‘I’d like you do a podcast,’ she said. ‘No problem,’ I said, as my head filled with a million questions and a voice inside said ‘no way, you can’t do that.’
But another voice inside me, the one that likes a challenge – and the one I like to listen to – said ‘why not?’
So I Googled ‘how to do a podcast’ and found myself presented with a sea of information and advice. Through it all, the running theme appeared to be ‘anyone can do it’.
And with that firmly in mind, my podcast journey began.
I should point out that I did seek some expert advice at the outset. It’s one thing interviewing someone, which I’ve done hundreds of times, but editing an audio file and uploading it to podcast hosts is another skillset entirely, requiring technical know-how I don’t currently possess.
I enlisted the help of podcast supremo Pete Morgan, from the memorably titled MonkeyPants Productions. And the first thing he told me was – of course – anyone can do it.
I was even starting to believe it by this stage.
Pete advised me about the importance of investing in a decent microphone, and gave me a few recording and questioning tips as well as filling me in on all the admin side – how I would need a description, what information to include either side of the interview and so forth.
Some things I had thought about – others I would never have known. His help has been invaluable.
The next step was lining up a couple of willing victims – I mean guests.
The first was Anne Alexander, a former colleague who had risen through the ranks of print and broadcast journalism to become senior political producer at Good Morning Britain.
She was the perfect guest and made it easy for me, chatting animatedly about her career journey and how she managed to continue to get the programme out every day in spite of a government boycott.
It was a fascinating and enlightening chat – I forgot about the microphone and the fact that it was being conducted over Zoom instead of in person, and the conversation flowed.
With a few tweaks from Pete, the resulting interview was published and, to my relief, we had some fantastically positive and encouraging feedback.
That’s it – I had become a podast host!
My second guest was Rebecca Lockwood, a student and journalist who took time during the first lockdown to contact all her exes to ask ‘what went wrong?’
The result was another insightful chat. Once again, the strange circumstances and microphone were forgotten as we chatted about how she found herself in the headlines.
I’ve since interviewed Dicky Dodd, radio presenter and bus driver (yes, really!) That podcast is due to be released in the coming weeks.
Our podcast is called The Media & Me and the idea is to speak to people about their experiences of the media, either behind the headlines or in the spotlight.
If you would like to take part, get in touch. Anyone can do it!
Contact us via email at sally-anne@nurturemedia.co.uk
To listen to podcasts, click here.