In an exciting partnership between Podium.me and News-decoder, a podcasting bootcamp was held over two weeks to teach audio techniques and skills to school and university students eager to learn how to tell compelling and engaging stories. In attendance were participants from diverse areas of the world, including Sierra Leone, Rwanda, and Romania.
Podium.me’s mandate is to create opportunities for those under 25 to bring their young voices to the forefront. The bootcamp was an experience to achieve that internationally, as the communities from which the participants were from each had their own diverse stories to tell. From the beginning of the sessions, ideas emerged around substance abuse, women’s empowerment, street art and more.
How did the Podcamp work?
Each of the sessions over the two weeks included workshop topics, beginning with how to interview, then how to refine your story idea, how to script your podcast and finally, editing techniques. Throughout the bootcamp, conversation was flowing around the different ways a story can be told, for which audience, how we can diversify language in our international podcasts and finally, how we can utilize all of this to create an engaging end result.
By the end of the workshop, each participant created their own recordings, which will be released on Podium.me soon. The participants were encouraged to go out into their communities and interview strangers who might have amazing stories to tell. They all mentioned it was a nerve-racking experience, however we’re proud of the work they had done to get out of their comfort zones.
The bootcamp was received well, with feedback from participants highlighting their favorite parts of the session. One participant said that he was nervous and out of his comfort zone to conduct an interview with a stranger for the first time, but then felt more comfortable as the sessions progressed. He also mentioned that he loved all the information presented, saying all the presentations were useful and engaging, but wishes there was more time to learn about editing a podcast.
One participant said that he was nervous and out of his comfort zone to conduct an interview with a stranger for the first time, but then felt more comfortable as the sessions progressed. He also mentioned that he loved all the information presented, saying all the presentations were useful and engaging, but wishes there was more time to learn about editing a podcast.
Workshop participant
Podium.me is excited to offer opportunities to those 16 to 25 years in learning about the unique power of audio storytelling, how the information can change communities and bring a voice to the voiceless. Participants of the bootcamp mentioned they would like to create these podcasts to empower their communities and to bring awareness to certain issues surrounding their regions. They can now utilize the skills learned in the podcasting session helped by Podium.me and News-decoder and implement it into their own lives and communities, providing a space to tell immersive and important stories.
Podium.me is continuously working to create partnerships and podcast bootcamps/workshops with organizations aimed to empower young people in their journeys to find their voices! The output from bootcamps, such as this one, encourages skills to develop and to flourish within audio storytelling.