"Sometimes you come up with an idea that requires creative and technical wizardry to provide an internal client with exceptional value. Then, after the initial excitement has worn off, the scale and difficulty of the task becomes apparent. 
PODCASTING FORMATS
Eight possible podcasting formats for you to consider.
Podcasting offers you a huge range of production formats. The one you choose to work with depends upon what you need to communicate, your target audience and your production capability.
1. The Audio Seminar
This is suitable when you have a specific learning objective in mind. Often a subject matter expert delivers the recording. The most obvious example is a lecture, which is recorded so that students can listen to it at a later date. Interestingly, research in the US has shown that the majority of students (80%) prefer to listen to this type of study via their computer rather than via an i-Pod or mobile device.
2. The Interview
This approach is always very effective if you wish to convey information in a relaxed and informal style. The trick is to have a good interviewer who has planned the interview and who knows what are the key points to be drawn out. It is good for drawing attention to new products or initiatives. It is a productive way of enabling directors and senior managers to raise their profile within an organisation.
3. The Chat Show
This format requires sound preparation and research and, like the interview, it will be reliant on a good interviewer. It is a great way of generating enthusiasm and interest about a corporate product or service. It can also be used as a project de-brief where lessons learnt, good and bad, can be recorded for posterity. In some instances, the chat show can be developed into a regular feature to be made available either directly via the site or via an RSS feed.
4. Marketing Promotion
This approach aims to reach your existing customers/potential clients and to educate them about a product or service. It requires those involved to be articulate and engaging in order to hold the attention of the listener. As it is primarily for external consumption, production values will have to be good. The recording should be made available via your website, RSS and e-mail.
5. Just in Time Training
As the title suggests, this is for sales professionals or employees who will benefit from having some knowledge about a product, service or technique prior to attending a meeting or presentation. It is a good format to be made available for delivery to MP3 players so that employees can listen while on the move or out of the office.
6. Corporate News
As a lot of employees complain that they are not kept informed or that they are unsure what the business does, this is a reliable way of keeping them up to date. While it may overlap with the interview or the chat show, the format allows the management to establish a regular and open channel of communication with employees.
7. Induction Support
While audio will never replace the importance of being welcomed by colleagues personally, there are times when it is just not practical for senior members of a company to be on hand. Induction recordings can help new employees to understand what the goals of the company are, the intentions of senior managers and how they fit into the overall picture. Delivered correctly, it can also convey the personality of the presenters, some of whom the employee might not have the opportunity to meet.
8. Dramatised Scenarios
If you deliver dramatised training videos, then why not dramatised audio? It can be just as powerful and effective. This approach is a creative way to enhance the delivery of soft skills training. A library of right-way/wrong-way scenarios can be written and produced using professional actors. The recordings can be delivered via the intranet or an MP3 player and when produced properly not only will they be effective, they will also raise staff morale.
This article can be printed and if you would like to learn more about podcasting, you may wish to read other articles on the site: 'How To Start Podcasting', 'Why Podcasting?' and 'Personality Branding'.
If you would like to discuss any of these formats in more detail or how you could produce them in-house or externally, please contact me directly for more information info@podcommunications.co.uk.
Joe Pélissier