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1. Who is your talent?
By working closely with you from the inception we'll need to identify both your advocate/s and your audience. The chances are that you'll already have a good idea about who this is. But by carefully considering who the talent is - their personality, background and experiences etc - we can start to imagine a sonic format and structure that best suits them. Typical questions to ask at this point might include: Would your talent be best framed by a presenter or should they express themselves through monologue. Are there multiple speakers that need to discuss your issue or does the one expert talking about their work suffice. Consideration about who your audience is and how to best reach them is also crucial to designing your podcast. What media already exists around your subject matter and how do audiences know how to find you?
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2. What is your format?
Next we will design an optimal format for the delivery of your podcast. There are many different styles and formats that exist, but what will best suit your voice/s and subject matter? This will involve considering such questions as : Is this a series? And if so how many episodes should be released and over what duration? What is the ideal length of your episodes? Are you on location or studio based. Do you need music / sound design and if so what atmosphere are you hoping to evoke? This will help clarify the amount of time and money you wish to invest in creating your podcast. And will also begin the research stage of finding out who your audience is and what they expect - but also who your guests/ presenters maybe and what they are able to offer.
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3. The conversation
It may be that your podcast is centred around a solo speaker or story teller - in which case it might make sense to put your pre -production resources into a script or even rehearsal time to guarantee the best spoken performance. However in the majority of cases there will be a conversation of sorts that needs capturing - and how this conversation is approached will in many ways set the tone of your final piece. One technique often used is to interview your guest in a way that elicits the information you want and then edit the questions out of the final audio. In other formats the interviewer is integral to the exchange and asks the questions on behalf of the audience. In all these cases research is key. Know who your interviewee is and what they are likely to say before the conversation is recorded. There can still be spontaneous dynamics to the discussion and even constructive disagreement - but the questions asked need to be designed around a familiarity with the person answering them in order to produce a conversation of depth. A well researched piece will also clarify the message you are wishing share with your audience.
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4. The edit
Having decided upon the format tone and duration of your piece. The edit is where we begin the task of distilling your content in a way that presents the best story. It might be that your podcast is a live 'unedited' discussion which requires a minimum of cuts (perhaps just a beginning and end) or conversely there maybe multiple interviews which need a lot of manipulation - to turn a large amount of audio into a concise and engaging listening experience. It will also be important to consider the use and placement of music/ sound design and audio insignia. The correct use of these assets will enhance your sonic identity and help build an easily recognisable brand for your audience.
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5. The outreach
Once your podcast has been made - we can take care of all the technical aspects of getting it on line and in the right places (Itunes, Spotify, Stitcher etc). This will enable you to have a subscriber button (RSS feed) which can be used to share your content digitally across multiple platforms. The standard features of a podcast, set up in this way, will include:
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RSS Subscription : Once subscribed your audience receives content directly to their device. Released on your schedule - consumed on theirs
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Stats : Receive real time information about where your audience are when they listen and through which platform they found you
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Social Media Content : At the click of a mouse, quality content can be shared amongst all those with an interest in what you do
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Hyper Link to Websites & Resources : For those wishing to dig deeper in to your work - links can be provided on RSS feed and custom website
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In some cases it's possible to generate magazine and radio coverage of podcast issues which can further boost the exposure of your media and message to many more people.