Introduction
Podcasts are interesting because they require relevant and
quality content plus you can listen to it at any time. I haven’t always been
into podcast because as a child, I spent my time doing more productive
activities like playing outside and youth sports. Although, as I became older I
found podcasts to be entertaining to listen to and a way to escape from reality
and the stress of school. Podcasts also play a pivotal role in society because
radio is not going anywhere anytime soon.
When it came to thinking about what my Capstone should be, many things were running through my mind but I knew that I wanted it to be related to sports since ultimately I want to become a sports broadcaster. Once I was sitting in Professor Young’s class and he brought up that you could do something like a podcast, that spoke volumes to me. I’ve been involved in the radio program for about 3 years now and this is something that I want to continue in my career past college. I also hosted a sports show in the past and had an internship at Cherry Creek Radio doing sports content. I had experience in this and thought this was the opportunity to really show what I’ve learned throughout my college career and apply it. It was so helpful to have this option because I have the skills in this department plus I’m passionate about it which enhances my excitement and show off my talent. Using research of sports topics, analytics, critical thinking, and social interaction with an audience, I decided to conduct a 6-7 show podcast that would talk about the biggest controversial topics in the sporting industry and how they affect a younger generation. I’m obsessed with sports because I’m always following a sports show, watching games, streaming live stats, etc. and since my dream job is a sports broadcaster, then I knew that this was going to be something special and I have to say that it was.
Learning Objectives
- Apply my knowledge of Adobe 1.5 to edit down my show and touch it up.
- Learn how to upload my podcast on Pod bean and share it on my Facebook and iTunes page.
- Inform people about the decline of discipline shown by professional players.
- Use outside research and resources to support the topics.
- Actively promote and manage my podcast through the use of social media and drive some traffic towards it.
Original Program Learning Outcomes
Theory: Being in the radio program here at Dixie, I have to
communicate to listeners in St. George and connect with students at Dixie. I'm
also on the Cross Country team and have been for the last 4 years. I thought it
was fitting to do a sports podcast because I love watching and participating in
sports and love voicing my opinions and having conversations with others on the
radio. Working in small groups when it comes to pod-casting is essential and
can add some great content. Last semester I had a sports show with one of my
friends on the radio and it was fantastic because we were able to bounce ideas
off each other and it just added a lot of content and can be useful for
business. Being able to have enthusiasm during a radio podcast is necessary
because people want to hear some excitement in your voice otherwise people will
turn the channel.
Content Creation: To reach my audience, I have created a
Facebook, Twitter, and iTunes page to follow along with the podcast. To upload
my podcast, I will use the application Pod bean and SoundCloud to do so and
then that will translate it to those various places. This way, it'll be easily
accessible to my followers and hopefully it'll be shared beyond that and reach
plenty of people. My method will be to inform people about the lack of
discipline shown by professional athletes and how that affects the younger
generation.
Critical Thinking: I feel like it'll be a challenge doing a
solo podcast but I feel like if I have shorter episodes which will be about
15-20 minutes long, it won't drag on and as the show progresses, I'm sure I
will find different ways to enhance the shows as time goes on. The problem
solving in my opinion will come as my show develops and as I can learn about
things to improve my show and this will be updated by the end of the semester.
Research: My research for my sports podcast will come from
ESPN primarily to get most of my sports stories because they have more in depth
information about athletes rather than scores and statistics. Once I have that,
I will boggle down to the main points and that will help me prepare a lot
better and offer my opinion and will sometimes bring guests on as well to
conduct interviews. My interviews will include local athletes specifically at
Dixie State and ask their opinions about the latest controversy going on in the
sporting world at that time. For example, the biggest sports story going around
is the Colin Kaepernick sitting down during the national anthem because he
believes the U.S. is oppressing African Americans.
Results of PLO’s
So, I went through and created a Facebook and Twitter
account which seemed to be successful especially Facebook but I will hit on
that later. I already have an iTunes account but I’ve had some trouble uploading
some of my shows there. I also have a Podbean and Soundcloud which is actually
where all my content is stored. It is split because I couldn’t get everything
up onto one site? It has been a struggle putting it on iTunes but I do have
some of my information there. It was experimental though and sometimes things
don’t go your way but nonetheless, I have my content on the Internet. I have
received feedback on my Soundcloud that people love my shows and like some of
the things I was doing such as the Big Quan Question of the Week which I added
on later during the semester.
When it came to critical thinking and the length of how long
the podcast would be was also experimental as well. I originally thought that
my show would go for about 15-20 minutes an episode because doing something
solo, you need to have that flare to keep the audience engaged. Preparation has
a lot to deal with that. I gathered my information from ESPN primarily and
other sports news websites and made a Word Document where I would put that information
and highlight the important parts to talk about during my show. Once I did
that, my first episode was about 30 minutes long but I kept the rhythm going
and there wasn’t a lot of dead air. I feel that comes with experience of being
in the radio program and using those skills that I’ve developed over the years.
