Before the Podcast

This section deals with everything relating to the creation of podcast content, from outlining a show's content to booking guests and formulating questions for them. Although it is possible for a podcaster just to pick up a microphone and create a "show," it requires a much larger effort to ensure that the podcast sounds professional while being a compelling listen. In this section, you see what you can do before the tape is rolling to maximize the quality and enjoyability of your podcast.

Some podcasts are clearly created by the seat of the host's pants, with little regard to a structure or plan for entertaining or educating the listener. But the "amateur" moniker that is attached to podcasting doesn't mean that the content of podcasts needn't be professional.

Interview with Steve Mirsky of Scientific American Magazine

Steve Mirsky (Figure 3.1) is an editor of Scientific American magazine. He also writes the magazine's "Antigravity" column. A freelance contributor to numerous other publications, Mirsky became a science writer after being awarded an AAAS Mass Media Fellowship in 1985. He was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during the 200304 academic year.

Figure 3.1. Steve Mirsky.

Photo with permission of Ellis Mirsky.

Farkas: Whose idea was it to move to a podcast format? What inspired Scientific American to move into this area?

Mirsky: Actually, it was upper management that came to the online editor, Kate Wong, with the idea of moving into the area of podcasting. Kate's the editor of the Sciam online operation, and the podcast is considered to be part of the Web site. Kate knew that I had a background in radio, and she came to me to create the podcasts.

Farkas: What was/is your role in creating the podcast? Do you manage all aspects from content to editing?

Mirsky: I'm it, actually. I do everything from recording the interviews, to editing the content, to writing the dialogue, to polishing the podcast for broadcast.

Farkas: What process occurs in terms of finding content for each podcast?

Mirsky: Each podcast contains four elements. The lead interview is related to content or the author of an article in the current issue of Scientific American, or a member of the staff who's been to a scientific conference, for example. Then I try to have one interview that's a little bit on the lighter side and one more that's not necessarily related to content in the magazine; it might be from the science headlines that week. I also include a segment entitled "Totally Bogus," which is a fun quiz game where the listener must choose which one of four science stories from the last week is untrue.

Farkas: Is there anything you'd like to say about the technical side of podcast creation?

Mirsky: I know that I really notice it on other podcasts when the audio quality of the person on the telephone is very fuzzy and filled with static. I actually run my voice feed and the interviewee's feed through separate channels so that I can use the Magix Audio Cleaning Lab software to clean up the individual tracks to remove any hum or hiss. I clean each track individually, adjust the volumes, mix the tracks, and then clean the mix again. I hit on this technique after a few podcasts, and it really improved the sound quality.

Farkas: Is video podcasting something that might appear in the future for Sciam?

Mirsky: I know the magazine has expressed an interest in doing something along those lines in the near future, but it hasn't evolved beyond that yet.

Farkas: Are there any oddities about podcasting you'd like to comment on?

Mirsky: Well, we changed the name of the podcast (Figure 3.2) after seven episodes. Originally, it was called "The Scientific American Podcast," but it wouldn't come up if you searched the word science. So we changed our show to "Science Talk: The Podcasts of Scientific American Magazine." So as a piece of advice to pod-casters out there, you have to be careful what you name your show, or it may not show up in searches by your target audience.

Figure 3.2. The podcast page of Scientific American magazine.

With a little bit of background work, one can turn amateur hour into something that is respectable and highly listenable.

There are four key elements to a successful preproduction process for a podcast:

• Draft a document that establishes the general tone, taste, and attitude of the podcast.

• Establish the topic of the show, the length of the show, and any guests who will join you.

• Create a general outline for the show, breaking content into blocks no longer than 5 minutes each.

• Construct a detailed script to keep the show well paced and to ensure that the host(s) and any guests who are being interviewed always have something to talk about. (If you are good at speaking on your feet, this step may not be necessary.)

This section details the creation of an audio podcast, but most of the same principles apply to video podcasts. Check out Chapter 4 for information on creating video podcasts.

Mission Statement

The first thing to do is write a mission statement or design document that sets out rules for the tone and overall structure of the show. This document should spell out the boundaries of taste with regard to language, touchy topics (politics, abortion, favorite ice creams), and the overall attitude the host(s) should exhibit.

Although this process may seem rigid for an amateur podcast, the act of going through it goes a long way toward solidifying the overall feel of the podcast in your mind. Remember, this document is not set in stone; you can change it as much or as little as you want. The important thing is to establish the ground rules before you get your pearly whites in front of the microphone. Knowing the general rules allows the host to be more natural and to enjoy the process rather than sweat over the appropriateness or validity of everything he or she is saying.

Recording Telephone Interviews

Recording a telephone interview may seem like an insurmountable challenge, but fortunately, several inexpensive devices allow you to record telephone conversations directly from the phone line. I need to point out that these devices are illegal in some places without the consent of the person on the other end of the phone, so you need to inform your interview subjects at the beginning of the conversation that they are being recorded.

