audio Archives • MIC Media

👂 Listen – The Power of Storytelling

November 3, 2020November 3, 2020
by Vic

I spoke on the Audience Agency’s new podcast recently. It’s all about the power of storytelling and how it can benefit your company (listen below!)

Stories can help you to grow your audience and connect further and deeper with your existing one. In this episode, Richard Leeming from the Audience Agency asked myself and fellow podcaster Dave Howard from Bespoken Media for our take on storytelling – from a podcasters point of view.

But before you listen, here’s some of my key points about storytelling,

Don’t be scared by it.

We’re all storytellers, whether we’re making up a story for our kids bedtime, telling our mates down the pub the latest gossip, or giving a presentation at work. We consume stories on a daily basis too, be that reading an article on a website or watching Coronation Street. There’s characters and a beginning, middle and end in every one. Our thoughts follow story arcs too, so it’s only natural that as humans, stories attract and appeal to us.

You don’t have to search high and low for these stories.

It’s more than likely that they’ll exist within your organisation. So instead of reinventing the wheel, you’re shaping the content or information that you already have, in a way that tells an engaging or compelling story. For example, I work with charities to help them to eek out and tell the stories behind their impact through audio. Taking them beyond a boring, written report.

Good audio stories can stop you in your tracks,

They make you yearn for the next episode, keep you hooked, make you laugh, make you cry… there’s real feeling attached to storytelling. That’s the big difference between a bog-standard narrative and a good story – it’s all about the feels.

The beauty of audio storytelling is that,

You can add layers to bring that story to life, like with great writing, sfx, music or multiple voices. You can conduct people’s imagination through great audio storytelling. How powerful is that?

I reference one of my most favourite pieces of audio storytelling in the episode.

It includes all of the above. (It’s the one I couldn’t remember the name of at the time of recording!). It’s called ‘Kohn’ and was made almost a decade ago by Andy Mills

I first heard it just a few months back and listened to it again three times, straight after the first. It made my heart warm, it gave me goose bumps and it still does each time I listen to it.

The way that it’s crafted is beautiful, which lends to the heart warming but sensitive subject matter. It’s finale is gorgeous. This is a story that I remember. It brings me joy. The audio production around it makes it so memorable and lends itself to Kohn’s story so well. The production enhances all the feels that I have for Kohn. I’m connected on a deeper level to him. It makes me want to tell everybody about it. I want people to feel like I do after listening to it. It gives me proper producer envy.

Massive gush overload for this piece, but that’s great isnt it? That a piece of audio storytelling can evoke all those feelings?

Listen to Kohn: here

In summary, my number one advice for powerful storytelling is that if it does not stir you (or others), do it once more with feeling!

Here more about mine and Dave’s take on storytelling on the Audience Agency Podcast… enjoy! 👍

Let MIC Media tell your stories through awesome audio. Drop us a line and let’s a have a chat!

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9 things you need to know from Podcast Movement…

August 26, 2019August 26, 2019
by Vic

Our Vic visited Podcast Movement 2019, the biggest podcast conference in the world to learn the latest podcast trends, thinking and industry standards. At MIC, we want to be on the podcast ball, when it comes to helping to make your podcast dreams come true 🤩

So, in-between eating delicious sandwiches, stroking puppies, escaping a bank heist, meeting wonderful humans and discovering how US supermarkets rank alongside UK ones (Publix is on the Sainsburys level by the way) – it was these 9 things from this year’s Podcast Movement that Vic couldn’t wait to share with you

1. TNECA is Klingon for love.

Before I get a ton of strongly worded letters from Trekkies, that’s not actually true. But it is how to make a podcast according to producers Ant McGinley and Aimee Joshua, who hosted the ‘Podcast from Nothing’ session. It stands for Topic, Name, Equipment, Content and Artwork and to prove it’s all you need, Ant and Aime and the audience came up with a podcast idea in just 45 minutes.