Social media is huge nowadays and a perfect way to connect
with an audience. I created a Facebook and Twitter page called Big Quan Theory
(which is what my podcast is named) to post the news stories, podcasts,
Question of the Week segment and more. I’m not a professional at creating web
pages but luckily, when I took Eric’s New Social Media class, we had to create
a page on Facebook associated with some sort of business and so I used my knowledge
and skills that I accomplished from that class and applied it to forming it for
Capstone.
Podomatic
Here are my overall statistics on Podomatic. (Noted that this was added in late November)
Plan
I wanted to do a podcast related to sports but it was too
vague so I had to think deeper. Being a male in this world, especially an
African American, people tend to look at you a little differently. I’ve been discriminated
against a little bit and thought I should talk about something that I can
relate to. My podcast was meant to inform people about the problems going on in
the sporting industry, inspire individuals that want to pursue this as a career
and provide entertainment to the general public but specifically sports fan
around the world. Big Quan Theory was used as a way to inform people about the
latest sports controversial news, stream videos, offer my opinion to it and
leave them with a question to ponder with and respond to. The guests I had on
my show were very informative and they were on my cross-country team and so it
was interesting to hear their opinions when it came to other sporting issues.
Execution
September
2, 2016 Episode 1 Big Quan Theory uploaded 20 plays, 2 likes
September 16, 2016 Episode 2 Big Quan Theory uploaded 9
plays, 1 like
October
1, 2016 Episode 3 Big Quan Theory uploaded 5 plays, 2 likes
October
7, 2016 Episode 4 Big Quan Theory uploaded 6 plays
October 17, 2016 Big Quan’s Question of the Week #1 uploaded 16
plays
October 24, 2016 Big Quan’s Question of the Week #2 uploaded 10
plays
October 28, 2016 Episode 5 Big Quan Theory uploaded 3 plays
October 31, 2016 Big Quan’s Question of the Week #3 uploaded 6
plays
November 7, 2016 Big Quan’s Question of the Week #4 uploaded 6
plays
November 11, 2016 Episode 6 Big Quan Theory uploaded 10 plays, 1 like
November
14, 2016 Big Quan’s Question of the Week #5 uploaded 6 plays
November
21, 2016 Big Quan’s Question of the Week #6 uploaded 5 plays
November 28, 2016 Big Quan's Question of the Week #7 uploaded 18 plays
December 2, 2016 Episode 7 Big Quan Theory uploaded 15 plays
Analysis of the Plan’s Effectiveness
Between my Twitter and Facebook accounts, I consumed way
more content and feedback from Facebook because that is where my traffic was
coming from. I would place my Podcasts and Questions of the Week on both
platforms and my Facebook would drive comments, likes, shares, etc. My Twitter
did generate some likes but no re-tweets whatsoever, which I wasn’t really
concerned about. I do have to admit that when I started out with just the
podcasts and posting news stories, I wasn’t developing much audience
engagement, which is what I was striving for. I realized that the podcasts were
a half an hour (which no one really has the attention span for that long) and
they weren’t really engaging for people to participate in. Although, I did try
and ask my audience questions whenever I would post a news story to try to
provoke their attention but nothing was happening. I asked Eric if I could
implement a segment for more participation and he said if I thought it would be
effective. That is why I came up with the question of the week that would be a
short 1-2 minute segment where I’d ask a question involving the sporting
industry but specifically something that had to deal with a controversy and
have my audience respond to it.
I love how this plan worked out because then my audience
was, in my eyes, encouraged to participate and that is what I wanted more than
anything. I didn’t really want to force anything on them, I wanted them to feel
like they were able to express themselves and for me to be there for support
and evaluation pickup. My twitter was effective, not in the same way but it
was. My Dad actually picked up a story that I put on the site and posted it to Facebook,
which he tagged me in it and wrote, “The next radio talent in the family on his
podcast bound for stardom. Keep doing your thing Shi-Quan I see you.” I’m not
writing that to gloat but rather explain that he was able to transfer that
information over to Facebook for his followers to view and thus, drive more
traffic and followers over to my Twitter account so I’m glad he was able to
make that happen. Now, even with all that, my Facebook was still more effective
but both were ways to deliver the news to my audience. Facebook just allowed
for the feedback to be heard and easier for me to respond to.
Twitter results:
Facebook results:
Survey Monkey
I
also conducted a survey which helped me analyze my data and put things into
perspective as to how to evaluate myself and what I could have done better. I
used Survey Monkey to gather my data and will share the results of how that
went.
Guests
I had two guests on my shows throughout the semester and
both were on the cross country team. One of them, Tyler Bird, Freshman from
Monticello, Utah, was on episode 3 where I interviewed him about cross country
but also spoke to him about the biggest controversial topics that were big at
the time. At the time, Colin Kaepernick was the huge storyline surrounding his
National Anthem Protest when he was kneeling during the National Anthem and has
received tons of backlash for it. I thought this was a good interview but I was
so worried that his answers were going to be super short and kind of butted in
these unnecessary comments and trying to finish his sentences because I knew
him pretty well. Some people, via word of mouth, mentioned that I needed to let
him speak a little bit more before interjection because it kind of messed up
the conversation. I went back and listened to it and I was kicking myself in
the butt because I should know better (being involved with radio for three
years) but I made it my goal to not make the same mistake during my next
interview. This episode premiered on October 1st.
