How to make a podcast for SpunOut.ie

Are you interested in sharing your opinions, advice and experiences with 16-25 year olds across Ireland? Do you want to do this through a podcast on SpunOut.ie? If so, take a look at the below steps. We can work with you to develop your ideas, record and edit your podcast and post it on SpunOut.ie.

A podcast is a recording of a conversation between one of more people that you can listen to on your phone or computer. If you prefer to listen to pieces rather than read them, podcasts could be for you.

Your podcast can focus on any topic that interests you and that you think will interest other people your age. For example, you could focus on mental health, school/college/work, finding a job, relationships, alcohol, smoking, drugs, sex & sexuality etc.

Steps for making a podcast for SpunOut.ie

1. Get in touch with us

If you’re interested in making a podcast to be posted on SpunOut.ie, send an email to [email protected] and Heather will be able to provide you with support and guidance throughout the process. Heather is the skills development officer in SpunOut.ie and works with all our volunteer contributors.

You need to be between 16 and 25 years old and living in Ireland to have your podcast posted on SpunOut.ie.

2. Develop your idea & research your topic

What topic do you want to talk about? If it’s very broad, can you narrow it down any more? What are the main ideas and messages you want to get across? Is there a personal element to the podcast you want to include?

Research the topic you want to focus on and see what others have said on that topic or if there are any interesting statistics or facts. Is there anything interesting happening in Ireland or abroad that you can discuss? Having a clear idea of the topic you want to focus on will help with the upcoming steps.

It’s important that all the information on SpunOut.ie is accurate and comes from legitimate sources. Keep note of where your information has come from so it can be double checked by SpunOut.ie at a later stage.

3. Develop your plan for the podcast

Start putting together a plan of what you’re going to talk about during the podcast based on your research. Map out what you want to say during your podcast. Does it have beginning, middle and end? What are the three main points you’re going to focus on? Will it be just you talking or will you also have a co-host or guest talking? How long do you want the podcast to be?

Write out in bullet points what you’re going to talk about so you have a clear plan. Knowing in advance what you’re going to say will save a lot of time when it comes to the actual recording. The more details you have at this stage, the easier the process will be.

4. Send your plan to be reviewed and validated

Once you’ve developed your plan as much as you can, send it to [email protected]. Heather will review the plan and help you develop it in more detail if needed. Some plans may need to be reviewed by professionals outside SpunOut.ie to make sure all the information is accurate.

5. Practice what you’re going to say

It’s helpful to practice what you’re going to say before recording the podcast. Practice so you’re comfortable with all the points you want to talk about but make sure it also sounds natural and conversational. There should be a nice flow to the conversation so there are no big gaps or silences.

6. Arrange a time to record your podcast in the SpunOut.ie office

We have recording equipment in the SpunOut.ie that you can use to record your podcast. Get in touch with [email protected] to arrange a time to record your podcast. We can record the sessions during the week or in the evenings. If you’re only available during the weekend, we can work with that too.

7. Record your podcast

Our multimedia team will have everything set up and ready to go for you to record your podcast. They’ll be there to help you if you’ve any issues or questions. All you need to bring is your enthusiasm and plan for the session.

8. Edit your podcast

If you’re happy to edit the podcast yourself, you can, or the SpunOut.ie multimedia team can help you with this. Once everyone is happy with the podcast, we’ll upload it to SpunOut.ie’s Soundcloud account.

9. See your podcast on SpunOut.ie and our social media

Once your podcast is on Soundcloud, we’ll post it on SpunOut.ie and our social media for our viewers to see.