informs the listener with an explanation of the the podcast and what to expect. It inspires listeners by telling them why the podcast could be important to them and includes a call to action, inspiring them to subscribe and listen more. It entertains with catchy music and a script that speaks directly to the listener.
That is how I answered the driving question, through critique, storytelling, podcast techniques, and identity. I used what I learned to communicate. To be honest, there are things I look back and want to change. I could have been more detailed in explaining my theme, and executed the trailer more creatively. I guess part of my identity is being a perfectionist. Overall the trailer has everything it needs, and sounds good. I learned so much in the process of making it. This trailer is just the beginning of what I will be creating for the rest of the year. I canโt wait to make this podcast and share more!
Au revoir
-Asha