A podcast is a lecture distributed over the internet.

It usually an audio lecture, but there are some video podcasts as well. Audio podcasts are sometimes described as internet radio shows.

In some respects, these online radio broadcasts are like sitting in a lecture hall, awake and listening to the professor, but with your eyes closed. But podcasts:

• are available 24/7,
• can be downloaded as mp3 audio files, and played back through a cell phone or computer any time you want.
• can be replayed, either in portions or their entirety, and
• that are well-done are educationally efficient and effective.

In 2009, I became interested in podcasting as a way to teach students and residents. I produced 15 of these podcasts in a short time, and published them on iTunes, where they achieved some popularity. They were subsequently removed by iTunes – apparently too graphic.

Periodically, after speaking to a group of students or residents (or attending), someone will approach me and say, “You’re the Gray Haired OBGYN, aren’t you? I recognize your voice from your podcasts.” These people are listening to the podcasts in their car, or on the commuter rail line on the way to work. Some are listening while they are running on the treadmill or lifting weights. I point this out simply to illustrate that different people find learning opportunities in different places and different ways. Podcasts aren’t for everyone, for they are quite useful for some.

There is a learning curve to preparing podcasts. You can’t just record a lecture and expect it to be effective. This is how I did mine:

Script

I wrote out a script for each podcast. I tried to keep it relatively short…5 to 15 minutes. Longer, and I thought the audience would start to fade. Shorter, and it’s hard to get in all the material. A script is not identical to a textbook chapter. It is conversational in tone, in the first person as much as possible, and is paced to match what you might say in a lecture. Unlike a video, you don’t have visuals to help you, so you must do a good enough job verbally.

Some of these scripts I wrote from scratch. Others I modified from other things I had already written.

Recording

I recorded my own voice reading the script. I have no background in voices, but my voice was readily available and free. These two features outweighed my lack of training or experience in voice recording.

I recorded in my basement using a good quality microphone ( Audio-Technika AT-3035), feeding into a pre-amp (Lexicon Lambda), before going into the back of the computer. I placed a “spit shield” between my mouth and the microphone, but otherwise tried to get as close as possible to the microphone. The microphone was supported by an elastic “shock cradle” and was held by a microphone stand. I didn’t use any kind of recording studio, but my office is carpeted and has sound-dampening ceiling tile. I did turn off the office air conditioning or heating while recording so the microphone wouldn’t pick up this extraneous noise.

For the recording, I used the free, downloadable program Audacity. I didn’t make multiple takes, just one from beginning to end. Sometimes, I’d need to pause my reading, back up, and repeat what I just said (but better, or with the correct pronunciation). I corrected all of these problems while editing the video.

I generally recorded in the mornings when my voice was “fresh” and sometimes drank tea to clear out the mucous.

Headphones

I used standard studio-quality headphones (AKG/K271/MKII) during the recording and editing process. I was surprised by how much more I could hear with the headphones than just computer speakers.

Editing the Audio

Once recorded, I would edit the audio file in several ways:

• I would suppress background noise (“Noise Reduction”)
• I would edit out all the mistakes, the stutters, the false starts, clearing my voice, coughs, and “Ummm”s.
• I would shorten the pauses between sentences to a uniform pace. Not rushed, but not slow either.
• I would standardize the volume of everything to unity. This is done electronically by Audacity, and makes everything the same volume, even if your mouth moves too far away from the microphone while you’re recording.
• I added in some music and musical effects at the beginning, the end, and at each change in subtopic. If I were to redo it today, I think I would skip this part as it isn’t necessary and some people find it distracting. I guess I was trying to be entertaining and make the podcast have the same feel as other successful podcasts. But I don’t think any of that is necessary.
• I save the edited file in MP3 format (for iTunes) and also in WAV format (higher quality, in the event I ever needed to re-edit it.) I’ve never gone back and re-edited, but the MP3 files have been very useful, not just for iTunes, but for linking to my various websites.

Learning the Art and Science of Podcasting

I will forever be indebted to Dave Jackson and his “School of Podcasting” Podcasts. It is easy to access through iTunes at “School of Podcasting.”

I listened to his podcasts, in which he described in detail the technical steps for production and distribution of these audio lectures. He seemed to be very successful at this art, so I constructed my own podcasts, using his podcasts as a model. This meant:

1. Opening music, upbeat
2. Common intro, with a plug for one of my websites
3. Music fades, and I begin the lecture.
4. With each major change of subject within the lecture, a recognizable 3-second musical cue.
5. Toward the end of the lecture, fading in the upbeat music to let the listener know I’m close to the end.
6. Common final, “See ya!”

Some of my Mistakes

1. I didn’t handle the music very well. The structure I used is probably effective for the general public in capturing and maintaining their attention, but for professional audiences, I think many of them find it annoying. I’m not opposed to a musical introduction and closing, But if I were to redo the podcasts today, I’d tone down the music and eliminate the musical “punctuation” to denote changes in topic.
2. I shouldn’t have included promotions for one of my websites. I did it because that’s how Dave Jackson did it, but I didn’t recognize that his needs in a commercial podcast were not the same as my needs in a professional podcast. If I were to redo my podcasts today, I’d take out the promotional material.