Award-winning podcasters and journalists from the UK, India, Kenya, Australia and South Africa have joined forces to create what's believed to be the first global and expert-led guide to podcasting.
There are more than two million podcasts worldwide* but in reality, only a small percentage of those break through and find an audience. The best podcasts connect with their listener. They achieve an intimacy and, above all, they know how to deliver a great story.
The Thomson Foundation guide uses examples from some of the best podcasts currently available, and includes tips and advice from senior journalists from around the world on how to make your podcast work.
The Guide's first course: Prepping the Big Idea, explains the importance of planning. Using a mixture of interactive exercises, video inserts from our experts, and best practice guidance, those taking the course will learn how to present their big idea, find an audience and choose the right podcast format. A downloadable Thomson Foundation Podcast Planning Checklist is provided which covers key questions to ask and answer before you hit the record button.
Hopefully using this course you will be able to develop your voice, to find it and to get it out there.
Dr Louisa Lim, University of Melbourne
Without proper podcast planning, it may prove impossible to get through a commissioning editor's door. Award-winning podcaster Dr Louisa Lim, who teaches podcasting and audiovisual journalism at the University of Melbourne, advises on what editorial executives want to hear and James Smart, podcast editor for Nation Group Media in Kenya, reveals what he's looking for from someone pitching a podcast.
I think that can be incredibly powerful...the opportunity to really find your own voice. And hopefully using this course you would be able to do that, to develop your voice, to find it and to get it out there, said Dr Lim.
The Guide's second course: Making It, is an essential how to' guide; from how to understand sound, to how to record, edit and promote your podcast. The BBC's North of England correspondent, Nick Garnett, shares great tips on getting the best out of your smartphone when recording audio, whilst the award-winning podcaster Paul McNally, who co-founded South African podcast production company Volume, reveals how they hope to monetise their podcasts.
Other experts, including John Shields who launched Checks and Balance, a weekly podcast on American politics for The Economist, and DVL Padma Priya, editorial lead at podcasting house Suno India, give their invaluable insights into what works and why.
At the end of the two courses in The Guide to Podcasting, people will have the chance to upload their own podcast trailer for our experts and other users to listen to.
The Thomson Foundation's Guide to Podcasting can be found on our Live Courses page.
*Source: Figure end of 2020. Source: The Guardian - Spotify credits podcast popularity for 24% growth in subscribers
Course 1: Podcasting: Prepping the Big Idea
Available now
Course 2: Podcasting: Making it
Available now
Catherine Mackie Editorial Associate
About: Catherine is responsible for designing training programmes for Thomson Foundation and has been a senior journalist for more than 30 years.
Explore our projects across the globe
More from Thomson
22/03/2023
One million refugees have been welcomed into Germany since the Russian invasion who aside from being far from home have lost contact with their community and in...
21/03/2023
Millions of people in Tajikistan have read, watched and listened to an extraordinary social media campaign which has clearly shown the population's hunger f...
08/03/2023
It's August in Pakistan and much of the country is underwater. Catastrophic flooding has killed hundreds, left millions homeless and destroyed infrastructur...
15/02/2023
A strong, fearless and effective media, where talent is recognised and rewarded regardless of gender. That's the goal of She Leads Media: Bettina Fellowshi...
07/02/2023
Our pioneering WhatsApp course is leading the way in training journalists and citizens to spot misinformation and disinformation in Sudan - a country targeted b...
03/02/2023
The finale of the third Valley Voices project saw women journalists and writers gain confidence in writing about some of the more controversial topics facing wo...
23/01/2023
Take six of the brightest young journalists and connect them to six of the best in the industry and you have the recipe for Connect 6', a new, world-class ...
10/01/2023
You're a journalist and news breaks that Pele, arguably the greatest footballer the world has ever known, has died. A colleague in your newsroom is assigned...
14/12/2022
Two former winners of the Vodacom Young Journalist of the Year award in South Africa have finally been treated to their prize of an all-expenses paid trip to Lo...
08/12/2022
Sabin Agha is a Pakistan-based documentary filmmaker, multimedia journalist and a blogger. She has been teaching women journalists at Tribal News Network (TNN)...
29/11/2022
Yashraj Sharma is the interim editor of the online news portal of The Kashmir Walla. He is the winner of the Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 202...
25/11/2022
Yashraj Sharma is the interim editor of the online news portal of The Kashmir Walla. He is a finalist in Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2022.
...
24/11/2022
Jyoti Yadav is a journalist from New Delhi, working for India's fastest growing news website The Print. She is a finalist in Thomson Foundation's Young ...
23/11/2022
Carlos Ra l Kestler is a 23-year-old journalist from Guatemala. He is a finalist in Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2022.
Every time a tyre t...
21/11/2022
One year ago, I woke up and was surprised to find out the great news that I was selected as the winner of Thomson Foundations Young Journalist Award 2021. This ...
07/11/2022
Ewen Macaskill introduces the second in his series of news writing courses for the Thomson Foundation - Advanced Writing: The art of storytelling
Storytelling...
