Podcasting for E-Learning: Putting it all together
I’ve been discussing one of the lesser-covered aspects of podcasting: delivering effective voice-over narration. So far, we have covered three of the four ‘P’s’ of engaging your audience:
Today, I will talk about the Art of the Pause.
In my view, narrators are afraid to take advantage of a dramatic pause. Anyone who has worked in media (particularly radio) will tell you that they constantly worry about ‘dead air’ – silence. Perhaps counter-intuitively, a stop or pause in a narrative actually motivates your listeners to (unconsciously) anticipate the next word – after all it must be important if you’ve paused – rather than causing the listener to ’switch off.’ Used correctly and in concert with the other ‘P’s,’ pauses or caesuras will direct listeners’ attention as you choose, creating the appropriate amount of expectation or to emphasize the key points and messages that you want to convey.
However, if your speech is too staccato – stopping and starting, leading your audience to multiple points of anticipation, without any special meaning or pay-off, any pauses will serve only to irritate and frustrate your listeners.
This speech pattern is most apparent when a podcast has not been designed, planned and scripted properly. I can best illustrate how to do it, and how not to do it by example.
Here are two excerpts from podcasts about aspects of the Roman Empire from iTunes U.
The bad news first: Sample 1 (MP3 | 1.3MB | 1 minute 26 seconds | click to play in your browser | right click to download) is from UC Berkley’s History 4a course, The Ancient Mediterranean World (2009). In this excerpt, the speaker introduces the course, before going off-topic
As usual one page of my lecture is sitting in my office…
Soon after, the speaker digresses again:
So that [pause] actually, ehh, [pause] I’ve got a couple of good quotes for you and I wanted to discuss that with you. So ehm, we’re going to be [pause] [sigh] finishing up here, right?
The lecturer then digresses yet again by discussing a final exam, but has “no idea where it is” (the location is “apparently…online”). I have edited this piece down a little but in the unedited version of this podcast, the lecture proper does not begin until nearly two minutes into the podcast.
Contrast this with Sample 2 (MP3 | 1.0MB | 1 minute 05 seconds click to play in your browser | right click to download) from Archaeology: Pompeii and the Roman World (Open University, 2009). Here, the speaker Phil Perkins defines an empire, before expanding on the theme of statehood and polities. He then discusses interaction, rivalry, competition, power, and war, before getting to the learning objective of his podcast:
Is dominance enough to create an empire?
…all in just over a minute, and in less than 150 words.
Which podcast did you find more engaging and informative? Which kind of podcast would you prefer to deliver? Which type of podcast has more value for your audience?
___________
References:
Pafford, I. (2009). Twilight in the West. History 4a: The Ancient Mediterranean World. UC Berkley [Internet] Available from: http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/berkeley.edu.1625336377.01625336380.1623195422?i=1284407406 Accessed 3 August 2009
Perkins, P. (2009) Archaeology: Pompeii and the Roman World. World archaeology. Open University. [Internet] Available from: http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/itunes.open.ac.uk.1544964539.01556024330.1827251501?i=1680120285 Accessed 3 August 2009
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August 07 2009 03:34 pm | e-learning
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Thomas on 10 Aug 2009 at 1:45 pm #
It seems that in the first examples the lecture is being recorded live in a classroom whereas the second lecture appears not to be. I get your point about which sounds more engaging but if you are recording live lectures can’t you expect some of this to happen? I agree with your point but I think the difference in your examples has more to do with the situation. Any advice about recording live lectures?
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Michael Hanley on 10 Aug 2009 at 3:55 pm #
Hi Thomas – thanks for your comment.
You’re correct; the first example is a lecture, the second was recorded specifically to be delivered via podcast. Of course, I chose the former example specifically to highlight it’s deficiencies. However, given that it was released as a podcast on iTunes U, I think that it’s valid to treat of the content as such.
Your question “Any advice about recording live lectures?” is a pertinent one. Don’t forget that regardless of the environment, or whether content is being recorded “live” or captured for asynchronous delivery, that the instructional design and the structure of the content will typically be very similar, with
an introduction
a number of learning points
and a conclusion.
In my experience, the simplest and most effective way to transform a synchronously-recorded piece of audio into a useful podcast is through judicious editing of the recording before distribution via a LAN or the internet.
In essence, this means removing segments of the audio that will distract the podcast audience. For example, in the History 4a sample, the only people who need to know about the exam are those in the lecture hall – so remove this piece for the podcast. Similarly, while it’s an endearing trait for your lecturer to forget a page of their notes when you know the person doing it, the information is irrelevant to the podcast audience – so, cut it out, as well as any other information extraneous to the topic being discussed.
Ideally, a podcast should begin with a phrase like “This podcast is about…” or equivalent introduction. This orients the listener, manages their expectations , and prepares them (the learner) for the educational intervention. Also, it means that they can turn off if it’s not for them – most people don’t like to feel like they’ve wasted their time, and if you listen for 2/3 minutes only to find out that the topic isn’t for you… well, you’ll be disappointed at best, and maybe even irritated. What’s worse, the chances are that listener will never come back to you again, even if your other sessions are exactly what they want to find out about: “once bitten” and so forth.
Don’t for get that you can supply non-audio orientation too – the OU example I provided includes a downloadable PDF transcript of the text, for example. An exception to this heuristic is if the podcast is one of a series; in this case, the podcaster needs to provide links to the previous, relates sessions or episodes of their overall narrative. This allow those who have been subscribed from the start of the series to “pick up where they left off” and ensures new listeners can access previous installments of the podcast. For example, if you were narrating the third part of a 5-part series of lectures on the Roman Empire in Britain, no-one would expect that you to re-tread the events of the invasion in 43 AD (covered in Part 1) when the subject for Pt. 3 is about Hadrian’s Wall: you merely direct your new listener to the relevant episode.
I plan to cover this aspect and other aspects of podcasting in more depth in future E-Learning Curve Blog posts, so stay tuned. Of course I will be covering recording, editing, post-producing and distributing podcasts – and don’t worry – it’s easier (and cheaper) than you think.
Best regards,
Michael
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kdpaine on 02 Sep 2009 at 4:36 pm #
Exceptional nonsense, in my opinion
Michael Hanley on 03 Sep 2009 at 7:37 am #
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and to submit your comment, KD.
You’ll note that I removed the URL you included, as I don’t cross-link to dodgy sites.
Regards,
Michael
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