Podcasts

I listened to five of the six podcasts Dr. Strange recommended. I did not listen to ConnectLearning because I could not find it, instead I listened to The Podcast for teachers. It can be found in the Listeners Also Subscribed To tab from the SmartBoard Page. I learned a lot about podcasts from listening to these six. They each had unique characteristics about them, but there was a bit of a formula present in each one.

The first thing I noticed was that each podcast started out with an introduction. Some had music, which made it a little more interesting. During this time they usually said the title of their podcast and a website it is connected to. I think it's a good idea to have a website so that that audience has something to look at while they are listening to the program. Also they usually introduce the topic that they will be talking about. They have to make it sound as interesting as possible so that the audience will continue to listen.

Usually after the introduction the people in the podcast talk informally to each other before jumping straight into the topic. This helps the audience get to know the people talking and helps make the beginning interesting and usually comical. After that they get to the meat of their topic. I noticed that the topics were subjects that the speakers were passionate and very knowledgeable about. Also they usually brought up different websites associated with what they were talking about. This helps the audience more clearly see the topic and may help them understand what the speaker is talking about.

There were also a few other random things that I noticed in these podcasts. I noticed that in most of the podcasts the speakers were in different locations. I think it is amazing that people in different states or even different countries could get together and create a podcast. I also noticed that it is important to talk at the right pace. Too fast and people will not get your message, but too slow and people may get bored, normal conversation pace is the best for podcasts. Finally, I noticed that when the speakers gave examples they would describe them in depth. When the audience just has the speaker's voice to rely on it's important that the speaker describes everything in a way that the audience can visualize what they are talking about.