Podcast planning and production
You can either produce a podcast by yourself, or commission a podcast from outside production company. Here are a few tips and things to consider to get you started with both options.
Simplified workflow is that first you plan a podcast SERIES with an interesting idea and host(s) and guests; and then you produce individual EPISODES to that series.
Simplified workflow is that first you plan a podcast SERIES with an interesting idea and host(s) and guests; and then you produce individual EPISODES to that series.
When making a podcast by yourself
- Decide the target audience you want to reach.
- Script and plan the structure and performers for your overall series.
- Plan to produce several episodes, over several months (podcast audience takes time to discover your podcast, so you need several episodes to make it a series). You might decide to publish an episode every week, bi-weekly, or monthly.
- Record episodes with good quality microphone in a quiet non-echo space (for example at Aalto Studios recording booth A-Pod at Marsio, or borrow a microphone from takeout.aalto.fi). Listeners today expect a near-radio-quality from podcasts.
- Create .wav file for each episode, and design a thumbnail image for your series (check Aalto University’s podcasts in Spotify as reference, or ask Commmunications for a ready Photoshop template).
- Contact Aalto Studios a few weeks in advance for hosting the podcast episodes at Aalto University servers, and for publishing them in Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
- Advertise your podcast to your relevant parties so that your audience will find it.
Checklist for required components when contacting Aalto Studios for podcast hosting your series
- DESCRIPTION TEXT AND TITLE for your overall series, plus episode titles and description text for each individual episode.
- Design a THUMBNAIL IMAGE for your series (see Aalto University’s podcasts in Spotify as reference, or ask Commmunications for Photoshop template). Size 1500x1500pix or 3000x3000pix.
- MAKE A .WAV FILE for each episode. Contact Aalto Studios for hosting the podcast episodes at Aalto University servers, and for publishing them in Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Also keep in mind publishing in Youtube, which has a podcast publishing category, and is a major platform for podcast listeners.
- Please note! If you wish to publish the podcast series under the Aalto University brand name (and not your own, or project name), you need to brand the episodes with Aalto University audio bumber (check Spotify for examples), or Aalto University needs to be indicated at the beginning by some other means. Additionally the content needs to go through Aalto University Communications for review compliance with Aalto University’s Code of Conduct (contact Communications below for further details).
- In addition, if you publish your podcast under the Aalto University brand, you are required by EU law to produce an accessibility transcript in the original language of every episode you publish, within 2 weeks from publishing the episode (this means that you need to create a text file, for example pdf, of everything that is said in your audio file). You should create a page to aalto.fi/en/podcasts podcast hub for hosting these transcript files, and then add a link to that page in the podcast series description text. Example page: /en/podcasts/operations-leadership-with-gautam-basu-podcast
Purchasing a podcast from an outside production company
- Ask for price quotes from production companies. Use Aalto University Communications official copyright forms (“viestinnän tekijänoikeussopimus”) to make sure you get all the necessary copyrights from the production company ʵ University for distribution. Sign agreements before any production starts and before any payment. LINK: Copyright instructions for photograph, video and audio
- Decide the target audience you want to reach. Script and plan the structure and performers for your overall series and episodes. Plan to make several episodes over several months.
- Design thumbnail image for your series (check Aalto University’s podcasts in Spotify as reference, or ask Communications for a Photoshop template).
- Production company delivers to you a .wav file for each episode. Contact Aalto Studios a few weeks in advance for hosting the podcast episode files at Aalto University servers, and for publishing them in Spotify and Apple Podcasts. We strongly recommend using the Aalto University servers for podcast hosting, and we do not recommend using the production company for hosting the files (for reasons of GDPR compliance, and for overall control of your final product).
- Advertise your podcast to your relevant parties so that audience will find it. Make a communications plan for your creation, already during production.
Useful links and support
- Copyright forms for transferring necessary usage rights from the production company to the payer (Aalto University)
- Contact Aalto Studios for hosting your podcast series
- You can also contact Aalto University Communications (COS) for more detailed support. Please email communications@aalto.fi.