Podcasting for Community Organisations An introduction to podcast and community radio production for charities and community organisations Podcasting for Community Organisations by Davy Sims 3 手 Firsthand Guides First published September 2016 by David Sims Media as “Podcasting for Communities” davidsimsmedia.com Firsthand Guide to Podcasting for Community Organisations July 2017 Firsthand Guides Cultra Terrace Holywood BT18 0BA Firsthandguides.com Copyright © 2017 by Firsthand Guides, Ltd. ISBN: 9781521531112 The right of Davy Sims to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 All rights reserved For more information about Firsthand Guide books visit www.firsthandguides.com 5 Dedication To my wife, Dawn and sons Adam and Owen To hear podcasts mentioned in this book visit http://www.davysims.com/category/podcastingfor-project/ or short link http://bit.ly/DS-podcasting 7 Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................... 15 Part 1 - The production plan ................................................................................ 18 Chapter 1: Purpose .......................................................................................... 20 Here are some purposes ................................................................................ 25 “To get the word out”.................................................................................. 25 Developing professional skills .................................................................... 25 Reporting stories from your community ..................................................... 25 Campaigning ............................................................................................... 26 Connecting .................................................................................................. 26 To inform the influencers ............................................................................ 26 Reaching mainstream media ....................................................................... 26 To become and influencer ........................................................................... 26 To talk to your own organisation ................................................................ 26 To get people to work together ................................................................... 26 To share stories and inspire others .............................................................. 27 Fund raising ................................................................................................ 27 What to consider when deciding purposes .................................................. 27 The message and the conversation .............................................................. 28 The method and the platform ...................................................................... 28 To summarise .............................................................................................. 30 Chapter 2: The Production Team ......................................................................... 31 The Team of One ........................................................................................ 31 Forming the production team ...................................................................... 35 Editor .......................................................................................................... 36 The Producer ............................................................................................... 37 Assistant producer ....................................................................................... 38 The presenter(s) .......................................................................................... 39 A two-presenter show ................................................................................. 42 Reporter(s) ................................................................................................... 43 Researchers .................................................................................................. 46 The sound engineer or sound recordist ........................................................ 46 Runners ........................................................................................................ 46 Music specialists .......................................................................................... 47 Everyone ...................................................................................................... 47 The ideal team? ............................................................................................ 47 Chapter 3: Planning, prospects and running order ................................................ 49 The prospects ............................................................................................... 50 Prospects for a radio programme ................................................................. 52 Prospects for a podcast episode ................................................................... 53 Plan for your presenter to present ................................................................ 54 Dropouts and durations ................................................................................ 54 The running order ........................................................................................ 55 The script ..................................................................................................... 58 EXAMPLE SCRIPT 1 ................................................................................. 59 EXAMPLE SCRIPT 2 ................................................................................. 61 Part 2 - Essential Skills ......................................................................................... 64 Chapter 4: Writing ................................................................................................ 65 A note about “time” ..................................................................................... 67 Writing and reading, you’ve always done that. ........................................... 68 An exercise in writing and speaking ............................................................ 69 Chapter 5: Reading ............................................................................................... 74 Write and test out loud ................................................................................. 74 Names, foreign words and phonetics ........................................................... 75 “Marking up” a script .................................................................................. 76 A few other tips on reading and behaving in the studio ............................... 78 Chapter 6: Interviewing ........................................................................................ 80 The importance of research .......................................................................... 82 9 Planning the interview ................................................................................ 83 Listening is a critical part of interviewing .................................................. 84 Why are interviewers interested in breakfast? ............................................ 85 More about the nervous interviewee ........................................................... 86 The empathetic interview ............................................................................ 87 The eye-witness .......................................................................................... 87 The planned interview ................................................................................. 87 The challenging interview ........................................................................... 88 The confrontational interview ..................................................................... 89 The celebrity interview ............................................................................... 90 Structure ...................................................................................................... 90 Chapter 7: Recording ........................................................................................... 92 Recording away from the studio ................................................................. 94 Monitoring the recording ............................................................................ 96 Mobile recording devices ............................................................................ 98 Mobile Journalism .................................................................................... 100 Monitoring - what should you use? ........................................................... 101 Should someone else manage the recording while you interview? ........... 102 The recorder .............................................................................................. 103 The microphone ........................................................................................ 104 Headphones ............................................................................................... 107 Recording: preparation and techniques ..................................................... 107 Setting levels ............................................................................................. 108 Checking the recorder before leaving the office ....................................... 109 When you get