Use this Guide if you’re thinking about starting a podcast that focuses on people with minoritised identities, and need to know the kinds of things you should consider. The Guide focuses on using the Riverside podcast app, but it could be relevant to other similar tools.
- Key software:
- Riverside podcast app
- How they set it up:
- Followed simple on screen instructions
- Setup costs:
- Staff time
- Ongoing costs:
- Around £12 a month for the Riverside podcast app
- Guide in use since:
- December 2023
Using podcasting software to celebrate and affirm LGBTQIA+ people
Whether or not a podcast is right for you depends on what you want to achieve, the people you’d like to reach and if they listen to podcasts.
It may be that one, or some, of the following could work just as well:
livestreaming on social media
starting a newsletter
creating an in-person or online group
posting video content on social media
blogging on your website
creating an online course
writing an e-book.
Podcasting can be time-intensive. It involves, researching, interviewing, recording, editing, publishing and promoting. So consider how much time and capacity you have.
You’ll need:
a steady supply of engaging ideas for episodes
a good network of potential guests, or a way to find them so you can keep your podcast fresh, interesting and improve your reach
to plan weeks, or even months, ahead
to consider how you’ll divide up the work involved in putting the podcast together
to decide if you’ll have multiple hosts who rotate or share the hosting duties
Proud Changemakers centres and celebrates LGBTQIA+ people who work, and volunteer, across the not-for-profit sector. Being part of this sector often means LGBTQIA+ people end up in a minority in places and events. Proud Changemakers provides representation, visibility, joy and a voice for change.
It uses the Proud Changemakers podcast to highlight individuals and their experiences. And it’s creating a network of LGBTQIA+ people with the confidence to be their true selves.
People can often make judgments if they don’t, or rarely, have contact with people from minoritised groups. So Proud Changemakers wanted to take queer people’s experiences into the mainstream. It wanted to share their stories because they can help to:
make positive change
reduce stigma
validate and affirm LGBTQIA+ people.
The organisation decided that a podcast was the best format because it’s a way to create long-lasting narratives that are easily consumable and accessible. For example, if you’re a hearing person, you can listen to a podcast while doing something else.
When you’re deciding on your podcast’s focus, think about the issues and topics that you:
care about
have knowledge and expertise in
want to raise awareness of.
You should also consider
your goals
how other podcasters are dealing with your chosen topic
how often you’re going to publish your podcast
what potential challenges might be involved. For example, timescales if your podcast includes interviews.
There’s a lot of negativity and hate in the media about LGBTQIA+ communities (particularly trans people). And in mainstream pop culture, the focus is often on what a struggle it is to be queer.
There’s pain and suffering – it can be hard. But Proud Changemakers wanted to celebrate the benefits and joys of being queer. So its podcast focuses on sharing stories that celebrate and uplift LGBTQIA+ people, and that aren’t being told elsewhere.
Its most listened to episode is about trans inclusive workplaces. In it, a trans woman talks about how she feels she’s a better leader because she’s transitioned and works in an inclusive workplace.
Proud Changemakers asks listeners for suggestions for discussion topics and things to celebrate. It does this at the end of every podcast, in the show notes and by email using Mailchimp. Ideas also come from Proud Changemakers’ volunteers, by word of mouth or from conversations. The organisation considers what subjects are topical and need visibility and support. And it’s happy to revisit topics it’s already covered.
Having a consistent format gives you a template for your podcast. It’s easier to plan when you know the shape of each episode. It also means your listeners also know what to expect. It’ll make it easier for them to describe your podcast to others. And it’ll stop your podcast from being a mixture of disconnected parts.
Podcast interview formats include:
interviews
monologues
co-hosted
panel
non-fiction storytelling
fictional storytelling
repurposed: for example, turning a webinar into a podcast video.
Your format might come from your topic or goal, and you may decide to use more than one in your podcast.
Proud Changemakers uses the panel discussion and one-to-one interview formats. Sometimes it records live discussions.
It chooses a format based on who’s on the podcast and the topics they’ll be speaking about.
It sends discussion points to interviewees beforehand and tries to keep the tone conversational. People can go off-topic – as long as it’s interesting!
The interviewer tries to be as quiet as possible to give the interviewee time and space to talk. Their role is to steer people in the chat.
Proud Changemakers always aims for podcast episodes between 30 and 60 minutes. This means it can go into topics in enough depth, but there’s no waffle.
If your podcast guests will be sharing personal experiences, you need to prioritise their wellbeing and privacy.
