I’m not entirely sure who came up with the idea to start a podcast, but I do remember the team, especially our hosts Alan and Veronica feeling ecstatic about the idea of our own podcast. Of course, we should have our own podcast! The world of innovation is so exciting and there’s so much going on at the lab. We were never going to run out of things to share! We would just have to talk about something we’re passionate about and we do it all the time anyway! It couldn’t be that hard…
…or so we’d thought!
A quick lookup of how-to articles and YouTube videos gave us everything we needed to set ourselves up. We figured we’d do a few test-runs before we commit to any equipment. We realised the podcast would require a structure and after an hour of brainstorming, came up with is pointlessly elaborate masterpiece:
This was where we learnt our first lesson. The podcast was intended to have a comforting tone, following a casual conversation between two colleagues. We simply had too rigid a structure. It would’ve worked out perfectly for an educational podcast hosted by a single person. But we wanted to capture the chemistry of the hosts, who are actually quite fun to listen to (believe me, I sit between the two at the office!)
Over the next few episodes, we began to relax the structure a little. We found what worked best, which was a semi-planned back-and-forth between the two hosts. This seemed to be well within their comfort zone too, as Alan and Veronica managed to grasp the idea and quickly develop a steady pace. That was great news for me, for with each episode I had fewer awkward silences to edit out!
Still. Something didn’t quite feel right. The episodes were still a bit too long and when a topic is something like microcredentials, the energy fell flat.
That’s when we decided that DUET needed a resurgence; a more forgiving structure. The hosts were in their element talking passionately about one thing at a time. Let them get side-tracked a little, bring up little anecdotes from their lives, not worry about how long they were going on for or how long they have left on the clock and just enjoy it a little more.
Maybe the diagram oversimplifies it. There was still tons of research involved, but now the hosts knew what they were in for.
So, with a bit of hindsight and a lot of enthusiasm, DUET was born again. We’ve still got a long way to go and we always welcome more feedback. The podcast itself was created by a bunch of newbies with a passion for technology and the willingness to share our stories. I, too, as the producer, am learning as I go. But we’re definitely closer to where we wanted to be with each episode.
Give us a listen if you haven’t already and let us know what you think!
Here’s a quick overview of the equipment we’d used, in case anyone might be interested.
Mics- The Blue Yeti USB Microphone
Editing software- Adobe Audition (Audacity is a fantastic open-source platform, if you’re interested to try your hand!)
Hosting platform- Whooshka -it’s free too!