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A short guide to writing a great scholarly podcast. Take a copy of your highest graded paper from the last semester or your most recently published article. Read it aloud to a friend. Was it easy to read? To pay attention to? Do they remember what you said? One of the first things any podcaster learns is that writing for a listening audience uses a different author's toolkit. When we are listening, we absorb information, keep track of facts and characters, and visualize numbers and data differently. Furthermore, when we podcast, we are sharing our research stories with a public audience. The rhetoric and vocabulary we use to signal to peers that we too are conversant in disciplinary conventions can become alienating to a general audience. To be an effective and engaging podcast hosts, we need to master a new way to communicate. Let's consider eschewing jargon in favor of a welcoming vocabulary and exchanging formal presentation for friendly conversation. Below, we...

Podcast Recording at Home If you have a little money to invest in purchasing audio recording equipment, there are many affordable options for recorders, or microphones that can connect to your phone or computer. The kind of microphone you choose will be influenced by price and also what kind of sound your podcast will require; for instance whether you plan to record single voices speaking directly to the microphone, need to capture sound from far away, or want to be able to collect multiple people talking at once or record environmental sounds. For additional information on selecting microphones and getting clean audio at home check out: "Recording Audio" from the Google/PRX Podcasting 101 series Audio Recorders from the Berkeley Advanced Media Institute Tips and tricks for recording at home Regardless of what equipment you are using, there are some simple tricks that you can keep in mind to improve the quality of your audio. 1. Choose your recording location wisely Find a space that is quietSmaller spaces will produce...

A transcript is a written record of the audio content you present in your podcast. Creating a transcript of each podcast episode can benefit both the podcaster and the listener. Publishing your transcript online will provide listeners with another way engage with your podcast and delve more deeply into your research. Your transcript can enrich your audio story with images and other media, particularly if you reference artworks, films, architecture, or other visuals. If you are quoting published sources or reference other research, your transcript can give your listeners citations that support your work. You can even use your episode notes to provide bibliographies and link to other online resources. A transcript published alongside your audio content also makes your podcast more discoverable online. While many listeners may find your podcast through a content provider like Spotify or a phone application, anyone interested in or researching the subject of your podcast can only find your work on the open web if...

Editing Software Audacity is an open source sound editing software that is free to download and use. Audacity is a robust tool that is easy to learn, helping novice podcasters achieve a professional sound in a short period of time. Since audacity can be downloaded to your local device, it is a good option for podcasters who don't have round-the-clock access to the internet, or who experience difficulty using web applications due to sharing bandwidth at home. You can download Audacity online and follow the tutorial below to get started. However, because Audacity is so broadly available there are hundreds of tutorials, message boards, tips, and tricks around the web that can answer many questions and help you acquire more advanced skills. Another commonly used software for audio editing is Adobe Audition, which you can find on many computers at Columbia and also in Barnard's Instructional Media and Technology Services (IMATS), located in the Milstein Center. Audition provides additional tools to help...