Be heard

Roshan Abbas

It's a zero-cost medium. There is hardly any equipment involved. No help is necessary from anyone else. And you don't even have to step out of home to record an episode. That's how convenient it is to create a podcast. But, a good show calls for the right recipe. There are questions like, how do you create stand-out content? What makes for neat production? And how can the listener's attention remain sustained over a period of time?

Those are some of the points that Roshan Abbas will discuss at a bootcamp this evening, titled Pod'ium. The multifaceted media presenter says, "The first thing people need to understand is what makes for good content… secondly, they must realise that it's a marathon, not a sprint, so don't wing it. Think about what the 13th episode might be like when you start out."

He adds that there is also a certain amount of professionalism involved, telling us over the phone, "Right now, there is a fan behind me while I am talking to you. But had I been recording, I would have probably been under my blanket to drown the noise out." All these factors come into play for a medium of entertainment that gives colour and clothing to the human voice, Abbas says, since podcasts "create video images in the theatre of
the mind."

The inherent anonymity between the presenter and listener also allows for discussions on subjects like mental health, which have assumed added significance during the lockdown. And the expert feels that once the entertainment industry is back on its feet, we will find more podcasts becoming a pipeline of ideas for TV shows.

But all said and done, authenticity remains the key. Anything can be turned into a podcast if you look at it with a fresh lens, Abbas says. So, the end advice he leaves us with is, "Keep your piece ragged and real."

On Today at 5 pm
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