{"id":18337,"date":"2025-03-01T03:17:11","date_gmt":"2025-03-01T03:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/?p=18337"},"modified":"2025-03-01T03:17:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-01T03:17:11","slug":"podcasting-course-prepares-students-for-real-world-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/blog\/2025\/03\/01\/podcasting-course-prepares-students-for-real-world-opportunities\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcasting Course Prepares Students for Real-World Opportunities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Professor Don Connelly is offering a professional podcasting course at Western Carolina this semester to teach students the skills needed to plan, produce and distribute high-quality podcasts while exploring career opportunities in the growing podcasting industry.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The course provides students with the skills and industry knowledge needed to succeed in the continuously evolving world of podcasting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cPodcasting may seem simple\u2014just sit down and talk\u2014but in reality, it takes research, preparation and strategy,\u201d Connelly said. \u201cI want our students to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to launch professional-quality podcasts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">According to Connelly, successful podcasting starts with passion and a clear target audience. Students will learn to identify their niche, research topics and guests, and craft open-ended questions that lead to engaging conversations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Beyond content creation, students will also master the technical aspects of podcasting, from episode planning to production, editing and distribution. Connelly emphasizes that discipline is key, as building an audience takes time and consistency.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cPodcasting isn\u2019t a quick path to fame and fortune,\u201d he said. \u201cIt requires patience and effort to grow a listener base and build a community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">While many students begin podcasting as a hobby, Connelly highlights its professional potential. Companies such as John Deere and various government agencies are investing in podcasts to connect with customers and citizens.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cPodcasting is a growing field in corporate America,\u201d Connelly said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about entertainment\u2014businesses use podcasts to build relationships and engage their audiences.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The projects students create in this course may also serve as portfolio material for COMM 486: Senior Seminar, helping them showcase their skills to future employers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For those interested in the course, Creating Podcasts A to Z will be offered again in Fall 2025. Connelly encourages students to take advantage of the opportunity, emphasizing that podcasting is always evolving.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cIn this field, you\u2019re either moving forward or falling behind,\u201d he said. \u201cStaying in the status quo is not a good choice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">###<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Professor Don Connelly is offering a professional podcasting course at Western Carolina this semester to teach students the skills needed to plan, produce and distribute high-quality podcasts while exploring career [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3345,"featured_media":18338,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3345"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18337"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18339,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18337\/revisions\/18339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}