Project Overview: 

For my project, I am recording, editing, and uploading a podcast that is intended for college students that are going to be graduating soon.  The goal of my podcast is to give people valuable information that will help them get a job and start their careers.  We also talk about other things like having a social life after college, as well as adjusting to the working world.  My intended audience is mostly upperclassmen

college students, but it is also meant for anyone in their early to mid twenties.  I am also marketing this podcast on Twitter and Instagram and using my graphic design skills to create ads for each episode.  My reason for creating this podcast was because I am feeling pretty unsure about my future, and I know that a podcast like this will benefit people.  Not only am I creating the podcast, but I am also learning and taking advice from each guest.  If I am learning a lot from this podcast, then I know that other people can too.

Prior Experience Related to the Project:

I was really excited to do this capstone project because I have a lot of prior experience that made me feel confident in my ability to create a great podcast.  For starters, I took a podcasting class last semester.  In this class, I learned many different things about what makes a great podcast.  I also made my own 3 episode podcast and learned how to use Adobe Audition.  I also have prior experience in interviewing people because I am a Journalism minor.  I was a sports writing intern for the Hawk too, so I feel very comfortable talking to people and asking them questions.  Because I am a Communications Studies major, I have experience with graphic design from multiple classes, and I even have experience with social media marketing.  I took a class about influencers where we had to come up with our own marketing campaign for a company using influencers.  I chose to create a campaign for the AFA (Alzheimer’s Foundation of America).  All of these prior experiences make me feel like I am very qualified for this capstone project.

Challenge of the Project: 

The biggest challenge that I have faced during this project is scheduling conflicts.  People are really busy and things always come up, so getting an episode recorded can be really challenging.  You need to work around people’s schedules, and people often cancel at the last minute.  The best way to get around this is to schedule multiple episodes at once.  If one person cancels, then you have other people that you can ask to do it that week.  Another challenge that I have come across is being able to record each episode in person.  A lot of the guests that I have asked to come on live in a different state and cannot come all the way to Philadelphia for a podcast.  The best way to get around this is Zoom, and even though it is not perfect, episodes recorded on Zoom still have good audio quality.

Prep Work and Background Research: 

The most important prep work that I did was scheduling guests for each episode.  I also planned each episode and knew what I wanted to talk about.  For background research, I made sure I was educated on each topic.  For example, I knew that I wanted to do an episode on Grad School, so I researched different grad school options and familiarized myself with the application process.  I do this for each episode.  I also research other podcasts in order to get ideas.  An example of this is how some podcasts play light music during ad reads so the listener can tell that it is not the show.  Whenever I do a 30 second “ad” break, I always add music because I like this idea.

Primary Technologies and/or Software: 

  • Adobe Audition
    • I use this software to edit and put together my podcast.  I can also use this to improve the audio quality for each episode.
  • Canva
    • I use Canva to create graphics that I can post on social media for marketing purposes.
  • Zoom Recorder H5
    • I use the Zoom recorder to record each episode of the podcast.
  • Shotgun Microphone
    • I use these microphones to record the podcast, and they are the perfect podcasting mics!

Project Considerations:

The biggest project consideration that I had was when I decided what topics I want to cover on my podcast.  I wanted to make sure that I did not leave out any post-college option, so I had to make sure I asked different people with different career paths to do the podcast.  Diversity also played a big part in the podcast, and my first two guests were women.  Not everyone’s job search goes the same way because of different backgrounds, so getting everyone’s voice is extremely important.

Creation Process: 

The creation process starts by me planning an episode based on my guest.  When I got Olivia Messina on my podcast, I knew that she was in Grad School, so I began researching and coming up with questions about that.  After I wrote all of the questions, I then went to record the podcast.  Whether I am on Zoom or in person, the recording process always goes the same way.  After I record, I import the files into Adobe Audition and begin editing.  Editing takes anywhere from 1 to 2 hours, depending on the episode.  After I edit, I create a graphic for social media to let everyone know that an episode is coming out soon, and then I release the episode the next day and post another graphic.  Then the cycle continues.