Video Killed the Radio Star, but Podcasting Brought Them Back to Life By Joe Mamlin If you know me, you may know that a lot of my stories start with “I heard on a podcast….” I’ve been a fan of the medium for a long time, and over the last few years it has expanded beyond belief. No one knows for certain how many podcasts there are because the number changes every day. Most estimates I can find range between 500,000 and 600,000 active podcasts. Most of the public-sector shows I was able to find are for an internal audience. That is, there are a good number produced for people working in and with the public sector. There are also a great many on related disciplines such as public health issues, project management, and even procurement! (I’m not likely to start telling stories about a procurement podcast, but I am willing to bet it’s better than reading the regulations.) I guess from my exhaustive research (and I am exhausted) I’d conclude that there is still a lot of available space to create podcasts about public services, especially shows directed at providing information to the public. Therefore, what I’d like to address here is not so much about what’s going on in the podcasting space now; instead, I’d like to offer some reasons why you may want to consider podcasting as a tool to deliver information and, perhaps, entertainment to those we serve and those we work with. I want to address the “why” and the “how” of podcasting. The “why,” to me, has a lot of answers. From my personal experience, I find that the most obvious “why” is the fact that podcasting is inexpensive and simple to produce (which I will explore more in the “how”) and that the content is easy for people to access. We talk a lot about meeting people where they are in terms of service delivery. Podcasting is something that people can not only access from a variety of free sources, but that they can access on their own schedule. Podcasts can be delivered through iTunes, which is free if you have a device that supports that interface. In addition, there are a number of other free services, such as Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIN, and PodOmatic, where you can upload and share your podcast to anyone with an internet connection (see the links at the end of the article). Another “why” is the flexibility of the medium. Podcasting is not currently monitored or governed by any official body. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is not involved; there are limited broadcast standards; and there are no limits on things like the length, content, or format. It is basically a blank canvas where you can be as creative as you wish. Of course, I would encourage you to exercise good judgment with regard to the nature of your content (if you get my drift) because you also can’t control who listens to it. I would also caution you to be very careful about music you may want to use (because everything is better with a little music). Make sure you select music that has an open license, or that you make arrangements to properly license it and give credit to the artist. Overall, you should be careful about copyright and authorized use, and be sure to give credit for sources and guests. But other than standard copyright and trademark limitations, the medium is wide open for you to make something that really fits your audience and your purpose. Perhaps the strongest “why” is the easily consumable way to digest information. The public sector has a new ability through podcasting to address emerging issues and priorities and share information. In child support, we tend to struggle with getting our messages out to the people we want to reach. We are always looking for ways to help people with access to justice, we strive for interagency collaboration, and we have ever- changing training needs as our program evolves and changes. Podcasting can help with all of this. It can serve as easily consumed public information; it can be a tool to explore and address the complexities of dealing with courts; it can be a forum for discussion across programs; and it can be an on-demand training tool for the people we work with. An internal podcast can also be an excellent teambuilding tool to provide a way to share, celebrate, and highlight the people in your organization while providing a creative outlet for their ideas and a chance to have some fun. •New Initiatives •Discussions with •Public Services Other Programs •Access to Justice •Interviews with Service Providers •Community Spotlights Sharing Collaboration Information Teambuilding Training •Sharing Successes •New Processes •Celebrating •Instructional Tutorials Achievements •On Demand •Creative Outlet Information If you are convinced that there is a reason why you would want to use podcasting, let’s talk about the “how.” I am involved in the NCSEA Podcast, NCSEA On Location. I was excited to work on this project because for a long time I had thought about doing a podcast, but, like many people, I assumed I would need a lot of equipment to record and produce content. Many of my favorite podcasts are actually radio shows offered as podcasts, so I naturally assumed that’s where they were born. Then a few years ago, my son, who was in high school, told me he had a podcast. Of course, my children are exceptional, like everyone’s children tend to be, but this was not a result of any particular genius on his part. This was just having some time on his hands, a computer, and a microphone. So, if he can do it, what’s stopping me? Fast-forward a couple of years when NCSEA decided to try the format, and I was excited to put my own skills to the test. While I may be exceptional, it didn’t require any of my exceptional abilities to do this. You should be thinking… if he can do it, I can do it. Let me break it down for you. First, there is a very short list of equipment you will need. • Computer with Internet • Microphone with a USB interface • Headphones • An adapter to connect your microphone to your device • Sound-recording software • Hosting service Simple Podcast Studio The sound-recording software can be the hardest part, and even that isn’t very hard. If you happen to have a MAC or iPad, or I suppose even an iPhone, you have Garage Band. It comes free with these devices and works great. Personally, I wouldn’t want to have to edit a podcast using my phone, but it is an option for creating recordings, even if you edit them some other way. If you use a PC or Windows tablet, there are a few options. The most popular free software for PC is Audacity. While I NCSEA On Location Production Equipment don’t have personal experience with this tool, it does come up on most lists of best podcasting software for a PC. I have included some other options in the links at the end of this article, along with some microphone choices that have worked well for me. Hosting can be a little bit trickier. Ultimately, the most popular place for people to find a podcast is iTunes, but to get your podcast there, you have to create and host it on another service, then link the feed to iTunes. It sounds complicated, but there are a lot of simple instructions online, and most hosting services have a direct link to iTunes for this purpose. There is a short clearance process to get a podcast posted on iTunes, but that is basically focused on making sure the sound quality is good, the podcast is categorized correctly, and the title is not already in use. So, if you want to be on iTunes, it is critical that you choose a title that is not in use or it will be rejected. Search for the title there before you fall in love with the name. There is a similar process to get your podcast on TuneIn and Spotify, which are also very popular places to find podcasts. Once you have the equipment and hosting in place, the next step is creating the content. Depending on the goal you have in mind, this can be a lot of things. Just remember that podcasting is not really an interactive medium, so you need content that is going to hold someone’s interest. Be creative in your delivery, be careful with the information you feel is critical, but also don’t be afraid to have some fun with it. I personally like interview formats, and storytelling can be very powerful. It can also be useful to break up the content with multiple topics and speakers. Sprinkle in some music at the beginning and end, and be conscious of the length. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, there are at least a half-million podcasts out there, so the biggest challenge you have ahead of you is finding your audience and getting them to stick with you. For public agencies, finding your audience could just be a matter of directing to your podcast the people who will benefit from the content. You can promote it in your offices, in other communication you have with the public, and, of course, make it part of your overall social media presence. Send out links frequently and keep a link to the podcast on your website.