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22.03.2019

Making media yourself: podcasts

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3 minutes reading time
3-17 years
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Entertainment
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Many kids and teens enjoy listening to podcast. But how about also sharing your own exciting stories and what’s on your mind in your own podcast? This is easier than you might think. We explain how you can easily create, record and publish your own podcast together with your kids at home.

The preparation

Most podcasts are about a specific overarching theme. It’s best to find a topic that interests you and your children and that you can talk a lot about.

Also, think about a name for the podcast. Try to find a name that is easy to remember and arouses curiosity.

The research and elaboration

Once the topic has been found, you can start working on the individual podcast episode. Find a specific subtopic to go with your main topic. So, for example, if you want to do a podcast about cuddly animals, the first episode could focus on your favorite cuddly bear.

Now it’s best to make bullet points with the most important information you want to include later in the podcast. For this purpose, you can, for example, collect interesting facts from the Internet and additionally contribute your own thoughts, ideas and feelings.

For the example with the favorite cuddly bear, this could mean the following in concrete terms: Report when and how the cuddly bear came into the family. Describe the bear, how it has changed, and what meaning it has for your child. Tell a little story!

To get started, consider a greeting. A simple “Hey and welcome to the podcast ‘Now it’s getting cuddly’. We’re talking about teddy bears today.” can be quite enough.

In the same way, a short farewell is important. You can also involve your audience here: “What’s your favorite cuddly toy? Tell us about it in the comments below and tune in again next time. Until then!”.

Take turns telling the story with your children and consider letting the teddy have his say. Also, research appropriate music and sounds to make the podcast more lively. This overview can be helpful.

The recording

Recording a podcast is often easier than you think and doesn’t require expensive technology. All you need is a smartphone or tablet with a voice memo app.

Make sure you record the podcast in a quiet room to avoid possible noise. Also, it should not be too reverberant in the chosen room. If you make a test recording and listen to it, you can easily determine that.

The positioning of the recorder depends on the number of people speaking. Look where on the device the microphone is – usually a small hole at the bottom of the device. The microphone should be as close and central to the speakers as possible.

Speak loudly, clearly and not too fast. Try it out before you start shooting.

The postprocessing

For post-processing, a simple editing program like Audacity is recommended. (Audacity is available for free for all operating systems). This allows you to cut out possible slips of the tongue and noise or adjust the volume of the recording. With the help of this tutorial you can learn the basic functions of Audacity.

The publication

Once your family podcast is ready and everyone likes it, you can share the file with friends and other family members. But of course, you can also consider publishing this on the Internet for a wider audience. The Soundcloud platform is recommended for this purpose, for example. As an adult, you can create a profile and upload files. (If you have a free account, you can upload up to 3 hours of audio). Consider carefully in advance whether you want the podcast to be available to everyone. Also, ask your children if it’s okay with them. It is also possible on Soundcloud to share an audio file privately, that is, not make it public for everyone.

If you enjoy it and your audience listens enthusiastically, perhaps podcasting could become a longer-term family project!

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