04/11/2022
During a time of war, it's essential that journalists are prepared for any eventuality, however unlikely.
With that in mind, Thomson Foundation has respon...
20/10/2022
It has been tough three weeks for the panel of judges at the UK Foreign Press Association (FPA) who had the unenviable task of selecting three finalists for the...
19/10/2022
Three landmark environmental training courses devised by the Thomson Foundation have been translated into Arabic as part of a major push to guide and inform loc...
28/09/2022
A remarkable number of entries arrived from all over the world for this years Young Journalist Award - Cameroon to Colombia, Ukraine to Uganda and Egypt to Ecua...
12/09/2022
This article is written by Hudaibia Iftikhar, a blogger working in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province of Pakistan. Despite being highly educated, she holds a ...
23/08/2022
Running a media organisation in the Western Balkans (WB) is far from easy. A region beset by instability, corruption with challenges to media freedom which prov...
08/08/2022
A digital learning course on mis and disinformation delivered via the messaging platform WhatsApp has gone viral in Sudan.
The first seven days after publicat...
28/07/2022
Dina or evi is a journalist with the Centre for Investigative Journalism of Serbia (CINS). She has won a number of national and international awards for her w...
01/07/2022
Thomson Foundation is celebrating 60 years of promoting excellence in journalism and to mark the occasion, we're offering six rising stars the chance to con...
24/06/2022
Hello, can you hear me? The zoom screen springs to life and the responses quickly follow.
Yes, we can. Good morning . The greetings come from Kenya, Nigeri...
20/06/2022
The crisis in Ukraine has again focused world attention on the plight of refugees and mass migration. It has also challenged journalists to report on the issue ...
10/05/2022
The moment you see your byline next to a story is a magical moment for any journalist. It brings with it a sense of relief, pride and hope that you'll get n...
06/05/2022
Success in our training programmes is measured in many ways but one of the most rewarding is reading or watching powerful stories produced by young journalists ...
25/04/2022
A pioneering band of creatives in Sudan are promoting social change through photography. The Thomson Media training for digital media entrepreneurs formed part ...
31/03/2022
Chemical and biological weapons may be banned but that has not stopped them being used in recent conflicts and for journalists reporting on the war in Ukraine k...
25/01/2022
The look of politics in Gagauzia, the small autonomous territory in southern Moldova, is decidedly male. Just two of the 35 members of local parliament are wome...
13/01/2022
Eleven women who participated in the inaugural Bettina Fund - Women in Media Leadership programme say it will transform their careers as they have gained confid...
18/12/2021
Stories on ecology and corruption, developed with Thomson Media support, are among the best investigations of the year.
By Dima Stoianov, media support expert ...
17/12/2021
Media in minority languages are relatively well developed, but one segment is significantly neglected in the six countries of the Western Balkans - Albania, Bos...
14/12/2021
Award-winning podcasters and journalists from the UK, India, Kenya, Australia and South Africa have joined forces to create what's believed to be the first ...
08/12/2021
The 7th of January 1991 was a big day for me. It was the day I started working as a radio journalist.
As someone who writes for a living, I'm supposed to a...
30/11/2021
PROFILE: Young Journalist Award 2021 winner
It was Kai Hui Wong's persistence in her investigations which led her to reveal abuses of power that convin...
30/11/2021
PROFILE: Young Journalist Award 2021 (environment) winner
It's hard to believe that Monika Mondal only started her journalism career last year at the hei...
17/11/2021
Three journalists - from India, and for the first time, Colombia and Malaysia - are the finalists for the 2021 Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award, in par...
06/11/2021
By Eileen Truax Eileen is a journalist specialising in migration working with Thomson Media on Moving Voices - a project looking at cross border issues affectin...
02/11/2021
As world leaders gather for COP26, it is a pertinent time to showcase the work o...
20/10/2021
In the latest in a series of personal reflections on womens role in the media, Luba Kassova, author of The Missing Perspectives of Women in News reflects on why...
16/10/2021
It's one of those points in the annual media calendar that early-career journalists await on the edge of their seats - and the moment has arrived.
We can ...
06/10/2021
A confidence gap is a constant theme when discussing the lack of women in leadership positions in media. Why do women feel that they dont merit their success mo...
20/09/2021
Chances are, most things that currently surround you have been produced following the principles of the linear economy. From the clothes that you wear to the ph...
13/09/2021
Journalists have a unique role to play in changing the narrative around the worlds environmental breakdown and becoming an essential part of the solution. Hear ...
08/09/2021
Twelve women aiming to become future leaders and entrepreneurs in Kenya's media. They were chosen from more than 500 who applied to join the inaugural progr...
23/08/2021
Profile: Reem Al Jeally, Sudan A matriarchal figure is painted on a concrete wall on Jamhuriya Avenue, next to the University of Khartoum. Her face is not depic...
17/08/2021
Applications are open for the Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award, one of the highlights of the UK's Foreign Press Association Awards. Closes Septembe...
Award-winning podcasters and journalists from the UK, India, Kenya, Australia and South Africa have joined forces to create what's believed to be the first global and expert-led guide to podcasting.
