Podcasting Services
audio production · feed set-up · training and capacity-building · communications and knowledge translation
Podcasting for Research Knowledge Translation
At first glance, podcasting may not seem like an obvious choice to support your project or research objectives. There are a LOT of podcasts out there and it can feel overwhelming to add one to the mix. Because of the low barrier to entry, the quality of available podcasts can feel hit or miss. It can be hard to imagine how yet another podcast will stand out.
However, consider: who can benefit from your research findings? And how are you connecting with them? A well-produced podcast with a clearly defined vision may be an effective way to stimulate dialogue, represent a diversity of views, and communicate a level of transparency and accountability that’s difficult to accomplish with documents, blog posts, and webinars. Popularity is less important than relevance and value, especially if your potential audience is relatively small.
Podcasting for Knowledge Translation webinar, recorded October 18 2022
Podcast planning and strategy
Full audio/technical production
Scripting and interviewing
Feed set-up
Training and capacity-building
Health and Healthcare
Patient engagement and partnership are seen as ways to make healthcare more accountable and relevant to patient needs. However, transparency is often lacking. Podcasting allows for candid check-ins on the process, and provides an historic and ongoing form of public documentation.
Communications
People now access news, information and
content in a myriad of ways, including through podcasts. A podcast episode or series could be an important component of a multi-stream communications and knowledge dissemination strategy.
Project Objectives
Podcasting may be a good way to creatively satisfy project objectives around evaluation, communication, capacity building, and skills development.
Insight
We pay attention to information differently when we listen rather than just read. Listening to a podcast can feel intimate and connecting, and can allow us to understand perspectives and ideas in ways we might not otherwise.
Accessibility
We listen to podcasts while walking, exercising, cooking, driving, grocery shopping… we can listen in most life situations. Podcasts can also be produced in a manner appropriate to the intended audience. Ideally, podcasts should be transcribed so people can read along, read instead, or cite parts of episodes.
Creativity
There are as many podcasting formats as there are podcasts! Whether presenting viewpoints, telling a story or merely invoking a mood, podcasting is a highly flexible medium that can be crafted to suit virtually any communications objective.
What's involved
Our goal is to make the podcast listening experience as enjoyable and accessible as possible. This means ensuring our scripting is easy to understand and logical, audio quality is clear and without distraction, and that our guests’ interviews are edited to convey their meaning and intent. Planning, research, scripting, and technical production are all as important as the interviews themselves.
- Strategic planning
- Series and episode planning
- Topic research
- Selecting and scheduling interviewees
- Conducting interviews
- Script writing
- Recording narration
- Audio editing and mixing
- Sound and music
- Podcast feed setup and distribution
- Transcription
- Training and capacity-building
Common non-fiction formats
INTERVIEW
A hosted format where an expert (or
someone with a particular experience)
is interviewed. Typically, audio from
both host and guest are included.
PRESENTATION
This format may or may not be hosted,
and involves a person (usually an expert)
explaining a concept, presenting
research, or perhaps describing a project
or event.
DISCUSSION PANEL
A hosted format where several people,
usually experts, are gathered to present
views and engage in discussion.
POINT OF VIEW
A non-narrated, non-hosted format
where a person describes their
experience or shares their opinion or
perspective. Audio may have been
extracted from an interview, but the
interviewer is usually left out.
SCRIPTED AUDIO ESSAY
A non-fiction format that is usually
centered around a topic or idea, and may
include multiple voices. While the
dialogue may sound informal, episodes
are planned and scripted.
AUDIO STORY
Well-produced multi-dimensional story
format to tell a non-fiction narrative or
teach a concept through development
of character, scene and setting.
Low to the Ground produces Matters of Engagement
A podcast examining issues at the intersection of health, health care and society