Ant and Aimee and their pod from nothing

2. Women are authority killers

No, this is not the name of a new true crime podcast, but ‘Authority Killers’ is the term Carrie Caulfield Arick from YaYa Podcasting, used to describe the words more often than not used by women in their conversations. In her session “People Breathe: the art of editing an interview”, Carrie talked about the bad verbal habits that can undermine our confidence, stature, clout etc and that as audio editors we should look to taking out or reducing – stuff like ‘I guess’, ‘sort of’, ‘maybe’, ‘like’, ‘kinda’…

Podcast presenters and interviewees, practice your authority – speak with clarity and confidence (easier said than done, I know!). It’d also make the life an editor a bit easier too!

Also great to bump into guys from the Podcast Editors facebook group at this session. Bloody love meeting virtual people in ‘real life’ (See #7 below).

Our Vic having a lovely time at Podcast Movement

3. It took a while for radio to love podcasts

During the panel, ‘Radio Leaders on Their Podcast Strategies’ it was revealed that radio industry types had to be persuaded to come to the first Podcast Movement back in 2014. Look how far podcasting has come in five years, they’re now fighting them off with a shitty stick (my words not theirs).

I’d very interested to hear a discussion about the UK Radio’s podcast strategy. Our radio landscape is much smaller and of course the BBC dominates the podcast market here. Also, if our commercial stations get more podcast savvy, is it even a podcast anymore?

Lots of questions – perhaps we should do a panel on this sometime?

The awesome Headliner using our Strong Manchester Women podcast as an example in their talk – actually happened. We’ve broke America guys.

4. Everyone can create great sounding audio

During Marcus dePaula’s session, ‘The Most Common Problems in Audio and How to Fix Them’ – he banged home some of my golden rules for recording audio,

Do everything you can to capture the highest quality audio – so g’dam important. This reminds me of the saying, ‘moment on the lips, lifetime on the hips’. It takes a few minutes to move away from a noisy space whilst interviewing someone. Remain there and record? You’ll spend ages trying to remove background noise in the edit – which will have a detrimental impact on the quality of that audio
Listen whilst recording – OMG wear headphones. There’s no argument here, sorry. And if you fancy having a row about this, then I seriously question your ability to podcast. You better have blumming good reason!
Improve your sound as to not lose listeners. Content consumers are a fickle bunch. It’s easy for you and me to turn off and pledge allegiance to a new favourite at the switch of a button, or a swipe of a screen. Listeners won’t settle for bad audio and you shouldn’t too. OK, podcast listeners can be more forgiving, but that doesn’t mean your sound should be shit. Approach your sound quality as an ever developing and improving process- make it the best you can. To help judge the quality ask yourself, ‘would I listen to this?’
Invest in good tools – I disagree with this. Buy what you can afford. The cost of equipment can be a real barrier for people who want to get into podcasting. You don’t need the best, top of the range, bells and whistles equipment to get going and go on to make lots of episodes. Most of the time, you just need to use it well.

Sadly this pun wouldn’t work in the UK. Ice poddy? Nah.

5. Stalk your listeners

Keynote Patrice Washington is a best selling author, speaker and she is an absolute queen.

Her talk is just jammed to the rafters with golden advice for podcasters, especially as she learnt her craft at this very conference. During most of her talk I was fully about to climb on the top of my seat and start whooping. The bit that resonated with me the most, was all about audience.

As content creators we often get so hyped about the stuff that we’re putting into a podcast or how we’re making it, that we forget about the people that are going to be consuming it.

Patrice knows her audience inside out. She Facebook stalks her listeners, seriously. She discovers what they like, if they have kids, what they had for breakfast…

She’s created an avatar of her typical listener, she’s even named her. As a result she then tailors her content accordingly. Patricia’s podcast does not speak to everyone. Patricia speaks to her avatar, her audience.

This is why she’s wonderfully successful at what she does.

Do you know who your audience is? Yeah but, do you really?

It’s also the first talk I’ve been to where I could hear a thunderstorm happening outside.

6. Gratitude (& pizza) pays

“At first we couldn’t pay our cast or team, but I made sure they had pizza.” This how keynote speaker Lauren Shippen thanked her contributors during the early days of the ‘The Bright Sessions’, her kickass, sci-fi fiction podcast.