Explain what your podcast covers and its goals, any potential risks that are involved with being a guest (for example, online abuse) and how these risks are managed.
Send them interview questions in advance and let guests know what to expect during the recording. Make sure they understand that they don’t have to answer all the questions they’re asked, and can stop the interview at any time.
Create a podcast guest release form and ask your guests to sign it. (Free templates are available online.) This form acts as guests’ written consent for you to use, edit and distribute recordings of the interviews they’ve taken part in.
Record the interview somewhere private, provide support if needed and let guests know about the editing process and publication timelines. Give them the opportunity to review the finished episode. This helps to make sure that they’re comfortable with what's published.
Review how you collect, store, and process your guests’ personal data. Make sure you’re complying with data protection principles, and identify the legal basis (the reason) for processing the data you collect.
Create a privacy policy that lets guests know how their data will be collected, used, stored, shared and protected. This builds trust and makes sure you’re complying with 'data protection regulations. Have processes in place for any negative feedback or online abuse that you, or your guests, might get.
Guests share deeply personal topics on Proud Changemakers’ podcast, so it wants to make sure they’re safe. It doesn’t want to use their stories as promotional tools for the organisation.
It does this by having clear governance. One of the organisation’s two Deputy CEOs is the safeguarding lead for volunteers, podcast guests, listeners and viewers. It also has a safeguarding lead for their Board of Trustees. Guests are told who their relevant safeguarding lead is.
If Proud Changemakers don’t know a guest, it meets them to see if they’re right for the podcast or not. It also makes sure that the topics the person wants to talk about are in line with the organisation’s values.
You can only have a relaxed conversation if you feel comfortable and safe. So guests have the power to choose what does and doesn’t happen throughout the podcast creation process. They can say they don’t want to be involved at any point. And they’re sent the interview questions to review in advance. This means that people have control over what they do and don’t talk about. Support is provided after recording if they need it.
Guests can listen to the podcast recording before it goes live. They have the option to have parts removed. There’s no rush or pressure to release podcast episodes. They aren’t published until they’ve been signed off by everyone involved.
Proud Changemakers only tag people in social media posts if it has permission. And it shares videos with guests before posting them online.
When necessary, it adds trigger warnings to show notes, and at the beginning of podcasts. This makes sure listeners are aware that sensitive issues will be discussed.
Proud Changemakers haven’t received any online abuse. But it has a safeguarding policy in place to deal with any.
Proud Changemakers don’t store guests’ personal data. And it deletes recordings after podcasts go live.
As well as a stable internet connection and a laptop with a mic and a webcam, you’ll need podcasting tools. Your staff will have needs and views on which tools might work best.
Create a shortlist of possible options. To help you choose which ones might work best for you, think about:
what other organisations have told you about platforms they already use
what your team already knows and likes using
how many people will need to use the tools (how many licences you will need)
accessibility
whether a potential new tool is clear and easy to use
how easy it would be to move to a new platform
if you’ll need a digital expert to help you set it up
if the tool is secure and private
if you’ll need access to analytics data
prices – for example, subscriptions or developer support.
You could use free trials or free plans to try tools out first.
You can also use NCVO's digital tool choosing guide.
It’s important to assess and mitigate the potential risks of using your chosen tool.
Digisafe is a guide to digital safeguarding created by Catalyst. It covers how to carry out a risk assessment and create a risk register. It also shows how to educate your staff and members about online safety.
Proud Changemakers started off using Zoom, but it wanted something that was specifically for creating podcasts.
When it asked its friends, family and networks about podcasting software, they recommended Riverside.fm. Proud Changemakers tried it, and found that it met their needs and was simple to use.
There’s free podcasting software available, for example Audacity and GarageBand (which is available for Mac and for PC).
If your team is new to podcasting, using podcasting tools can feel daunting. Talk to your team to get an idea of their confidence levels, whether they would like training, and what form this training should take. For example, an online course, in-person workshop or having time to try out the software on their own or in a group.
Because Proud Changemakers was new to Riverside.fm, it first used the free version to record a chat with a friend on Zoom. Then it recorded its first 2 podcast interviews, made copies and experimented.
The organisation has learned a lot about using Riverside.fm, sometimes through trial and error. Only one member of the organisation records and edits the podcast at the moment. But all members are comfortable being on the podcast.
