How a podcast helps with Internal Communications

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Welcome to Inside (ED)ition - a newsletter that aims to help professionals better understand the amazing uses of podcasting in business, communications, personal and professional development.

Inside (ED)ition is produced by Kaleoscopic Communications Pte Ltd

Wait, companies have podcasts?

Yes, internal podcasts do exist in companies such as Netflix, Shopify and of course, Spotify (if Spotify didn’t do it, then it’s like saying Google doesn’t use Gmail).

Podcasts Build Empathy

What surprised me the most was that Internal podcasts could help build empathy – it allows members of the organization to hear more about the company’s situation, a personal win or even the birth of a team member’s baby! From personal experience, emails and newsletter can come across as cold, whereas The Spoken Word, on the other hand, has a more intimate touch, as though someone’s whispering into our ears.

Podcasts are On-Demand

that means that listeners will listen, WHEN they feel like it. Think about it for a moment - ?Let’s just say that there’s a major restructuring in the company and updates would be provided in the internal podcast, simply because not everyone can attend townhalls. Assuming that they’d WANT to know, they’d tune in, but only when they want, and feel ready to hear it. Internal podcasts can also have an engagement function for anonymous comments or questions, which allows them to raise issues, without fear of being singled out. These concerns could be nibbed in the bud and addressed in the next podcast update!

Sounds great, so how do we start one?

We’ve touched on some points about HOW an internal podcast could be used and its benefits, ?but we’re all thinking the same thing right now – it’s a great idea, so how do we get it up and running?

Here are some steps that help me develop podcasts for clients:

Leaving the technical bits aside and focusing on the content – let’s get specific:

1.????? Who is this podcast for?

2.????? What is this podcast about?

3.????? Why should people tune in?

An example of this could be an internal podcast around “Culture”.

Who is this podcast for? This culture podcast is targeted at all staff members in our organization.

What is this podcast about? The podcast could be used to inculcate, inform and engage staff members in the Organization’s culture. Podcast topics could revolve around getting to know various teams, their projects, cross-project learnings, and “get to know yous”, especially those that just got hired! Culture topics around what the company stands for, CSR and values could also be included, to refresh staff of Why we do what we do.

Why should people tune in? Give them several reasons to! First off, the podcast ?– you could develop a recognition policy, that listeners who listen and engage in the podcast, stand to win prizes for their teams!

You’re probably wondering how a single person could factor in all this additional work into their existing workloads. Well, if you’re keen on developing an internal podcast in your company, feel free to reach out! I’m happy to share more on how we could do this together! ?

Well, that’s all we’ve got for you in this episode of Inside Edition. Please share your thoughts with me on LinkedIn – better yet, share this on LinkediN and tag me!

Special thanks to Pauline Wee for inspiring this article.

Written by Edric Poon "The Podsmith" for all those who are interested in #podcasting!

Connect with me if you're interested in starting your own podcast for yourself or your company!