A Podcast Project Overview Created by Katelyn Thompson
Over the past three months, I, Katelyn Thompson, have been working on a project to produce podcast episodes talking about the qualities it takes to become successful. This podcast is geared towards college seniors at Brigham Young University- Idaho in order to help them succeed after they graduate. I have been diligently working alongside my mentor, Jennifer Kriebel, every step of the way in order to bring this podcast to light.
Project Purpose
The purpose of this project was not only to provide a podcast for college seniors getting ready to graduate, but also to increase my communications skills. I was able to work on my writing, interviewing, and professional speaking skills. I was also able to learn a little bit about recording and editing a podcast. I fulfilled my purpose with this project to become a more refined communications professional.
The Project
I titled my project, The Katelyn Thompson Podcast: Keys to Success. I recorded, edited, and uploaded four complete episodes throughout the duration of the project. I utilized Spotify for Podcasters in order to record and edit my podcasts, and I uploaded them all onto Spotify for anybody to listen to. In the first episode, I talked about discipline, the second about goal setting, the third about believing in yourself, and the fourth about persistence. Every other episode, I would bring on a guest speaker and conduct an interview about their experiences with the subject matter, and how college seniors could apply it to their lives. This project required a lot of networking and preparation in the background, but I am happy with the results.
Challenges
There were multiple challenges associated with this project, starting with coming up with a script for each podcast. I wanted to ensure that I had enough interesting content matter to keep my audience engaged for an extended amount of time, which meant I needed a lot of good quality content. Throughout this project, I was able to learn a good balance between quality research and personal and professional experiences.
Another challenge I experienced was recording a podcast with multiple people, and editing out noise. Each time I had a guest speaker, it made it so much harder to record and edit because a lot of them had to cough, sneeze, their phone buzzed during the podcast, etc. This was definitely a learning curve for me, because it taught me to prepare my interviewees beforehand. I also learned how to cut those noises out through the editing process.
One of my last challenges was coming up with good interview questions! I was initially scared because I thought I needed a big list of in-depth questions, but I learned that if I have just ten solid questions, then other questions will come up, and/or it will lead to an in-depth discussion.
Project Processes
The first thing that I had to do in order to create this podcast, was to come up with a game plan. This meant finding a resource to record, edit, and upload my podcast. I decided to go with Spotify for Podcasters because it was easy to use, and it had all of the tools I needed. I then had to come up with a topic and sub-topics. I wanted it to be something I am interested in, so I chose to do keys to success! I did a lot of research on this in order to come up with my sub topics as well. After I figured out my subtopics, I had to come up with scripts. I also decided that every other podcast I recorded, I would have a guest speaker. This created another challenge to coordinate with them.
Once I got everything set up, I ran this podcast on a two week schedule. The first week of each podcast episode, I would schedule an interview if I needed to, or I would do research and begin to write a script for the episode. During week 2 of each episode, I would record, edit, upload, and post a public update for the episode. Some weeks, this was a challenging time frame, but it was so worth it in the end.
My Experience
Overall, I had an amazing experience creating this podcast. I had some moments that were frustrating due to the learning curve of it all, but overall, I learned so much. I had a great time collaborating and networking with others as well. I am excited that I have had this opportunity because I have always wanted to create a podcast to develop my communications skills further, and now I know how to. My experience with this podcast has been wonderful, and I chose a wonderful mentor to help me through it all.
Insights
I loved doing this project, and I gained so many insights from doing it. One of the first insights I gained, was the importance of networking! Because I had networked before this project with different communications professionals, I knew exactly who would be a good fit to conduct interviews with for my podcast, and who would be a good fit as a mentor for me throughout the semester. Another insight I gained was that recording a podcast episode is easier than I thought, I just have to be comfortable with it, and interact like I have an audience in front of me. I know if anybody saw me recording my episodes, they would probably laugh with the animated faces I had to make in order to keep the podcast entertaining with my audio, but I think it really helped my episodes remain lively. Doing this project has helped my communications skills tremendously, and has really helped me to find my voice in a way, and to show my personality without compromising professionalism.
Conclusion
Completing this project was not just a check off the box thing for me, but it was honestly a wonderful experience filled with learning curves, and fun times. I appreciate all of the things I have learned throughout the duration of the project, and I look forward to applying these new learned skills in other areas of my life.