Whatever recording tool you’re using, you need to think about some practical things when recording. Remember to:
send guests an email so they know how to join the call
let guests know they need to be in an environment without interruptions
ask guests to join in plenty of time, so they can get settled and ask any questions
make sure guests are comfortable in their location and with the tech they’re using
encourage guests to use the best microphone they have access to, and to keep the same distance from it during the call
make sure everyone nearby knows you are recording (especially if you’re using video call software and you don’t often make recordings)
If your software allows, calibrate everyone’s voice levels at the beginning of the call. People may need to turn their mic levels up or down.
Consider using real-time comment filtering and moderation if you’re recording live.
You also want to check what format your software records in. You’ll want MP3 format for the final podcast. There are plenty of programmes that will help you convert other formats to MP3.
People are used to podcasts being slick. To keep your listeners happy, you should edit your recording. This will make it easier to listen to.
As a minimum, remove any:
preamble before the session starts
information that came up in discussions and should not be made public
ums and ahs (if there are a lot of them), repetition, stumbles and lengthy pauses
background noise if you can.
Edit content so it’s a suitable length for your listeners (if you know how long they will listen for).
The editing tool you choose will depend on whether you:
use MAC, PC or smartphone
want to add music samples or combine different voice tracks and sound effects
want to use a free or paid tool
There are lots of free or low-cost tools. Some free versions have limits on recording length. Others only allow single tracks or certain cuts.
Some tools you could consider are: GarageBand, Cakewalk, Akai NPC Beats and Ohm Studio.
Proud Changemakers use Riverside.fm to record and edit podcasts. It aims for around an hour of recording time. During recording it keeps an eye on how much time has passed. If there’s more than one guest, it makes sure that everyone has the chance to contribute to the conversation.
During the editing process Proud Changemakers always has listeners in mind. It asks:
is this interesting?
what questions would listeners have?
are we using jargon?
It makes sure that the conversation flows by removing tangents and shortening lengthy questions. And it uses AI to remove ums, ahs and pauses because it’s much quicker than doing it manually.
Proud Changemakers adds introduction music, and a standard introduction where people say who they are, what they do and why they’re on the podcast. It’s found that people introducing themselves helps listeners to recognise different voices. The organisation also adds transition music to break up the conversation every 10 to 15 minutes.
It takes Proud Changemakers about 90 minutes to edit an episode.
It can be helpful to use a podcast publishing platform. They send your podcast to multiple podcast listening apps.
Many of these apps offer both free and pay-for subscriptions. People either pay to listen, or have their listening interrupted by adverts. Ad breaks can be challenging for some listeners. They interrupt the flow in ways that can:
break concentration or cause frustration or tiredness for people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or processing difficulties
create shifts in volume and tone that can create discomfort for some neurodivergent people.
make it harder for non-native speakers or listeners who have English as a second or third language to follow
make it hard to follow, or even painful, for people using hearing aids or headphones because of different sound mixing (louder, faster, lots of different voices)
Make sure your podcast is available to people who don’t have subscriptions. Consider that some people might also have limited access to data or wifi.
Is there a way you can send the recording to people you support so they can listen to it when it works best for them? Can you add it to your website too?
The main places that Proud Changemakers publish its podcast are Spotify, Apple and Amazon Music.
It uses Spotify for Creators for publishing because it’s free and easy to use. It explains how to upload your podcast and show notes to other sites. It also gives you an RSS feed (a content distribution tool) that you can copy across to other sites.
You can choose to schedule podcast episodes to be published at a particular date and time. When you publish a podcast it can take up to an hour to appear.
You can get analytics for how often people are listening to your podcast from most podcast channels. You’ll also want to set up other ways of getting feedback from listeners.
Proud Changemakers don’t have a formal way of gathering feedback on its podcast. It makes it as easy as possible for people to get in touch with their views by sharing its email addresses widely, and engaging with people on social media.
The organisation has received positive reviews on Apple Podcasts, and on social media. And listeners have emailed the organisation directly to say how helpful they found the podcast when they were coming out. It made them feel less alone.
Proud Changemakers hasn’t had any negative feedback so far.
It uses Spotify for Creators for analytics. This tells them:
number of listeners
number of subscribers
where people tend to stop listening in an episode.
You can also use the platform to create audience polls.
Further information
Contact: Luca Straker, CEO ProudChangemakers [email protected]
Digital Charity Lab’s 5-minute guide to podcasts for non-profits
Charity Digital’s article on what’s stopping you from starting a charity podcast and their tips for building a successful charity podcast
King’s College London’s guide to leading a podcast episode
Was this Guide useful?
Let us know.