Podcasts Creative Use Cases for Higher Ed Educators with Adobe Podcast

Overview: Why Podcasts?

There’s something uniquely powerful about sound—its tone, rhythm, and emotion. A single voice or musical cue can shape how we focus, remember, and feel. Now, with the ubiquity of podcasts and portable electronic devices, these audio experiences are accessible anywhere and at any time. Whether you’re driving, taking the subway, folding laundry, or completing a run, it’s possible to enter the immersive world of sonic storytelling.

When producing projects in the audio mode, it’s important to think about the experience of listening. Since it’s very likely that your audience will be multitasking (i.e., distracted), your storytelling must be intentionally paced and linear. Unlike text, which allows readers to skim, search, and revisit content easily, audio flows without stopping. If a listener missed a point one minute ago, they’re already in the next moment. Unlike video, which incorporates images, graphics, and text for quick and memorable communication, audio has no visual reference. That’s why this mode requires a didactic approach—that is, you need to tell your listeners what you want them to understand and reinforce this point through careful repetitions and sonic cues. When done effectively, this approach offers a powerful sense of immediacy and emotional resonance.

Building an audio story isn’t about recording a monologue, adding a music track, and hoping for the best. It’s a process that involves research, scripting, editing, and revision. Adobe Podcast helps kickstart that process by keeping your content—rather than the editing software—the central focus. Its editing interface is intuitive and easy-to-use, which leaves more time and bandwidth to develop your message instead of battling a complicated technology.

To help you get started, this module includes an Adobe Podcast template. Use it as a launchpad for your own creativity rather than a set script. The best podcasts tell a story through a balance of narration, music, sound effectives, and clear transitions.