Launch, Host, and Grow Podcasts

This capstone unit guides students through launching a podcast series and sustaining audience growth by combining production, interview, and community strategies. It builds on prior recording and editing skills and prepares learners to publish, promote, and ethically manage an ongoing podcast presence.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze audience, format, and platform differences (live stream vs. downloadable podcast) and produce a launch plan that includes five to ten completed episodes and a 10-week posting schedule.
• Apply guest-preparation and interview best practices to plan and conduct at least two recorded interviews that meet technical parity (consistent levels, low noise floor, and clear mic technique) and include written pre-interview checklists for guests.
• Demonstrate audience engagement and community management by creating and implementing a Discord community plan, voicemail integration workflow, and a documented strategy for moderating and responding to listener feedback, including protocols for handling negative comments.
• Evaluate ethical, legal, and accessibility considerations — including AI-assisted content use, music/licensing issues, and on-camera presentation — and produce a reusable ethics/compliance checklist applied to every episode prior to publication.