Podcast Slidedoc

1. Deliverable 2:
How to compose the Podcast
1
English 317: Technical Writing

2. 2
Table of Contents
Learning Objectives..........................................................................................................3
About Podcasts.................................................................................................................4
How to Create the Podcast ..........................................................................................5
Option 1: Use Podsnack ..............................................................................................6
Option 2: Create and Audio File and Upload to Host Site........................................7-8
Your Podcast: subject, audience, and purpose .....................................................9-11
Writing the Podcast Script ..............................................................................................12-14
Introduction..................................................................................................................15
Body..............................................................................................................................16
Conclusion....................................................................................................................17
Closing ..........................................................................................................................18
Presentation Speaking Style Concepts ......................................................................19
Vocal Variety ...............................................................................................................20-21
Pitch .....................................................................................................................22
Tone .....................................................................................................................23
Volume ................................................................................................................24
Rate .....................................................................................................................25-26
Pause ............................................................................................................................27
Diction...........................................................................................................................28

3. Learning Objectives:
3
Adapt prose style concepts
for the ear.
Apply presentation speaking
style concepts: vocal variety,
pace, pause, and diction.
Compose a podcast script.

4. About Podcasts
4
A British journalist combined the Apple’s iPod with the word
broadcast to coin the term Podcast. Podcasts can be audio-only,
video, or broadcasted live.
Businesses and Organizations Use Podcasts
Externally: to promote products and services to customers.
Internally: to share information between employees,
particularly, in project teams.
You will compose an audio only podcast aimed at an external
audience.

5. How to create your podcast.
You need a microphone, and the one in your computer will be
fine for this project.
Your podcast must be hosted on a site that allows users to play it
without having to download the file.
There are several options for how to create your podcast.
5

6. Option 1: Use Free Tools that Host Your File
• Under Tools and Resources on the course menu you
will find free tools that allow you to record and that
will also host your file.
6

7. Option 2:
Create an Audio File and Upload to Host Site
• Under Tools and Resources, you will also find other
options for for how to create an audio file (MP3, .WAV
etc.), if you use these options you will need to upload
your file to a host site such as YouTube or SoundCloud.
7

8. Digital audio files (mp3, wav etc.) are not accepted in this
course. Here’s why. You are practicing how to create and share
these types of files as they are shared in workplace settings.
So, if you choose to create an audio file on your computer, be
certain it is uploaded to a host site and will play without a user
needing to download the file.
Audio files uploaded to bblearn will not be graded nor earn
credit for this part of the project.
8

9. Your Podcast:
subject, audience, and purpose.
• The general subject of your podcast will be research
at the University of Idaho.
• Your audience will be members of the general
public.
• Your purpose will be to inform the audience about
research currently being conducted at the
university.
9

10. You will need to choose a specific focus.
You may choose to focus your
podcast about
• some specific research,
• a research program,
• or one or more researchers.
10

11. To find a focus, do some investigation.
11
The UI Research and Economic Development website
News and Features is a good place to start.

12. After you have chosen the focus and taken
some notes, you will need to write a script and
practice it.
12
The goal is not to sound like a
professional broadcaster but to
develop a clear presentation
speaking style.

13. Practice the principles of effective prose style
when writing the script but adapt these for the
ear by keeping sentences short.
13
You should be able to say
each sentence in your
script in a single breath.

14. Writing the script.
• Write out exactly what you want to say.
• Keep the sentences short, use plain English, and
keep paragraphs to a few lines.
• Your podcast needs a clear structure:
• Introduction
• Body – Key Points
• Conclusion
14

15. Your script will need:
15
Introduction
About 30
seconds.
Key Points
About 1-2
minutes
Conclusion
About 30
seconds.
Timing

16. Introduction:
16
About 30 seconds
Brief salutation: greet the audience
and give them an idea of what you
will be presenting in the podcast.
You can also start with an engaging
question such as “have you ever
wondered about ……?” and then use
the salutation.

17. Body:
17
About 1-2 minutes.
Key Points: think about how many points
you can reasonably talk about in 2
minutes.
About four key points and 30 seconds to
talk about each one should work well,
but don’t follow this as a rigid rule. Think
about what works best for what you will
talk about.

18. Closing:
18
About 30 seconds
Wrap it Up. Have a clear
conclusion, here are some
ideas:
• What’s next? – point listeners to future
research,
• Where can I learn more? – point listeners
to where they can learn more.
• Thank the audience for listening.

19. Presentation Speaking Style Concepts
• Vocal Variety
• Pitch
• Tone
• Volume
• Rate
• Pause
• Diction
19
The content on the following slides had been adapted from: Write-Out-Loud. Links
to this site with exercises for how to improve your presentation speaking style can
be found under Tools and Resources on the project page.

20. What is vocal variety?
20
• Vocal variety or vocalics refers
to the nonverbal features of our
speaking style. These features
are pitch, tone volume, and
rate.

21. Vocal Variety Goal
21
• Your goal as a speaker is to have a
range of vocal variety that allow you
to adapt your speaking style to meet
audience needs.
• For example, giving a eulogy at a
funeral would require a different
speaking style than delivering a
conference presentation.

22. Vocal Variety: Pitch
22
• Our voices all have a natural pitch,
which is like music with high and low
notes.
• If your pitch range is narrow, mostly
high or mostly low notes, your voice
will have a monotonous effect on
listeners.

23. Vocal Variety: Tone
23
• Our voices carry emotional content
through the tone we use.
• If your voice lacks expression, it will be
flat and lack energy.
• If you fill your speech with too much
energy, it will seem overly exuberant
and forced.

24. Vocal Variety: Volume
24
• Some of us naturally speak softer or
louder than others.
• Volume affects how the audience
perceives your trustworthiness.
• Learn how to consciously control the
volume of your voice.

25. Vocal Variety: Rate
25
When we speak, rate refers to the pace
of our speech. Speech rate is calculated
at the number of words spoken in a
minute.
Slow speech is less than 110 wpm.
Conversational speech falls between 120
wpm at the slow end to 160 - 200 wpm in
the fast range.
People who read books for radio or
podcasts speak at 150-160 wpm.
Auctioneers or commentators who
practice speed speech are usually in the
250 to 400 wpm range.

26. To calculate your speaking rate:
26
Time yourself speaking from your
script.
Next, take the total number of
words spoken and divide by the
number of minutes it took you to
speak them.
Speaking Rate (wpm) = Total words / # of
minutes

27. Remember to pause periodically:
• It will help the audience to understand
you,
• Help you control the rate of your
speech and avoid distracting filler
words (um, er, ah), and
• And will allow your mind to “catch up”
to what your mouth is saying.
27

28. Diction
28
• Diction is not about changing your
accent (everyone has an accent).
• It’s about clearly enunciating the words
you speak.
• Speaking too fast will affect diction.
Go to Tools and Resources on the project page, to learn
exercises to help you develop effective diction.