VARSHA SRIGANESH / SPUTNIK PHOTOGRAPHY
Each and every one of us has a story to tell and Laurier Brantford is giving you the opportunity to tell yours through the launch of the new Creativity Hub.
Located in One Market, the Creativity Hub will be offering a variety of programs, workshops, and equipment for the use of students and faculty at Wilfrid Laurier, as well as the general community of Brantford. One of the most exciting developments in progress is the podcast studio.
With the help of our professional podcaster on residence Avery Moore Kloss, you have the chance to tell the world the stories that your friends have heard a thousand times before.
“Just start making something and as you go you’ll learn … even if you only end up making two episodes of a thing then great, you tried something, you made something and you should be proud of yourself for that,” said Kloss.
As a podcaster on residence, Kloss has been funded by the university to continue her work here in Brantford while offering her expertise to aspiring podcasters. After spending some time with Kloss, we have a few tips and tricks for you to use to get your story heard.
Keep it simple, your podcast doesn’t need to be the most complex to catch a listener’s attention. Look at some of the most well-known podcasters, such as Joe Rogan.
While he may have some very interesting guests, his podcast is built upon simply talking to people about life. A simple podcast will make for an easy listening experience.
Structure it so that stories don’t become mixed and entangled with others. Often we can find ourselves moving from one story to another to give our audience background information, losing the fluidity of our story.
This is what makes structure so important in the creative process. Write out your ideas, create a general script to follow, and help the listener re-live this story with you.
If you’re looking to use an interview-style approach to your podcast, the Creativity Hub will be your friend. The industry-level equipment that this studio provides will give an air of professionalism to your podcast that recording in your apartment with an iPhone just doesn’t have. But don’t concern yourself with starting off with the biggest names or the most unique individuals.
Kloss herself started her podcast, Grown Up, by interviewing the people in her life about how they got where they are. Ask friends, colleagues, or professors to join you on your podcast. Many will jump at the opportunity to talk about themselves.
When starting something new, whether it be a hobby or a personal project, we can often come up with very exciting, idealistic yet impractical goals. What is important to remember when making a podcast is that you are going to have a life outside of it.
If you want to release content regularly, make sure you don’t set too high of an expectation upon yourself. Start with something small and see how it goes.
A key question to ask yourself is how long to make your podcast. Thanks to their accessibility, many people find themselves listening during their commute, which averages at 27 minutes in Canada.
This means a good starting point is close to the half-hour mark. Then you can leave your listeners to tell you when they want more!
The biggest tip is to just get started. We can often be concerned with perfection. Having the most unique ideas, using the best equipment, being as engaging as possible. But you have to start somewhere, and the experience is what helps you improve. Here is your chance to start.
Some of our own students at Wilfrid Laurier have already been getting hard at work in creating their own podcast. Mason Goodfellow and his team have been eager to launch The Student Lounge podcast and are taking advantage of the equipment that the Creativity Hub provides.
“At first I felt that the whole process of creating and putting out a podcast would be very simple,” said Goodfellow, “the last couple months have been very different from what I expected, it’s a grind but the team and I are all in and very excited to see what happens.”
In the near future, the Creativity Hub will have this podcast studio and so much more available to the Brantford community. It will be available through a monthly membership or through individual sessions.
Kloss and her company Folktale Studio will be available for bookable hours on Thursday evenings for help. They offer personal coaching, editing and scriptwriting. You can contact Kloss directly at avery@folktalestudio.ca
For more information on the Creativity Hub or the podcast studio, check out their webpage on the Laurier Website.
This has all been made possible thanks to our local Stedman Foundation, who donated $15,000 towards funding the podcast studio at the Creativity Hub.
