The Human Factor: Five Tips for a Better Audio Podcast

More and moreorganizations are interested in developing informal learning channelsfor their employees, and Podcasts can be an inexpensive way toprovide high-quality information for both on-site and mobileaudiences. As is true of other media, however, user expectations forPodcasts revolve around other concerns. Here are five tips that canhelp you meet users’ expectations and build a more engagingPodcast.

Keep it conversational

Some beginners andcorporate Podcasters try to create a program with a single speakerreading from a script or speaking off-the-cuff on a topic.Charismatic and engaging speakers may be able to carry an entirePodcast on their own, but such speakers are rare. It’s easier forspeakers, and more engaging for listeners, to create a format thatrequires exchanges of information.

There is one caveatto this recommendation. When selecting participants for an audioPodcast, it’s important to remember that listeners won’t be ableto see the speakers, and may have difficulty distinguishing betweenthem if their voices are similar. Choosing speakers of differentgenders, or remembering to use one another’s names frequently makesit easier for a listener to follow the thread of the conversation.

If a user can’t subscribe to it, it isn’t a Podcast

Worse, it becomesless usable. Much of the power of a Podcast comes from the fact thatyou push the content to a location convenient for the user. It’strue that users can play and download an audio file that that isn’toffered in an RSS feed, but even listeners who had a positiveexperience might not remember to look for the content a second time.No matter how interesting and exciting your content is, if a user hasto remember to search for it, they’re less likely to access it.

A corollary toconsider is that you should update content offered as an RSS feedfrequently; once a month at a bare minimum. If a feed looks dead,users unsubscribe, and they probably won’t look for it againwithout prompting.

Choose a theme for the Podcast

No, not music,although you can use it if you like. Like their counterparts informal learning situations, Podcast listeners like to have some ideaof what to expect from a Podcast before they listen. Establishing atheme for the series can help the users determine what’s in it forthem.

Choosing aparticular program format can help as well. A Podcast of a roundtablediscussion with a panel of experts, or a conversation between a hostand a subject matter expert, is very effective when covering hottopics. You can facilitate language learning with a series of shortconversations in the target language, followed by opportunities forlearners to practice words or answer practice questions.

Once you’vesettled on a format, stick with it. The more users understand what toexpect beforehand, the easier it is for them to focus on thesubstance, rather than the style of the Podcast.

Soft-skills topics work especially well

Because listenerstend to listen on the go, Podcasts aren’t the ideal format forhighly detailed technical information. Soft-skills topics, on theother hand, can be especially memorable when presented in Podcastform.

One way to attack aprogram on soft skills is to start with a story or a dialog thatillustrates the problem you want to address, maybe something liketelephone skills. After you have established the example, it canbecome a touch point for the rest of the program. Best practices holdmore weight when they can be evaluated against an example orcounter-example.

Choose a set amount of time for the Podcast

A Podcast doesn’thave to be long to be effective. In fact, you can cover most topicsthoroughly enough for a casual audience within 15 minutes, and youcan consider most informal learners a casual audience. BecausePodcasts are in a series, each following program in the series offersthe opportunity to cover material that was covered incompletely orleft unexplored. As you begin to collect feedback from the listeners,you’ll be able to gauge whether your series is meeting theirexpectations, and adjust accordingly.

A final thought

Although the designof most of the communications channels we use every day was not asinstructional technologies, they all offer opportunities forincidental and informal learning, Podcasts included. Keeping yourPodcast consistent with users’ expectations helps ensure that yourcontent will reach its intended audience.