How to Structure Your Learning Podcast

Time:2010-02-20 22:48:45 Source:Ezinearticles Author:Jonathan G Halls

Everyone agrees podcasts are great for learning. But what structure should you follow when you make yours? Is there a standard?

Well, no, there isn't any one right way to structure your learning podcast. And in fact, if every trainer used the same narrative structure in her podcast, a lot of learning podcasts would be pretty boring. You know what happens in a boring training session, right? People go to sleep. It's no different for podcasts.

Your learning podcasts need to be lively and interesting as well as carefully structured to ensure the learning sticks. You need to use techniques that will draw in listeners. For example, your spoken word content needs to be tight and well-scripted. And you need to have a very clear editorial strategy.

Learning podcasts follow a didactic narrative

Learning podcasts are very specific in their focus. The narrative is didactic. We don't make learning podcasts to amuse, inform or entertain, but to teach. To be successful, you need to use very specific techniques.

Learning podcasts need an editorial strategy that follows a didactic narrative. Not surprisingly, we can do this by combining media and learning psychology.

So how can you structure a podcast so it's both interesting and ensures effective learning retention? Here are 5 principles.

Five principles

Locate the bullseye - define the learning outcome
Avoid indigestion - break your content into digestible chunks
Go 3D - use multiple modalities to bring your content alive
Be a content scrooge - make sure every piece of content achieves your learning outcome
Hammer it home - use stylistic repetition to make the learning stick

Locate your bullseye

Training professionals talk first about learning objectives and second about session plans. Your session plan is only a means to achieve the learning outcome.

Always start by writing a learning objective. Follow the traditional grammar of learning objectives and be as narrow and focused as you can. Your learning objective will be your yard stick to evaluate every piece of content in your learning podcast.

Avoid indigestion

You can't swallow a steak whole. You need to cut it up into digestible chunks. The same applies for learning new information.

Ask yourself what knowledge is required to achieve your podcast's learning objective? Break that knowledge into easy-to-understand chunks of information. Play around with the order so that they make sense to the learner.

Go 3D

Once you have broken your information into easy-to-manage knowledge chunks, ask yourself which modality will best convey your information. Most people think text will do it. But perhaps music and sound effects can more cleverly achieve your learning objectives.

Think also about forms of content. Could this information be best conveyed by interviewing a subject matter expert? Or is a monologue far more effective and manageable? Perhaps my learning objective is part of a conflict resolution course. In that case a role-play might bring the content to life.

To make your podcast interesting, don't just talk. Take advantage of everything this exciting medium has to offer.

Be a content scrooge.

There's an old saying that less is more. I don't like using that when it comes to media content production. Sure less is more but the reality is that the more you say, the more they forget. The essence of powerful podcasts is to keep everything as short as possible.

So when you're making your podcast, check every element of content and ask, is it really necessary?

How do you know if it is necessary? Your questions should be something along the lines of, "does this interview achieve the learning objective?" If you can't honestly say it does, drop it.

Hammer it home

Podcasts are not going to be ideal for skills learning. No matter how well I explain the process of changing a car tire, nothing will ever be as effective as actually practicing it with expert feedback. You need to know how tight to tighten your bolts. How to position the jack safely and so forth.

But podcasting is very effective for learning knowledge, when structured properly. After you've got your structure right, think about how you can hammer the points home and add some style.

One of the differences between learning and communication is that learning takes basic understanding to the level where you remember and apply that understanding. So how do you help your listeners remember your content?

Think of advertising. Repetition is one of the advertising world's oldest tricks. Of course it only works with interesting content. So repeat your key learning points. Make the repetition interesting by replaying key sound bites from subject matter experts. Use some music in the background to catch attention and influence energy levels. Integrate key learning points into your general monologues.

Repetition should not be new to the workplace learning professional. After all, it is also a key tool for learning. Remember how you learned your times tables back at school? Repetition. In your class room training sessions, you probably use repetition - albeit creatively - to ensure your learning sticks.

Don't be boring

It's scary how many trainers think that a learning podcast is like a lecture on the MP3 player. It's not. Learning podcasts are about creating audio that draws on both media and learning psychology to ensure they're well-structured as well as engaging.

Podcasts that are produced as lectures or monologues require your listeners to be either fanatically interested or be stuck in the middle of the desert without any distractions.

Good luck!

Read more free articles on how to create phenomenal podcasts at http://www.podcastersportal.com and listen to Jonathan's audio seminars. Jonathan G Halls is a speaker, writer and coach. He has trained thousands of professionals Europe and the United States from the media and in corporate organizations to make phenomenal podcasts.

Halls has worked as talk show host, journalist and media executive. He ran television, radio operations and new media training at the BBC. He has a masters and bachelors in adult education. Jonathan is based in Alexandria, Virginia and is the founder of Talkshow Media LLC. http://talkshowmedia.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jonathan_G_Halls

Prev:Podcasting Tips
Next:Podcasting - A Look at What it is and How it Started

Digg

Home

Partners

Related Posts

Your First Steps to Creating a Learning Podcast

Recent Posts

Hot Posts