Podcast consultancy for learning
I help organisations answer that question, and sometimes the answer is no. Which can save us all a bit of time. But where the answer is yes, I can offer a ton of advice and guidance to help you make a decent job of it.
At a very basic level: podcasts are more popular than elearning. People who roll their eyes at the prospect of a twenty-minute elearning module will happily sit through a forty-minute podcast conversation, and then go looking for the next one. That isn't a failure of discipline on their part. The two formats are doing quite different things. Audio can access time that screen-based media can't – the commute, the dog walk, the drive between sites – which matters a lot if a good part of your workforce isn't sitting at desks all day.
There is real cognitive science behind why this works, and equally, good reasons behind why it doesn't, for certain types of learning. I unpack both in the paper you can read or download on this page.
Plenty of studios can make you sound good. Fewer of them know anything about learning design, and fewer still know the L&D world from the inside – the budget cycles, the politics, who your audience actually is and what they need. I spent 25 years in digital learning before I started making podcasts, and the last seven interviewing the people who shape the profession. So the first thing I'll ask is what you want people to be able to do differently afterwards – rather than what microphone you should buy.
Most organisations that want a podcast are better off making it themselves, and that is usually what I'd suggest. I can help you work out a format that fits your audience and whatever it is they need to learn, specify the kit (the bar is lower than you might expect), set up a workflow your team can realistically manage and sustain, train whoever is presenting and producing, and then stay on the end of the phone as an editorial backstop.
An experienced interviewer and host, for your show, your event, or an internal series. Getting the best out of a subject matter expert (SME) or a senior person in the organisation is a particular skill, and an uncomfortable guest makes for a wasted hour. I've done it a couple of hundred times now, with guests ranging from Josh Bersin to the heads of some of Europe's larger learning functions.
If you'd rather the whole thing were simply taken care of: editorial strategy, format, guest booking, recording in-person or remotely, editing, mastering, publication and promotion. Audio and video. The workflow is AI-accelerated where that saves you money and human where it counts. I only take on a few of these at a time – I've got my own podcasts to run!
Paper: ‘Should Podcasting Be Part of Your Learning Mix?’
I've written up the evidence – what the research on attention, memory and cognitive load actually says about learning through audio, including where it doesn't support the case – and turned it into ten questions you can answer about your own organisation. It's free, there's no form to fill in, and I won't email you afterwards (unless you want me to). If you find it useful, pass it on.
The shows
Speaking
Keynote speaker, SLASK Conference, Denmark. Also Learning Technologies, London, and the Podcast Learning Festival.
Half an hour on what you're trying to achieve. No charge, and no deck.
Scope, a plan, and a fixed price.
Small and clearly defined, and if it isn't working we stop.
Half an hour, no charge, and you'll get my honest view – including, quite possibly, that you don't need me. Pick a time that suits you, or write first if you'd rather.