Chapter 5: Podcasting, Vidcasting, and Webcasting

Posted on July 21, 2009

Chapter 5 of the book discusses in detail podcasts, vidcasts, and Webcasts, including what they are and how to create and publish your own. This chapter provides tips for preparing a script and key terms, as well as tips for optimizing podcasts for search engines and podcast directories.

The following excerpts are from A Survival Guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization: Strategies, Tactics, and Tools for Succeeding in the Social Web by Deltina Hay

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What Will Your Podcast Be About?
Before you create your first episode, you should be clear about the purpose of your podcast. Will you be recording interviews, lectures, or panel discussions? Clips of your own music? Reciting excerpts from your book? Reading stories for children? Or just recreating existing blog posts as podcast episodes? What is the premise of the podcast?

When people subscribe to your podcast they will have an expectation of consistency as to the topics your episodes will cover. So planning ahead at this stage is important.

Creating Podcast Episodes

Preparing the Script and Key Terms
Below is a typical podcast script. You can get royalty-free music for your podcast episodes at a number of sites on the Internet, such as PodsafeAudio. Always make sure that the music you use is royalty-free and offered freely for use in podcasts, and give the author credit. This script outline can also be found on the resource CD.

• Opening (30-60 seconds)

Introduce the podcast as a whole.
This should be the same for each episode.
Mention the name of the podcast, what its purpose is, and the URL where it can be found.
Introduce yourself and who you are.
Introduce the topic of the episode.
Mention the episode number.
Introduce guests if you have any.

• Opening Jingle (30 seconds)

• Main Topics (6 to 12 minutes)

Depends on the type of episode you are recording.
An informational podcast is typically only six minutes long.
A panel or interview could be as long as twelve minutes.

• Intermission (30 seconds)

Break up longer episodes with an intermission.
Use music for the intermission.

• Closing (2 minutes)

Thank your guests if you have any.
Thank the audience for listening.
Announce the next episode topic.
Repeat the podcast URL.

• Closing Jingle (60 seconds)

Make a list of the best key terms for each episode and repeat these key terms at every opportunity that feels natural in your script. Of course, you can write the script first and extract the best (most repeated) key terms for use in the metadata and landing page of the episode.

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This chapter also includes information about publishing options for a podcast, including publishing to a blog or Website, or using a service, as well as creating and optimizing a podcast or Webcast. The resource CD offers further reading, linkable resources, an example podcast, and a fillable PDF form called “Podcast Script Outline.”

A Survival Guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization: Strategies, Tactics, and Tools for Succeeding in the Social Web by Deltina Hay

416 Pages, Indexed, Resource CD with fillable forms.

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