Creativity Works: Podcasting MIDWAY CHECKIN

20 November 2020

To kick off the week on Tuesday we heard an elevator pitch from all the participants – there was such a diverse interesting range of topics.

The first session of the week was from Creative Rebels (David Speed & Adam Brazier), Shivani Dave (The Log Books), and Melanie Hong (Melting Pot) speaking on podcasting without restrictions.

David highlighted the importance of building up a rapport with people before going straight in asking people to be involved with your project. While Adam pushed that If you want to make a change and start a movement you can be one person alone or create an audience and make an army.

Shivani shared a top tip on listening back to your audio, she mentioned going for walks to listen to your content out of the space of your editing desk away from your screen and Melanie shared her experience transitioning from another subject/profession into podcasting.

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On Wednesday Arlie Adlington shared incredible stories from his personal and professional journey in audio, we heard a clip from ‘international trans person helpline’ where Arlie’s friend directs him on how to inject his hormones via skype due to not being able to go to the doctor over lockdown.

Alongside Arie, Axel Kacoutie shared snippets of his soundscape work and assured the group that you can make interesting content about the most boring subjects...

“Your project could be about rocks, you can find something people won’t know about rocks to tell them and surprise them, it's just a matter of unpicking until you find something.”

After hearing about Axel Producing a Short Cuts Podcast episode for BBC Radio 4, Zoe from the podcasting cohort mentioned listening to Short Cuts is like listening to ‘podcast tapas’. Another participant Isaiah, took away from the session with Axel and Arlie that...

“it’s not just about producing audio but producing emotion.”

On Thursday we had Rachel Simpson, Steve Akerman and Ben Chapman sharing their wisdom from their journeys to their respective positions at Spotify, Audible & Somethin’ Else. They hammered home the importance of grabbing any opportunity that you can,

“it is competitive out there so become obsessed with your industry and don’t take no as an answer.”

The panel also shared lots of practical advice about getting your start in the industry, Ben Chapman

“I’ve always done something sideways of what I thought I’d be doing but I’ve loved it. You can also learn skills e.g processing meta data, that might help you get into related jobs that can help you get a foot in the door.”

On Thursday the cohort saw things from an international perspective with guests Sutanya Dacres (Dinner for One Podcast - Paris) and Rasmus Bitsch (They Killed Dulcie -SA)

One of Sutanya’s top tips when dealing with a hugely personal subject in a podcast was

“finding things that are specific to your experience mixed with universal references”

Rasmus focused on the importance of telling forgotten stories so they don’t become erased and history is recorded incorrectly and how to handle these huge subjects in a personal manner.

When dealing with a historical topic look at the big structures then think of who are the characters you can use to tell the story. Simply by listening you get given a lot you maybe weren’t expecting of people and narratives that aren’t usually associated with these particular people.

“I feel like podcasting and audio storytelling can provide real emotional engagement more than any other medium, you maybe handling big topic that doesn’t sound so interesting but once you hear from the people it creates strong connection.”

They both emphasised the value of having an outsider perspective when making a podcast in a different country.

Rachel Simpson, Steve Akerman, and Ben Chapman: Platforms: The Big Beasts

Axel & Arlie: Storytelling through sound