Are Interview Podcasts the Key to Public Speaking for Students?

April 3, 2023

Public speaking is a nerve-wracking experience for many students, but it doesn’t need to be! By exploring interview podcasts, your students can hone their public speaking skills in a modern, exciting way.

Interview podcasts are a fantastic introduction to the world of public speaking because students can focus on learning to speak confidently and authentically express their unique points of view without distractions. Also, interview podcasts allow your digital native students to share their creations using their preferred medium: the internet!

Incorporating interview podcasting into your lessons may seem difficult, but it can actually be very intuitive. When your class is able to create interview podcasts with easy-to-use edtech software, they can focus on collaborating with peers to deliver high-quality work. Today, we’ll show you how your students can experiment with interview podcasts in the classroom and develop their communication skills.

The Connection Between Interview Podcasts and Public Speaking

When most people think about public speaking, they immediately envision a person standing behind a podium while an audience watches their every move. However, public speaking doesn’t always refer to someone lecturing in front of a crowd. It may come as a surprise, but interview podcasts are actually a form of public speaking!

Basically, an interview closely relates to public speaking because they both require the same skills. For example, interviews and public speaking require extensive preparation, an understanding of the topic, and clear communication.

The great news about interview podcasts is that bringing them to your classroom is easier than ever. Interview podcasts are an exciting way for students to make connections with one another and develop their public speaking skills without the pressure of a live audience.

The Benefits of Interview Podcasting in Education

Learning should be exciting, but most students get bored listening to lectures and scribbling notes. There are plenty of ways that you can make learning fun, especially by allowing students to create, collaborate, and connect in new ways! Try bringing interview podcasts to your classrooms so your students can reap these benefits.

Encourages Analytical and Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is one of the most important skills for students to develop because it helps them evaluate information from various sources and form their own opinions. When educators bring interview podcasts into the classroom, students can analyze data and human behavior, then apply this knowledge to their interview.

While the interviewee synthesizes information to formulate their opinion, the interviewer can analyze body language, tone of voice, and speech patterns to respond appropriately.

Helps Students Face Their Fears

Interview podcasts encourage students to speak openly about their thoughts, feelings, and ideas. Since many students are still finding their voices, they may find it intimidating to participate in a live interview or presentation. However, creating an interview podcast gives students a safe space to conquer their fears and improve their self-confidence.

Increases Literacy and Confidence

Creating an interview podcast requires students to hone their research skills and think critically about learning materials so that they can use them to formulate their ideas cohesively. Interview podcasts are a great tool to teach students how to process academic sources and use them to express their opinions.

Improves Communication Skills

By creating an interview podcast, students will learn how to organize their thoughts and get their points across in a straightforward, clear manner. These skills will serve your students well in adulthood, helping them ace job interviews and communicate with colleagues. Truly, they can use the skills they learned by creating interview podcasts to speak with confidence in every area of their lives.

Encourages a Sense of Community

Collaborative learning is one of the most exciting parts of the educational experience! Working together sparks student engagement while enhancing their ability to understand complex concepts. Creating interview podcasts in class also presents an opportunity for students to learn about people from different backgrounds, thereby promoting an inclusive, welcoming educational environment.

Bring Interview Podcasts to Your Classroom with Soundtrap

Incorporating an interview podcast into your lesson plan might sound complex at first, but it’s easier than ever with edtech tools like Soundtrap! If you’re not sure where to start, we’ll guide you in the right direction with these simple interview podcast lesson plans. And the best part is you can adjust these lesson plans to suit any subject.

Empathy Interview & Bringing Joy

Empathy plays an integral role in creating a well-rounded educational experience. As students learn to understand another person’s point of view, they’ll develop greater compassion for others, which allows them to build stronger relationships, improve communication skills, and learn how to resolve conflicts.

You can help your students cultivate empathy with our Empathy Interview & Bringing Joy lesson plan! With this hands-on lesson, You can create interview podcasts with the entire class and help students develop mutual understanding.

Introduce the Assignment

Get started by introducing students to Soundtrap and allowing them to experiment with as many features as possible. Once they know how Soundtrap works, go around the room and ask students to share something that makes them different as individuals.

Spark Student Engagement with a Class Discussion

Next, ask students what they think about empathy and active listening. Separate students into groups, so they can begin conducting empathy interviews. Let each group jump right in by answering a few questions that inspire empathy, such as:

“What brings you joy?”
“When was the last time you felt happy?”
“How do you know when you’re happy?”

For this portion of the interview podcast, you’ll need to set the timer for five minutes as students interview one another. Once the interviews are complete, each student will open up a blank project in Soundtrap and start creating!

Let Students Create Their Interview Podcast with Soundtrap

Each student will have ten minutes to create a musical or spoken recording that will make their partner feel joy. Once the timer ends, each student will share their creation with their partner and explain the thought process behind their project. Give students a safe space to open up and share their creations with the entire class if they’re comfortable.

Since empathy is all about sharing with others, you can extend the learning experience by publishing these empathy interviews in podcast format. Of course, you’ll need to make sure that both empathy partners feel comfortable sharing their interview.

Interview a Peer

While being interviewed is an excellent opportunity for students to hone their communication skills, the act of interviewing another person allows students to learn how to listen, focus, and think on their feet when engaging with an interviewee. Our Interview a Peer lesson plan is the perfect opportunity for students to learn how to conduct an interview!

Brainstorm with the Entire Class

Kickstart the conversation by asking students if they’ve ever been interviewed or interviewed someone. You’ll also want to discuss why someone might be interviewed, such as a job or college admissions interview.

Then, let your students know they’ll be able to practice their listening and public speaking skills. Every good interview begins with preparation, so share StoryCorps and the Great Questions list with your students to help them brainstorm interview questions.

Make sure that you explain the importance of active listening, body language, and how to deliver follow-up questions. Share a few examples of great interviews so the entire class understands how to proceed.

Start Creating with Soundtrap

Now, it’s time for the fun part! Group students into pairs and introduce them to Soundtrap. We have plenty of tutorial videos to guide your class along the way. Once your students understand how to use Soundtrap, they can record themselves asking and responding to interview questions.

Let Students Share Their Interview Podcast with the World

You can take our “Interview with a Peer” lesson plan to the next level by creating an interview podcast with the entire class! Together, you can create an episodic feel by starting and ending each podcast the same way, while students can also use Canva or Adobe Spark to create unique artwork inspired by each interviewee. Your students will have a blast creating interview podcasts and sharing their voices with the world!

Create Your Interview Podcast with Soundtrap For Education

Soundtrap for Education is the ultimate audio production platform for students and teachers to create and edit audio recordings. Pupils and educators can easily tap into their artistic side with this intuitive audio platform that facilitates a creative learning environment for every subject, regardless of the student’s age or experience level.

With Soundtrap for Education, students and teachers can collaborate with advanced cloud technology at any time or place. In addition, the platform comes equipped with a robust resource portal, with tutorials, an external curriculum, and lesson plans to complete the educational experience. And to ensure privacy, teachers can ensure that student collaboration is safe and secure with invite-only groups in Soundtrap’s versatile digital environment.

If you’re ready to enhance your educational experience with an intuitive cloud-based audio production platform, get started today with Soundtrap for Education! And be sure to share this article with other teachers in your network to help spread the joy of learning through sound.