Other talks at Podcast Movement spoke about creating tailored thank-you packs or distributing specially recorded messages.

However you say thank-you – it’s important that you do it. Always say thank you. It’s one of the main things that I bang on about during my podcast workshops and it’s a something I’ve lived by, my entire professional life.

Gratitude makes the world go around. Being thankful to your guests, cast, crew, the guy that comes in to fix the internet connection etc, it’ll ensure that you’re remembered for all the right reasons.

This point falls into the all important ‘Don’t be a dick’ category.

A top podcast. Be sure listen if you’ve not heard it yet.

7. Meeting the face behind the voice is strange and joyous

We’ve all been there when we meet someone we’ve only interacted with on email or on social media and say something along the lines of, ‘wow, it’s so good to meet the face behind the tweets / facebook etc.’

This is taken to a new level with podcasting! Voices you have in your ear and form part of your personal, daily life, are now speaking to you in real life. Like this bodiless entity has now inhabited a human form!

This happened a number of times at Podcast Movement 2019, for example with James Cridland who hosts and delivers the bible of podcasting news, Podnews (who I listen to as part of my Google daily briefing), Colin Grey from The Podcast Host (who I listen to whilst I’m jogging) and Lauren Shippen (who didn’t meet, but heard speak) – who’s a voice on her Bright Sessions podcast, which I binged continuously in just a few weeks.

It’s an odd, joyous moment!

Closing keynote with some guy called Guy Raz

7. Exhibitors? Go to freaking town on your booth

Odds are, if you’re exhibiting at a conference, you’ve paid a pretty penny for that booth. Well, some of the exhibitors at Podcast Movement 2019 made sure they stood out, from live grass and free, nice coffee from Spotify, a haiku whiskey challenge from Alitu, frozen rose wine from Himalaya, to an actual escape room from Audioboom and the Casefile podcast. However, The best stall at Podcast Movement, no, the entire world, was Launch Pad’s free beer and puppies. Actual free booze and small dogs. Heaven.

Small dogs selling free podcast hosting – blatant genius

8. Podcasting isn’t in a precarious bubble – it’s a sud-filled bubble bath, that’s over flowing because you put too much bubbly bath in it

My biggest takeaway is that podcasting is not going away. We haven’t reached peak podcast – whatever the hell that is anyway.

There’s been 3,000 attendees to this year’s Podcast Movement. There’s over half a million podcasts in existence (and that figure is growing rapidly), there’s technology being launched all of the time to help to simplify the process of creating, hosting editing and distributing podcasts. Not to mention the industry shifts, including premium and subscription content models and company buy outs. On top of all this are the emerging podcast markets including India, Spain and South America.

What’s plain to see is that the UK podcast scene isn’t a patch on the US’s. It’s unfair to say that the UK is ‘behind’, moreover that there’s an incredible opportunity to grow, contribute to and sustain our podcast industry.
I’m chuffed MIC‘s a part of that, especially in the North of England.

Hmmmm if only there was northern podcast conference of some sort. 🤔

MIC Thoughts

Get experimental with your ears – Listen to new…

April 6, 2019April 24, 2019
by Vic

If you think podcasts are just true-crime, BBC radio re-runs, dad porno, or ‘not for you’, then think again!

There’s over half a million podcasts out there, from documentary style and interviews to panel discussions and one man shows. I want to show you in this article, that there’s something out there to suit every need, want, hobby and erm, fetish.

So, I want to challenge you to listen to 1 episode of 1 podcast that haven’t heard before. Embrace the bizarre, dip outside of your comfort zone, go beyond your norm. You don’t have to like what you find, just give it a try!

Birds!

For example, a few months ago I discovered The Casual Birder Podcast through the Brit Pod Scene network of British-made podcasts (that you can search to discover new stuff too!). I like birds, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve never taken a great deal of interest of what’s flying above my head. To be really honest with you, the closest I’ve got to bird-watching, is scooping up the presents that my cat leaves me.

