Tom is an experienced outdoorsman who has spent many years exploring the wilderness and living off the land. His knowledge and experience in the woods have made him an authority on survival skills and techniques.

During our interview, Tom shared some valuable insights on how to conduct a successful interview. He emphasized the importance of preparation, noting that the more research you do ahead of time, the better equipped you will be to ask insightful questions and draw out interesting stories from your subject.

This interview taught me the importance of active listening during an interview. The interviewer should be fully present in the moment, paying attention to both verbal and nonverbal cues from the interviewee. By doing so, the interviewer can ask follow-up questions that further explore the interviewee’s experiences and insights.

Throughout the interview, Tom shared some of his favorite stories and experiences from his time in the woods. He talked about the importance of staying calm and focused in emergency situations and the rewards that come with self-reliance and independence.

As a fellow woods enthusiast, I found the interview with Tom to be both informative and inspiring. His insights on the interview process have inspired me to approach future interviews with a greater level of preparation and mindfulness. And his stories of adventure in the wilderness have reinforced my own passion for the great outdoors.

In conclusion, interviewing an expert like Tom Cole was a great experience that taught me valuable lessons about the interview process and deepened my appreciation for the natural world.

Throughout the semester, I had the opportunity to work on various podcast episodes that allowed me to learn about audio editing and storytelling techniques. For this assignment, I chose five episodes that showcase my growth in this area. Between each episode, I reflected on what I did well and what I needed to improve on in the next episode.

One of the things I learned early on was the importance of the interview process. In my Peer Interview episode, I focused on asking open-ended questions that allowed my interviewee to tell her story in her own words. In Audio Playground 1, I experimented with sound effects and music to add depth and emotion to the episode.

In the Audio Postcard episode, I focused on creating a clear storyline and using sound bites to convey the emotion and message of the story. However, in the second Audio Playground episode, I realized that I needed to work on pacing and structure. I felt as though when telling my story through a list format, it was too quickly paced and didn’t give the listener enough time to think about what I was saying.

Finally, in Soundscape 1, I focused on the sounds around me to create an immersive experience for the listener. I realized that sound can be just as powerful as words in telling a story.

Overall, this course has taught me the basics of audio editing, including how to use Garageband, what to include in an intro and outro, and how to pick out the most essential story pieces from an interview. I also learned that storytelling through podcasts involves having a conversation with an interviewee and then carefully selecting the most engaging and informative parts of that conversation.

This assignment allowed me to reflect on my growth in audio editing and storytelling techniques over the course of the semester. I am excited to continue to develop my skills in this area and produce engaging and informative podcast episodes.

• Where do you think you’ve got the best pacing and articulation in a podcast you’ve done? Where is your pacing not that good? Where could the articulation be better? Be sure to explain why! Name the assignment and ID the rough time stamp for each good and not-so-good example. Be ready to share those excerpts with the class.

I think that throughout my podcast assignments, I see a consistent trend in a faster pace of my intro and outro, where I feel as though I am taking more time iterating my story in the “meat” of the podcast. Due to the short time constraints of the outro and intro often feel I need to cover a lot of land in a very short amount of time so my pacing increases. I also feel that I could be more articulate in my intro and in between ideas in my podcasts. I find myself cutting out a lot of filler words, as well as needing to re-record some sentences as I am not taking my time to articulate each thoughtfully. Specifically in my first peer interview (0:10-0:18). I feel as though this is an example where I am rushing to get through the intro. I don’t give a lot of context as to what this interview is about, introducing the host or interviewee. I feel as though even lacking all this information, I am still very rushed in my delivery. A good example of pacing is in my Audiopostcard Assignment (0:06-0:18). In this intro I sound more relaxed and not as rushed in my delivery. I also give more context as to what is going on, greet the audience, and introduce myself. 

• Feeling. Find your “best” moments of feeling in a podcast project you’ve done. Explain why it works so well, as you listen to it. Name the assignment and ID the rough time stamp.

A podcast assignment I feel really good about is my audio postcard assignment. I think the description of the beach I went to painted a very visible image in the listener’s mind. I also was slower in my delivery and it felt more relaxed compared to previous audio projects. Specifically from (1:07-1:42) where I am describing what I see on the beach, things feel relaxed and conversational, even though there is diversity in the cadence of my speech.

• In Outlining and Ad Libbing, Mike Eiman is trying to help us be a bit more critical about the value of off-the-cuff narration. The research comes into play. You’re working on your scripted story projects. Spend 15 minutes identifying the kinds of information/research you’ll need to really explore the project and pull together a story. You don’t need the outline or all the details. Questions are enough if you also name where you might go for answers. OK. Now, try to put some of that material in some kind of order – introducing some bits, digging deeper into details, order of some possible details, etc.

I want to discover the different journeys of the college experience that students have had at UNE. I think a lot of the questions that I am going to want to dig deeper into will lie within why students decided on UNE, what unique experiences they have, what clubs or organizations were they involved in, and if they would change anything about their experience. Another thing that I think will change the outcome of each interview is the grade level of the interviewees as the amount of college experience someone has, changes their perspective on school and life in general.