Objective
My name is Harrison Scott. I am a Communications Senior at Brigham Young University-Idaho with an emphasis in Video Production. For my communications senior project I decided to create, host, and promote a health improvement podcast called, “the Zero-2-100 Podcast.” I created this podcast because I know how challenging and painful it can be to make a sustained change in your health habits. When I was in high school I weighed over 360 pounds. As a young member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints it had been my goal from my childhood to participate in a two-year mission service. In order to achieve this goal I needed to lose 100 pounds.
With the help of physicians, during my junior and senior year of high school I began implementing health changes. At the end of my senior year I successfully lost the weight and served a mission. In the process of losing weight I found that four aspects of health played key roles in my ability to change: my physical and physiological health, my nutrition, my mental health, and my exercise habits. I believe that these four aspects help determine an individuals overall health. Additionally, I found that only by offering small, yet diligent, efforts to change in these facets of health was I able to sustain the change. I know that this kind of change is desperately difficult to achieve, and that many get discouraged at even the prospect of such changes.
The Zero-2-100 Podcast has been created to help individuals, no matter their health goals, find the best way for them to purse their goal. In the podcast, I introduce my story, the four aspects of overall health, and the means by which I was able to change. Taking a token from the teachings of my church, I decided to refer to these health aspects as: “Heart,” “Might,” “Mind,” and “Strength.” Because I want these principles to be applicable to individuals of all faiths, and appeal to anyone trying to change, the podcast dives only into what we can personally do to affect change in these areas, and avoids any additional religious sentiment. It does however prompt the concept of the aggregation of marginal gains. This concept allows us to reach for our personal goals at our own pace and skill level, by promoting small changes that can then result in much larger ones.
Process
To create this podcast, and ensure it would be of a quality and value of which I could be proud, I began first by establishing clear creative intent with a creative brief and production plan.
Creative Brief:
The creative brief details my plan to invite student and professional guests from each focus area to share their personal insights and experience. It clearly identifies the audience that the podcast would be designed to cater to, with a description of their geographics, psychographics, and demographics as well as a detailed persona. It details my plan to produce five episodes, later modified to 4 with an introductory trailer in place of a pilot episode, each offering a look at ways to improve health in a specific focus area. It includes a brief description of what the episodes will entail, their structure, style, any necessary tools or locations required for production, and so on.
Production Plan:
After establishing the creative brief, I specifically scheduled and assigned benchmark due dates for specific procedures to be completed in my project plan. I assigned each benchmark a clear due date and offered myself the final week of the project as emergency time (indicated “EM Time”) to ensure all other responsibilities have been fulfilled. Throughout the project I would refer back to the plan daily to report and record the total time spent on the project each week.
Episode Outlines and Procedure:
As the project moved toward production I had to find and connect with the student and professional guests from each field. I eventually was able to secure the assistance of nine guests, 7 students and 2 professors studying, teaching, or developing practical experience in the four focus areas. In order to ensure that my guests time would be used most effectively, prior to each episode I created an outline episode, including any scripted materials represented in ALL CAPS. These outlines include my introduction, guest’s bios, three main pillars of discussion (1) The guest’s and my own personal experiences with the focus aspect, 2) What is the recommendation of science and medicine on this subject, 3) How can we get closer to that goal), and the final wrap up. Before each episode I would either send each guest a copy of that episode’s outline, or else have an in-person meeting with them showing the outline and describing the areas to be discussed during recording.
Social Media and Branding:
Before any episode production could begin it was essential for me to determine how I could publish, promote, and establish the brand of the podcast. I determined to establish the podcast on Spotify for Podcasters, formerly Anchor FM, because it easily allowed me to publish the podcast on Spotify as well as connect the account to additional channel outlets including Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music. I chose these outlets because these are the free outlets I have used throughout my experience listening to podcasts. I knew I wanted to establish a social media presence to promote the content of the podcast, so I began by creating the brand icon. I used free typefaces and icon elements from Canva to create the original design, and then adapted the icon to better utilize negative space, contrast, depth, and the overall style of the podcast. The image below shows from right to left the evolution of the icon from the initial design to the final result.
