Thinking about starting a school podcast but not sure where to begin? We recently started our own podcast over on our Soundcloud account and wanted to share what we learnt along the way! This easy guide will take you from zero to hero. In April, we released a blog on 5 great ideas to start a school podcast but how do we put those great ideas into practice?

What is a podcast?

An episodic series of spoken audio clips that are often focused on a particular topic or theme (e.g. Education, sports, etc.). Feel free to take baby steps and be realistic. If you think you currently do not have the capacity to release a weekly podcast then start off slowly and build up!

So why should my school have a podcast?

It can be student-led and provide pupils with valuable skills for future jobs.
It is relatively easy to do and requires little editing experience.
They are on the rise! 12 million people listened to a podcast for the first time in the last year.
It is a great way for parents/prospective parents to see a more personal version of the school.
Your content can be shared out on social media channels and form part of your #ContentStrategy.

What could we speak about?

Pupils vs teachers: This could be pupils interviewing staff or a quiz-style podcast.
A weekly round-up of school events with teachers or guest pupils.
A study guide aimed at pupils. This could be run by staff or by students/alumni.
Archive: Your school has a rich history, so why not share that with your followers?
The head’s podcast: With heads regarded as the ‘influencers’ in a school, encourage the head to take part with an episode about leadership.
Any more ideas? Let us know in the comments section below.

What equipment do we need?

A microphone
A pop-filter
An audio interface
A computer/laptop (with recording and editing software such as GarageBand/Audacity/Adobe Audition)
A quiet room for recording, or some noise-cancelling solution.

Let’s get started with the 5 steps to creating your first school podcast. The first of many we hope!

STEP 1: IDEAS

You’ve got all the equipment ordered or ready and you feel prepared to send out your first episode! We always say that lots of content without a #ContentStrategy can just become noise, no matter how great that content is. With the amount of platforms out there these days, it’s easy to bury our heads in the sand and think ‘how am I supposed to post on all platforms’? The answer is simple:

Fail to plan, plan to fail.

The first step to your school podcast should be thinking about what not only this episode will focus on, but also on the contents of the series. We recommend planning ahead to the next 3/4 episodes. As we say, you should always be focused on the wider #ContentStrategy and not just thinking about releasing content for the sake of it. How about released a monthly series? Each month could focus on a different topic or be set out in a different style. Some examples of how you could do this at your school:

June: Headmaster’s Month
July: Staff vs Student
August: Archive August.
The possibilities to share your wonderful #SchoolStories are endless.

REMEMBER! A podcast should be as natural as possible and unscripted if possible. We find that this gets easier the more and more you release. If you need a loose script for the first podcast then this can be a great foundation to build on and release more ‘natural’ podcasts.

STEP 2: SET-UP

So, you’ve planned out what your podcast is going to be about, you’ve got all of your equipment, now it’s time to get serious!

Setting up and testing well will save you a lot of time further down the line and prevent you from having to edit out any background noises or correct volumes. Here is an example of what a basic set-up should look like:

If you do not have one available at your school, you can easily pick up a good microphone online for a small cost. We recommend using a microphone with a windscreen to avoid background noises and heavy breaths. We would also recommend using a pop filter as this will cut out those sharp P sounds. Most microphones that you can pick up online will already come with these two tools but it’s well worth being aware of!

STEP 3: RECORD…

Thank you for reading the first steps to starting up your school podcast. Fill in the form below for FREE and EXCLUSIVE access to the next 3 steps These next steps will include some of our TOP editing cheats and how best to share out your content.

5 steps to a school podcast