I listened to the first episode of Casual Birder and was I hooked. It’s dead easy to listen to, it’s really interesting, well-produced and Suzie the presenter, is a delight. I enjoyed it so much, that it’s now part of me and the cat’s morning routine. We listen whilst we’re brushing our teeth and having our coffee. Also, weirdly he’s not brought another bird kill back since (touch wood).

How to get exploring

So, whether you’ve not delved into the world of podcasts yet or you only have a few core ones that you listen to regularly, let me inspire your ears today – and who knows, you might find your new favourite! Thank me later guys.

As a starter and to help you get to grips with the wide range of podcasts available to you, right at your fingertips, here’s a list of the current podcast categories on iTunes. Other podcast platforms such as Google Podcasts, Player.fm or Stitcher will have the same or similar. You can search directly in any of these podcast platforms to find your niche.

Here’s just a small selection that I found today. Click on the links to be taken to a list of podcasts that are available for each of these categories.

Children’s stories, Sheffield Wednesday,Game of Thrones, Freelancer life, Vaping, Baking, Hiking, Farming, Business, Flat Earthists, Brewing, Ghost Stories, Charity, Blockchain UK Politics, Social Good

So go on, delve in, dig deeper! Tell me below what podcast you have discovered and how you now feel about being a bit more experimental with your ears. Remember, just 1 episode from 1 podcast.

Do you have an idea for a podcast but not sure how to get cracking – well whatever your subject, theme or category, let MIC give you a hand. Drop us a line and let’s have a chat about your podcast idea.

MIC Thoughts

You’ll want to start a podcast right away after…

April 6, 2019April 24, 2019
by Vic

Do you want to start a podcast? Or are you thinking about it, but not quite ready (let’s be honest, are you ever going to be ready?).

Well, as long as you or your company have something to say that is (more on that in a future blog post!), I don’t think there’s much stopping you.

Let me convince you why…

You don’t need to be fancy

All you need to start a podcast is 3 things,

1. A microphone to pick your voice into a recording 2. Something to store that recording 3. An internet connection to share that recording

Now, you might not believe me when I tell you this, but 1 and 2 you’ll probably already have. Actually, I bet you have at least 2 of each! Yes, Really!

There’s microphones built into pretty much every smartphone, tablet and laptop, which all, (more often than not), connect to the internet.

…And Voilà! That is your basic podcasting set-up! You don’t need the very best, expensive professional, broadcast-standard equipment and you certainly don’t need it right at the start of your podcasting journey.

This simple set-up, can also be a great way for you to practice.

They’re Accessible

They’ll be very few barriers for people to listen to your podcast.

All your potential listener needs is a device that connects to the internet and a speaker. This covers a wide of things such as phones, laptops, desktop computer, cars smart speaker, smart tv…the list goes on.

That’s it; you don’t need to be in the same country as the podcast that you’re listening to, or have an expensive subscription, you don’t even need a licence and it’s all on-demand – so you can listen when and where you want.

Imagine that potential for your podcast? You could have a listener who is anywhere in the world, doing anything – engaged with your message or your story.

And whilst we’re at it, just to make you ‘wow’ a little bit more, they’re also mostly free to listen to.

Guys, I’m just bashing down these barriers, right in front of your very eyes.

They’re dead Personable

You know those people we talked about under the ‘Accessibility’ bit above? They’ll be mostly consuming podcasts on their own. Think about it, how often do you sit and listen to a podcast with someone else – it’s a rarity isn’t?

a lady wearing a ponytail hairstyle earphones in her ears, holding a looking at her phone — Photo – Siddharth Bhogra via unsplash

Whether you’re in the car, at the gym, on the commute, cooking tea or gardening – podcasts are a very personal experience.

What other form of communication gets you right inside someone’s lughole, where you can really hook their attention and capture their imagination?

Again, think of that potential for you to share your message and values to a huge audience, but on a very intimate-level.

If at the start of this article you were around 35% ‘oh I’m still not sure whether to start a podcast’, I bet you’ll be at a firm 99% now?

If you need more convincing or would like a hand with your podcast production, let MIC guide you in the right direction.