Several days ago I wrote an entry on why podcasting seems to be so much harder to do. The concession was that unlike blogging, the resources needed to podcast would entail much more equipment. Of course, you can achieve a semi-decent podcast using the built in microphone of your laptop or by purchasing a cheap mic from your friendly computer store for less than P200.00.
But then after some reflection, I realized that the real reason why it is much harder to podcast isn’t because people think it is hard to do. Let me repost that paragraph here:
People THINK that podcasting is very hard to do. When in fact all you need is a cheap ass microphone and a free recording software like Audacity. Once you start recording, all you need to do is be yourself — having a guest over would help but if you really are in the need for some divine inspiration, then San Miguel can always help. You can always find a free service to host your podcasts like Odeo, Twango, Gcast or Podomatic. Against all odds your first podcast may really suck – in terms of coherence or content. But a podcast series is always a work in progress. It may not be obvious to you, but check back on your old blog entries and see how far they have evolved since. The same thing works with podcasts. Just do it!
Unlike blogging, which is now considered to be a spectator sport, podcasting as well as videocasting are performance arts. Though blogging requires technical as well as creative skill, these are already learned in our schooling days such as being trained to construct a grammatically correct sentence and write a paragraph that makes sense.
In school however, we were never taught to do radio shows, or to train our voice to be more attuned for broadcasting. The little that we learn to hone these creative talents are learned in extra curricular activities which for the most part, were … extra and optional.
I admit. I’m a n00b at podcasting. If what I do create sounds okay, it’s because its so easy to edit audio using GarageBand. In fact, editing is the easy part. The hard part is the performance – the voice. The content. The pauses. It is so much harder to get listeners engaged. You have to be theatrical. You have to be musical. You have to be three dimensional. You aren’t talking. You’re performing.
6 replies on “Podcasting is a Performance Art”
I’m a noob at podcasting too. 🙂 I listen to radio shows often (mostly on AM band) to at least get an overview on what should I do with my own show. It is easy to create a podcast with the availability of free services / softwares like Audacity, WordPress, Feedburner, Odeo, OurMedia, Podomatic and others but I think that problem is how a podcaster would be able to sustain his/her podcast. In fact, when I started podcasting I manually update my RSS feed because I haven’t of Feedburner that time. I’m using an ordinary microphone (that ones used in home stereos) and I can’t see any problem with that.
“You have to be theatrical. You have to be musical. You have to be three dimensional. You aren’t talking. You’re performing.” –>hehe, too much drama (the geeky kind) in this post! you almost had me convinced. 😛
(teka, makapodcast na rin nga.)
hi! 😛
When is BuggedCast 2 coming out? Let’s do a theatrical episode…
What does that mean? I’m not entirely sure yet.
One needs to learn how to write to be able to blog. And I’m convinced that writing is not inborn but a form of a learned skill. A talent acquired through time, experience, and a lot of reading, writing and re-writing!
“Podcasting is a performance art”, does this mean not everyone who simply have the capacity to podcast (equipment and a good voice, that is) would be able to orchestrate a ‘successful’ theatrical podcast, with no talent in broadcasting or any similar field?
Jervis, the beauty of new media is that it allows ANYONE the capacity to become a content provider. regardless of talent, you have an eternity to experiment in the medium. 🙂
Also: why podcast it when you can just blog/write it down? Aside from the coolness factor.