Podcasts for Impact: 7 tips for Research Hubs and Institutions

For research hubs aiming to amplify theitr findings and engage wider audiences, podcasting offers a powerful medium. Our recent experience producing a five-part series for TRUUD (Tackling Root causes Upstream of Unhealthy Urban Development) provides a valuable blueprint for qwqhat to conisder when commissioning.

Tip 1: Prioritise the podcast's discoverability and long term accessibility from the outset

The first critical step is to define the podcast's purpose and longevity. TRUUD's 5 year cross-discplinary research programme involved multiple institutions and partners. Finding a permanent home for research institute assets, after teams are disbanded and websites are no longer maintained, can be problematic. TRUUD's communications manager, Julia Walton, proactively addressed this issue by securing hosting with specalist research podcast platform, ResearchPod. This ensured the series would have a permanent home and benefit from targeted promotion beyond the projec'ts immediate timeline.

Tip 2: Never underestimate the time commitment

Recording the podcast itself is the quickest part of the whole process, if you’re aiming for a professional result. Think of podcast production as putting on a big event, and you’ll begin to understand the many elements involved: choosing themes; finding the right host; scheduling guests and picking the venue. Be clear about whose responsibility this is and the staff time involved. For TRUUD, Julia handled many of these pre-production requirements, with Beeston Media giving advice on practicalities and technical requirements. This made sense, particularly for choosing the topics and themes, as Julia was across the main research outputs. If you do require an agency production team to handle this aspect of planning, allow for considerable research time in the budget, and make sure the agency has the experience to handle academic topics.

Tip 3: Invest in a skilled host who can connect with both the content and the audience.

To avoid the pitfalls of dry, lecture-style delivery, consider the listener experience. For TRUUD, we opted for a hosted format, enlisting the expertise of professional writer and commentator, Andrew Kelly. As Director of the Festival of the Future City, his ability to synthesise complex reports and facilitate dynamic discussions, far surpassed a basic dialogue format and significantly enhanced the overall production.

Tip 4: Pre-Production is Paramount

Careful planning is the bedrock of a successful podcast. Provide the production team and host with comprehensive background information, key research findings, and desired messaging. Work collaboratively to outline the content and flow of each episode, ensuring a logical progression of ideas and a manageable length (we aimed for 20-30 minutes). Always ensure guests are well-briefed on the format and key discussion points to maximise their contribution and comfort. We produced a booklet for each episode as a guide.

Tip 5: Production Efficiency and Quality

A professional production setup, even a temporary one, ensures high-quality audio. For TRUUD we used a pop-up studio with dedicated microphones and mixing equipment. We always do trial runs of the set-up at our production office to check kit, streamline the recording process and assign clear roles for the recording day. These rehearsals also help to de-risk for when things don’t go to plan. In this case, a guest switched from in-person to remote interview at the last minute. We had already planned for this eventuality so had the right kit and know-how to adapt at speed.

Tip 6: Create a Comfortable Environment

The recording process can be unfamiliar for academic guests. Creating a relaxed and collaborative atmosphere is crucial for eliciting natural and engaging responses. Make sure you allow time for informal pre-recording chats and reassure the guests that you’re not trying to put them on the spot. If they are not happy with something they’ve said, they can ask to say it again. We like to stress that we’re not journalists. We are working collaboratively with them to get the best results, and always edit recordings to make people sound as professional and fluent as possible.

Tip 7: Maximise your assets

Think beyond the final podcast itself. Julia commissioned stills photography and waveform videos as promotional assets optimised for social media. These audiograms allow contributors to easily share their involvement in the series and drive traffic to the full episodes. Our Beeston Media crew also recorded behind the scenes footage on a small gimbal-mounted camera to get a great record of the day and for potential further promotion.

Throughout its five-year research cycle, TRUUD has demonstrated an exemplary, multifaceted, and consistent communications strategy. This podcast series continues that strong approach by strategically partnering with the right production expertise to maximise impactful and lasting engagement with their work.

If you would like to discuss how professionally produced podcasts can complement your research hubs strategy, do get in touch.