Podcasting Novice Chooses Topic, Makes Recording with Ease

Create a podcast.  I should be excused from this assignment.  Shouldn’t podcasts be delivered in the smooth voice of Casey Kasem?  Or intoned in the authoritative voice of James Earl Jones?  Even if the instructor insists on subjecting herself and my non-Southern classmates to this voice, what would I record a podcast about?

A favorite piece of literature or beloved author?  They’ll already think they’re listening to a monologue from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.  A great architect or monumental building?  Frank Lloyd Wright?  Louis Sullivan?  The Sears Tower?  The John Hancock Center?  Perhaps another building that derives its name from Mr. Hancock…if I can’t contract this assignment out to a better voice, I should at least choose a matching topic: The Hancock County Courthouse in Sparta, Georgia, the most beautiful courthouse in the state, at least in my opinion. 

I know enough about the building to write a script.  I traveled to Sparta once each month in 2013 to photograph it—3,336 miles and fifty-seven hours on the road.  Some thought I was crazy to invest so much in one dilapidated building, but I’m so glad I did—the courthouse was almost completely destroyed by fire eight months after I finished the project, so I have some of the last photos of it.  I’ve also researched the building’s history and become acquainted with some local citizens after I sent them copies of my photos.  So there’s my topic.  I can even throw a y’all or two into the podcast just like that Georgia peach Paula Deen!

I now had to get the technical knowledge down.  After reading the assigned textbook chapter and examining the websites listed, I can’t say I’ve committed to memory everything I need to know about equipment and software, but I know where to find out. 

Some of the microphone discussion and comparison I was already familiar with—my principal wants to start a broadcasting program (meaning he wants me to start a broadcasting program), so my friend Louise, who taught broadcasting at a nearby high school for sixteen years, has paid several visits to school to consult on equipment orders, evaluate our existing studio, and expose my students to equipment, including different microphones and their recommended use.

After preparing my script, rehearsing the timing, and editing for length, I had to record.  Creating an audioBoom account and downloading the app were easy; in fact, most everything about audioBoom was simple: recording on the phone, saving, deleting, pulling the recording up on the computer, and embedding the recording in the blog post were straightforward (a test post proved adding the podcast was easier than adding a photo slideshow).  The only real problem with audioBoom was finding the recording—it didn’t immediately display as a saved file, but after clicking around on the menu, there it was under Profile/Posts/Drafts.  Another problem is the lack of voice-filtering technology, but the class will just have to deal with it.

After all, y’all are the ones who have accents, not me!