Junior Smartcaster: Podcast workshop for students 

Given the immense popularity of podcasting as a career option, HT School hosted Junior Smartcaster: The Podcast Making Workshop for students from classes 5 to 8, in collaboration with HT Smartcast. HT School aims to chisel all the six dimensions of learning—intellectual, emotional, social, physical, spiritual and vocational and with that in mind, the podcast workshop was organised to introduce students to the 360-degree perspective of the storytelling process.  

Some of the topics covered included introduction to podcasting, the conceptualization of your own podcast, how to write and record podcasts, a sneak peek into podcast packaging, and finally getting into the habit of listening to podcasts of your liking.  

The workshop was hosted by Deepti Ahuja, Podcast Producer, HT Smartcast and Podcast & Radio Host of Yeh Podcast Vodcast Kya Hai. She has produced over 190 podcasts in more than six languages on 20 plus platforms with 55 million+ listens. 

The workshop held at HT House on May 5, was attended by 42 students and 11 teachers from 9 schools. The participating schools were Mount Carmel School, Anand Niketan; Delhi Public School, Noida; St Andrew’s School, IP Extension, St Mark’s World School, Meera Bagh; Manavsthali School, Rajender Nagar, Laxman Public School, Hauz Khas; The Indian School, Sadiq Nagar; Apeejay School, Pitampura; SRDAV School, Dayanand Vihar. 

Students were excited and intrigued by the intense handwork that went into the process of storytelling and creating an audio narrative. The workshop facilitators helped students have a free space to explore their interests and managed to capture their complete attention. Students relished the experience and enjoyed every minute of the workshop.  

“Becoming a podcaster is all about having your own agency and be able to express what you really want to do. Once you are able to do that, only then will you be able to find an authenticity that can help you sustain in the long run,” explained Ahuja. 

This was a hands-on workshop where students did every part of the process by themselves. After a conceptual introduction to how to make podcasts and how to identify their target audience, students were asked to create a plan to execute their own podcasts. During the workshop, students were asked to think freely and conceptualise their own podcast. They were asked to write a trailer which they then recorded at the Fever FM studios. Subsequently, they visited the sound editor where they heard their playbacks and received feedback on how they sounded.  

“This is great exposure as it was not competitive and we got to learn a lot. I really enjoyed this a lot and I realised the importance of having and portraying emotions in a podcast as that was what would help audiences connect with the podcast,” said Maira Jaimeet Thakur, student, class 9, Delhi Public School, Noida.  

“I really enjoyed the workshop and the visit to the recording studio was the highlight of today’s event as I learnt about the workings of the podcasting process. I have always been a listener of radio but this was the first time I saw the behind-the-scenes and realised the amount of hard work that went into creating intense stories,” said Divisha Dua, student, class 10, Apeejay School, Pitampura.