My next and final guest that I had the pleasure to interview
was my cross country teammate, Skyler Storie, Junior from Cottonwood, Arizona,
was on episode 6. Since I did my shows two weeks apart, this episode was on
November 11th. So about a month had passed by since I interviewed
Tyler and so the Kaepernick story was not as huge in the news as it previously
was. Actually, I asked about how seeing an athlete die can affect you going
forward, even if they do not play the same sport. I loved this interview better
because she elaborated on her answers, which allowed for more conversation and
for the interview to last longer. This time, the feedback of my audience was a
lot more positive because I was allowing her to talk and not interrupting her,
which just sounds a lot better. I went back, listened to that as well, compared
the two episodes, and found my weaknesses and strengths.
In the end, I felt satisfied even though my
original plan was to interview players from different sports. I was unable to
get ahold of anyone, especially football was tough because they were already in
season and I didn’t have enough information about the basketball team to
interview them. I feel like I could’ve done a better job on my end to contact
the head coach: Jon Judkins to reach his players but I was also busy with Cross
Country so it was a hassle to do altogether. In the future, I would definitely
try to be more prepared because that is what it takes to be a good host, in
radio, television, etc. Nonetheless, I loved the guests that I had the
opportunity to interview and this whole experience was a learning curve especially
when it comes to the interview process.
Here are their profile pictures of both of them:
Tyler Bird:
Skyler Storie:
Here are the interview questions
Self-Evaluation
Preparation and patience are the two key words I
took away from this experience. Now being in radio, I have already learned
about staying prepared because that helps you sound better whenever you’re
talking about something. I’m speaking about being prepared when it comes to
things you don’t expect, like the building shutting down (which happened to me
early on) and having a contingency plan. Otherwise known as crisis management
because you will be hit with stuff that you aren’t necessarily prepared for and
it is your job to deal with the consequences but remain calm in the situation.
Patience, on the other hand, comes whenever you’re trying to convince people to
put trust in you even when you might not have or built that sort of credibility
with your audience. You will need to have patience while developing those
skills.
The Good
It was a great experience but the good came
whenever I experimented and messed up. It showed me that nothing is guaranteed
and you have to put the work in to strive to be great at something. The
addition of Big Quan’s Question of the Week was one of the strong suits and probably
the best thing I did while finding out what the channel was about and more
about myself. To see the countless reactions of people complimenting the music
or the authentic question, put a smile on my face. I love that I was able to
add something about halfway and for it to be a success. Bringing on the guests initiated
a conversation that I was unable to have by myself and added another
perspective to the group. I would have to say the audience engagement and
sharing my thoughts with others, via social media and interviews proved to be
the best way to get my point across.
The Bad
While there were good things about the program,
the bad comes with that as well. First off, I couldn’t connect all of my
content associated to iTunes which was very frustrating because I wanted to
have all my information in one place (even though I found Podomatic later on). ITunes
would’ve essentially been the easiest place to have all my information and
people would’ve definitely been able to podcast it off of their rather than search
through Soundcloud or Podbean. Also, having to change my schedule up so often
because of breaks in the semester, Cross Country meets, or whatever the case
may be, I felt like I was letting down my audience which did not sit well for
me. I tried to do my best to counteract these problems and improve.
Things I Learned
Even though I have been involved in radio for three years, i learned so much about preparation and managing some social media pages and making sure that I am reliable to everyone in my audience. I have learned about being prepared over the years from my radio professor Shawn Denevan but I have also used my skills from Eric Young, specifically his Social Media class. That is where I learned to manage a Facebook page and see how it can fall apart if you're not interacting with your audience or the opposite can happen, where you strive and your page see success because of how much you are involved with your audience and how much you care about the content that you put up on the page. A combination of these skills just enhanced my abilities to complete this project.
Overview
Overall, I had a fantastic time developing this sports page
and is really something that I hope to continue in the future. I am very
passionate about these kinds of subjects and if I want my dream to become a
reality then I will need to keep practicing and capitalizing on these sorts of
issues. I watch debate shows generate these conversations all the time and I
want to be someone who fills their shoes and keeps that conversation going. I
am so grateful to Eric Young for letting me have the opportunity to embark on
something that I love and have devotion towards. I am hoping that in the
future, I can help it grow and add some other permanent people to enhance the
quality of the show and drive it forward. For now, I’ll enjoy what I have
accomplished here and keep striving for greatness. I just want to thank Eric
Young for giving me the opportunity to shine and show my skills in what I am
best at and loved every minute of it.
Harriet Tubman once said, “Every great dream
begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the
patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
You can access and listen to any of my shows or questions right here at Podomatic. I hope you guys enjoy this because I had a blast conducting this project this semester!