Several phone recorders plug into the phone line between the phone's receiver and base unit; others plug into any phone jack in the house. These little devices often cost less than $10. For purposes of recording telephone interviews, I suggest the Radio Shack Recorder Control (Figure 3.3). At $25, this device will automatically start to record telephone conversations when the receiver is picked up. Keep in mind that this device does not include the recorder itself; it's just the conduit from the phone line to the recording device.

Figure 3.3. The Radio Shack Recorder Control allows you to record telephone interviews.

When recording a telephone conversation, it's best to use a digital recorder that you can attach to your PC or Mac; that way, you can upload the file to your computer easily.

Topics, Guests, and Show Length

I'm guessing that you've already established an overall concept for your show, but even though you think "Foot Care for Firewalkers" is a fascinating theme for a podcast, you still need a topic for the first show.

I strongly suggest that you choose a topic for the show and stick to it, keeping as much of the content centered on the theme as possible. If you title your podcast "Navel-Gazing for Experts: To the Hole and Back," be sure to stay focused on the topic throughout. People who "tune in" to the podcast have done so because they have read the title and synopsis of the podcast. It is likely that listeners will be disappointed if the podcast strays too far from the announced concepts. It is advisable to make a reference list of related topics so that in the heat of the podcast, you can keep the show on track with just a glance or two at the topic list.

Double-Ender Interviews

Occasionally, the opportunity to interview someone by phone or even in person will arise before the podcast is set to be recorded. Often, it can be difficult to set up an interview during the podcast recording time, so the interview/conversation is recorded ahead of time. In the realm of radio and television, an interview that is conducted in two parts, with the interviewer's questions being added later, is called a double-ender (Figure 3.4), and this technique can be used successfully by podcasters and professional television reporters alike.

Figure 3.4. In a double-ender interview, both sides of the interview are recorded separately and pieced together later.

A double-ender may occur when you want an interview with someone in another city, but you prefer for the interview to sound live rather than tinny, as though it were coming off a phone line (which is your other alternative). In this case, you need to get a friend or someone near the interviewee's location to meet with that person and record the interview there with relatively high-quality equipment. Then, when the file arrives, you record your own voice asking the questions and ultimately put the two together to make it seem like a live interview in which you are directly asking the interviewee the questions!

In the world of podcasting, the practice of recording double-ender interviews is usually done to improve the quality of the interview. After the interview is recorded, you can re-record your voice asking the questions, and you can even choose not to run some of the guest's answers during the podcast. In short, using double-ender interviews gives you more control of the quality and content of your podcast.

Next up, you need to choose who, if anyone, will be a guest on your show. Guests are fantastic; they provide instant content, and you can bounce ideas and humorous anecdotes off them. The important thing to remember when getting a guest for your podcast is to have at the very least a crude list of questions before the podcast begins. A guest might be a good friend whom you can chat with for hours, but once the mikes are on, it's a different ball of wax. Having a nice list of eight or ten questions at the ready will ensure that even if your stressed-out mind draws a blank, the show will go on!

Last, you must decide on a length for the show. Initially, shorter is better; you would be surprised how hard it can be to fill even one half-hour the first time you attempt to create a podcast.

Outline

Now that you know what the podcast is about, what the tone of the show is, and how long the podcast is, it's time to put together an outline that breaks the show into segments no greater than 5 minutes long. As shown in Figure 3.5, the outline should be set up in such a way as to help you fill every minute of your podcast with entertaining and/or interesting content.

Figure 3.5. An outline is a valuable tool to help keep you on track during a podcast.

If your outline for a 20-minute show is broken into two 10-minute segments, there isn't much point in constructing it. On the other hand, if the outline is broken into 10 two-minute segments, the flow and content of the show will be easy to maintain. Even if you have a detailed outline, and a guest takes five times longer to answer a question than you thought she would, the outline is still valuable, because all the show segments are in front of you, allowing you to decide at a glance which ones to drop.

In summary, an outline helps remove any indecision during the recording of the podcast. When the host has a written schedule sitting on a desk in front of him during the recording, any unexpected happenings don't have to fluster him or cause other problems.

If your show is meant to be a spontaneous affair, a script is most certainly not for you. That said, even if your podcast is meant to be spontaneous, packed with seat-of-the-pants observations, an outline is still worth the effort.

Detailed Script

If the outline is complete enough, a detailed script may not be necessary. The need for a script depends on the host's ability to talk on the fly and keep the flow of the show going. If the host is the kind of person who has difficulty with idle banter while maintaining the flow of the podcast, however, a detailed script will be in order.

A script can be so detailed that it contains every line that is to be said during the show (Figure 3.6), but if you go to this extreme, you must be careful not to make what's being said too rigid. We have all seen movies in which the lines seem scripted, as though they are just being read and not formed naturally by the actors. In radio, you want a similar feelinga natural feeling that gives the illusion that everything that's being said is spontaneous.

Figure 3.6. The script for the first "Secrets of Podcasting" podcast was written out entirely (except for the banter with the guest). I used color coding in the text blocks to help me know where I was and what sections represented new concepts.