To promote the podcast on social media I established an account for it on both Facebook and Instagram. The two accounts are connected through Meta allowing the posts I add on one account to be posted on the other. I was able to use these platforms to connect viewers directly to Spotify and the episodes. The Facebook account even features a “Watch Now” action button connecting directly to the podcast’s Spotify page. The video below offers a quick view of both pages.
Deliverables
The Zero-2-100 Podcast Trailer:
This introductory trailer explains the significance and goal of the Zero-2-100 Podcast in my life, shares my story, and how by making simple small changes great changes helped me start seeing great improvements in my health.
Episode 1: Heart:
In this episode I met with Marcus Vellinga and Dan Cassiano, both nursing majors in their senior year at Brigham Young University-Idaho. We addressed how measurements like blood pressure, BMI, and other specific health metrics can sometimes give us a pessimistic perspective on our health. Together we challenged this view and identified how we can move forward.
Episode 2: Might:
In this episode I met with Marah Olmstead and Tyler Clifford of BYU-Idaho’s Dietetic Society. Marah is the society’s President and Tyler it’s Vice President. Together we addressed healthier and more sustainable ways to adapt eating habits to better suit an individual’s health goals.
Episode 3: Mind:
In this episode I met with Prof. Devon Marrott and Dr. Rob Wright of BYU-Idaho’s psychology department. Together we addressed some of the contributing factors that lead to increased feelings of anxiety and other negative thoughts, and how we might combat them. We also discussed the positive power of stress when properly applied.
Episode 4: Strength:
In this final episode I met with Sydney Breshears, Camila Araneda, and Conlan Pabst all BYU-Idaho students studying and working in strength and conditioning. Together we discussed ways to increase physical activity by identifying activities we already enjoy, the power of endorphins, and keeping your exercising efforts simple.
Reflection
Technical:
When I began this project I set out to create a health podcast focused on improving health in the areas of “Heart”(physical), “Might”(nutritional), “Mind”(mental), and “Strength”(exercise). I wanted the content of these episodes to be sustained by student and professional guests offering personal and research driven counsel to begin improvement in each area. I wanted to create four main episodes focusing on each aspect of health, a pilot episode to introduce my own story with weight loss, as well as social media content on Facebook and Instagram to raise awareness of the content. In the last ten weeks I have been able to create four podcast episodes targeting these four aspects, featuring seven student guests and two professional guests lending experience and counsel to these facets of health. Each episode was between 30 to 40 minutes long and featured at least two guests. Each episode was recorded at the University Communications Building in the podcast studio and edited using Adobe Audition. With the advice from my mentor Brandon Isle I decided to replace the initial pilot episode with a trailer. Finally, I have established icons, images, and reel content for social media and to promote the episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Youtube Music, Amazon Music, and iHeartRadio.
Value:
When I began I hoped to be able to help individuals who want to improve their health situation, as I have, but are daunted in the face of all that needs to be accomplished and don’t know where to begin. When I was in high school I weighed more than 360 pounds and had no idea how to change. By practicing these four aspects I was able to, with direction from professional physicians, lose 100 pounds. In these last ten weeks since beginning the project and practicing these principles, I have lost fifteen pounds. The overall reach of the podcast is relatively small with only three followers on Spotify and a total of 44 plays all-time for the combination of all episodes and the trailer. I would like to use this podcast for my portfolio, the experience I have gained, and my understanding of these procedures to potentially join a sports analysis podcast for the Kansas City Chiefs. I am also hoping to be able to continue to add to the Zero-2-100 Podcast so I continue to refine these skills and increase my own marketability. After assessing my starting goals and what I was able to accomplish, I am confident that I have helped create impactful content that can be a powerful tool to those who are seeking to begin these health changes. I still have plenty of room for improvement, one area in particular is vocal presence and confidence, but I am proud of what has been accomplished and look forward to seeing how the podcast can grow in the future.