Streamline Training & Documentation: Using Podcasts in Training

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Using Podcasts in Training

For many years, salespeople and others who spend considerable time in their cars have been listening to training tapes as one way of making their travel time more productive.

Now that the audio tape has pretty much gone the way of the LP, filling the audio training niche with podcasts — mp3 recordings posted online and downloaded to users' computers — is a smart move. Employees can transfer the podcasts to their mobile mp3 players and then listen at the time and place of their choosing — at the gym, while running, while riding the subway, whatever.

In outline, these are the steps for producing a training podcast:

Use a pre-existing recording (e.g., a speech), or write a script for the podcast. If you are preparing a script, consider having two or more people talk to each other to make the podcast more engaging. Generally, it's good to keep the overall length to no more than half an hour.

If you are recording a script, your computer needs an attached microphone, and the room the computer is in should have good acoustics. In any case, the computer needs speakers and an Internet connection. Once you have your recording, upload it to your intranet (or to your external website if you want the podcast to be publicly available).

If you need an audio production program for recording your podcast and saving it as an mp3 file, you can find free software here. Information on how to use Apple GarageBand software to produce podcasts is here.

Set up an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed so that employees can subscribe to the podcasts. Once subscribed, employees receive the podcasts as automatic downloads to their computers. (If preferred, you can have IT techs set up the subscriptions on employee computers.)

For $40 (as of 5/06), you can obtain a program called FeedForAll that automatically creates code for RSS feeds. You can read more about the FeedForAll software here.

Employees can transfer the podcasts to their mobile devices — iPods, mp3 players, and cell phones with audio file capability. They can also download to CDs.

For additional podcasting ideas and a more detailed explanation of how to cost-effectively produce professional-sounding podcasts, you can have a look at this article at the website of the Society for Human Resource Management.

PS. Some companies are beginning to use video podcasts in training settings where employees can watch as well as listen.

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Labels: Web 2.0

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