PoducateMe: Practical Solutions for Podcasting in Education
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posted to coincide with a “How to Begin Your Internship Search” workshop. However,
due to scheduling challenges, it’s not always possible to maintain this synergy of topics.
As mentioned at the beginning of this guide, we generally try to interview Miami alumni
for our podcast episodes. Our graduates represent a unique connection to the university
and are generally very willing to share their professional knowledge and advice with
students (we haven’t been turned down yet!).
After selecting a topic of interest, we search our alumni database to identify two or three
candidates whose professional experience most closely matches the intended subject of
our episode. Next, we make a primary selection from among the candidates and e-mail
the person, briefly explaining our project and requesting participation.
After we receive an affirmative response to our request, we schedule a convenient time
for the interview to take place. While our interviews generally take about 20 minutes to
conduct, we ask our guests for an hour of their time in case we run into any technical
glitches or want to re-record an answer. Often times, after the interview has been
completed, we’ll reflect on what was said and decide to add questions or re-record a
response for clarification of or expansion on an important point.
If the interview is to be conducted over the phone, we request that our guest speak to us
over a landline. Cell phones are notoriously unpredictable and generally don’t sound as
good as their wired counterparts. We also request that our guests refrain from speaking
to us through a speakerphone, which tends to distort the voice and make the interviewee
sound distant.
By this point, we have already solicited potential questions for our guest from students
and Career Services advisors. If the episode profiles a specific profession, we try to get
questions from students whose major field of study is relatable to the topic. Several days
prior to the interview, we email the questions to our guest, which allows her time to
prepare for the discussion. In addition, we solicit feedback on the questions and request
a brief bio to help us formulate an introduction.
Of course, we don’t want the interview to sound scripted. We always tell our guests not to
think of the podcast as an interview, but as an informal conversation or chat. The
questions we ask and answers we receive typically generate additional queries during the
course of the interview and help the dialogue sound more conversational in tone.
We’ve found that most episodes generally require about two hours of preparation,
including identifying and contacting an interviewee, exchanging ideas and formulating
questions.
Following the interview, we send our guest a token of appreciation for participating in our
podcast. This package consists of a hand-written thank-you note and a coffee mug
featuring the CareerChat logo on one side and the Miami University logo on the other.
