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HHS Center for New Media

Podcast: Producing a New Media Podcast Series

 

  You’re listening to The HHS Center for New Media podcast, where new and innovative media projects are introduced, shared, and discussed.

“I think it has been great to spotlight different projects that people have done in the department.” 

Nicholas Garlow is an intern with the HHS Center for New Media and has spent the last several months producing a podcast series for the HHS community.

“And it’s also a good way to show people who they may be able to contact for more resources on an idea that they have.”

The series has been a valuable way to share innovative projects that can be applied across HHS. In this final episode of that series, I ask Nick to share his podcasting experience and insights for other aspiring podcast producers.

“It’s just a matter of being able to communicate ideas and what you want a final product to be.”

Nick explains the most critical part of producing a podcast series is the planning that takes place before a single sound is recorded.

“Have a clear vision of what you want the podcast to be, and what the podcast’s purpose serves, who your audience is, what resources you have in front of you, what’s the timeline, how frequently will it be posted.”

In addition to planning for the series as a whole, each individual episode requires careful preparation.  Before each interview, Nick conducts basic research on the topic of his interview and has a brief chat with his interviewee.

“I try to get in contact with the person before the interview, have a short conversation with them about what the podcast is, and what I’m interviewing them about, why I’m interviewing them, what sort of product is going to come out of that, getting an understanding of what their product is, doing research on it, and then putting the questions together based on that.” 

Once the interview is recorded, that’s when the real work begins. Removing the uhs and errs while maintaining a natural flow of speech is just one part of an audio editing process that requires serious attention.

“The longest part of it is doing the audio editing, depending on how complex you want to get as far as tweaking the audio, to make sure the quality is what you want.”

Although audio editing and gaining familiarity with new technology can be intimidating, Nick explains that the barriers to producing a podcast series are low.

“You kind of have to just dive into it and play with it to start and the more you use it the more comfortable you become with it, so I would say the learning curve is based upon how dedicated you are.” 

One major challenge of podcasting, according to Nick, is sticking to a consistent production schedule.

“Always schedule meetings on certain days within the process. Wednesdays would always be transcript editing days, Thursday would be put the audio together, write the blog, and on Friday have everything finished, that included audio, transcript for 508, the blog written with links embedded, and a picture.”

The key is being organized and diligent throughout the process.

“That usually meant that the interview had to be done on a Monday or Tuesday and then the middle of the week was spent doing the transcript editing. So the following Monday the podcast would be up and running.”

Podcasting can be an effective means of communication when implemented appropriately, and aspiring podcasters can leverage the experience and expertise of the HHS community.

“The thing to remember is that there are a lot of people within HHS who are podcasting and you can always pick up the phone and talk to someone.  There are always people that are willing to help if you have questions.”
You’ve been listening to the HHS Center for New Media podcast, where new and innovative media projects are introduced, shared, and discussed. If you have a project, media tool, or idea that you want to share with other HHS employees, please contact newmedia@hhs.gov.

Thanks for listening. I’m Kathryn Hambleton.