Deliverable 2:
How to compose the Podcast
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© Karen Thompson ● Department of English ● University of Idaho
English 317: Technical Writing
Learning Objectives:
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Adapt prose style concepts
for the ear.
Apply presentation speaking
style concepts: vocal variety, pace, pause, and diction.
Compose a podcast script.
About Podcasts
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A British journalist combined the Apple’s
Ipod with the word broadcast to coin the
term Podcast.
Podcasts can be:
•Audio-only Files
•Video Files
and/or
• Broadcasted (live or prerecorded)
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How businesses and organizations use Podcasts:
• Externally: to promote products and services to clients and customers.
• Internally: to share information between employees, particularly, in project teams.
• You will compose an audio only podcast aimed at an external audience.
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How to create your podcast.• You need a microphone, and the one in
your computer will be fine for this project.
• Your podcast must be hosted on a site that allows users to play it without having to download the file.
• I recommend using SoundCloud. It’s free, easy to use, and will host your file.
You will also find a link to SoundCloud under Tools and Resources.
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• I do not accept audio files (mp3, wav etc.) in the
bblearn drop box.
• Here’s why. You are practicing how to create and
share these types of files as they are shared in
workplace settings.
• So, if you choose to create an audio file on your
computer, be certain it is uploaded to a host site
and will play without a user needing to download
the file. 7
Do a test recording.
• First, be certain you completed the technology check on Orientation Day 1 and are using the recommended browser for this course. If not, go there, do that.
• Close all other programs and browser windows to ensure you have enough memory.
• If the test recording fails, follow the troubleshooting steps under Tools & Resources.
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Podcast:subject, audience, and purpose.
• The general subject of your podcast will be research at the University of Idaho.
• Your audience will be members of the general public.
• Your purpose will be to inform the audience about research currently being conducted at the university.
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You will need to choose a specific focus.
• You may choose to focus your podcast about
• some specific research,
• a research program,
• or one or more researchers.
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To find a focus, do some investigation.
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The UI Research and Economic Development website News and Features is a good place to start.
After you have chosen the focus and taken some notes, you will need to write a script and practice it.
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The goal is not to sound like a
professional broadcaster, but to
develop a clear presentation
speaking style.
Practice the principles of effective prose style when writing the script but adapt these for the ear by keeping sentences short.
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You should be able to
say each sentence in
your script in a single
breath.
Your script will need:
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Introduction
About 30
seconds.
Key Points
About 2
minutes
Conclusion
About 30
seconds.
Timing
Introduction:
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About 30 seconds
Brief salutation: greet the audience
and give them an idea of what you
will be presenting in the podcast.
You can also start with an engaging
question such as “have you ever
wondered about ……?” and then use
the salutation.
Body:
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About 2 minutes.
Key Points: think about how many points
you can reasonably talk about in 2
minutes.
About four key points and 30 seconds to
talk about each one should work well,
but don’t follow this as a rigid rule. Think
about what works best for what you will
talk about.
Closing:
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About 30 seconds
Wrap it Up. Have a clear conclusion, here are some ideas:• What’s next? – point listeners to
future research,• Where can I learn more? – point
listeners to where they can learn more.
• ETC.
• Thank the audience for listening.
Presentation Speaking StyleHow to develop an effective presentation speaking style for any delivery method or environment.
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The content on the following slides had been adapted from: Write-Out-Loud.
What is vocal variety?
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• Vocal variety or vocalics refers
to the nonverbal features of our
speaking style. These features
are pitch, tone volume, and
rate.
What is vocal variety? continued
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• Your goal as a speaker is to
have a range of vocal variety
that allow you to adapt your
speaking style to meet
audience needs.
• For example, giving a eulogy at
a funeral would require a
different speaking style than
delivering a conference
presentation.
Vocal Variety: Pitch
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• Our voices all have a natural
pitch, which is like music with
high and low notes.
• If your pitch range is narrow,
mostly high or mostly low notes,
your voice will have a
monotonous effect on listeners.
Go to Tools and Resources on the project page, to learn exercises to help you develop your pitch range.
Vocal Variety: Tone
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• Our voices carry emotional
content through the tone we
use.
• If your voice lacks expression, it
will be flat and lack energy.
• If you fill your speech with too
much energy, it will seem overly
exuberant and forced.
Go to Tools and Resources on the project page, to learn
exercises to help you develop an effective tone.
Vocal Variety: Volume
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• Some of us naturally speak
softer or louder than others.
• Volume affects how the
audience perceives your
trustworthiness.
• Learn how to consciously
control the volume of your
voice.
Go to Tools and Resources on the project page, to learn exercises to help you develop volume control.
Vocal Variety: Rate
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• When we speak, rate
refers to the pace of our
speech.
• Speech rate is calculated
at the number of words
spoken in a minute.
Vocal Variety: Rate continued
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Slow speech is less than 110 wpm.
Conversational speech falls between
120 wpm at the slow end to 160 - 200
wpm in the fast range.
People who read books for radio or
podcasts speak at 150-160 wpm.
Auctioneers or commentators who
practice speed speech are usually in
the 250 to 400 wpm range.
Vocal Variety: Rate continued
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• When giving a presentation
whether it is in person or
recorded, it is important to
be flexible in your rate of
speech.
Vocal Variety: Rate continued
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• One study analyzed the
speaking rate of 9 six-
minute TED Talks.
• The average speaking rate
was 163 words per minute
and ranged between 153
and 168 words per minute.
To calculate your speaking rate:
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Time yourself speaking from
your script.
Next, take the total number
of words spoken and divide
by the number of minutes it
took you to speak them.
Speaking Rate (wpm) = Total words / # of minutes
Go to Tools and Resources on the project page, to learn exercises to help you develop an effective speaking rate.
Remember to pause periodically:
• It will help the audience to understand you,
• Help you control the rate of your speech and avoid distracting filler words (um, er, ah), and
• allows your mind to “catch up” to what your mouth is saying.
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Go to Tools and Resources on the project page, to learn exercises to help you develop effective pausing.
Diction
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• Diction is not about
changing your accent (yes,
we all have an accent).
• It’s about clearly
enunciating the words you
speak.
• Speaking too fast will affect
diction.
Go to Tools and Resources on the project page, to learn exercises to help you develop effective diction.