My podcast is about ice hockey; it’s a recap type podcast that is more light and fun than content produced by the typical sports announcer. This specific episode is a review about the 2021 WJC USA over Canada win.
This draft is actually at 100% completion and something I’m pretty happy with! Based on the feedback, there will of course be edits and changes in the script etc. The podcast image is not finalized! For feedback:
- Is my voice interesting/expressive without being annoying?
- Are there enough pregnant pauses to break up the speaking?
- Is it taxing/boring to listen to? And is the vocab I use specific but not pretentious (few 12 dollar words)?
- Is the balance between my narration and the background music good?
- How is the pace/speed of my speaking?
- Did you enjoy the podcast, in general?
Any other pressing things that you think should be mentioned that I didn’t list specifically would certainly be appreciated and helpful!
CaraLynn
Hi Caralynn!! First off I wanted to say I LOVED your podcast! I remember during our discussion in the break-out room earlier this week you mentioned that you’re considering condensing your podcast down. I don’t think that’s necessary since your podcast is written really well and it has a pretty consistent “flow”. So removing certain chunks of content out from it might disturb it a bit. But anywaysss onto your questions:
1. I honestly loved how expressive your voice was in the podcast. Speaking for myself here, but I hate the sound of my voice, so I understand if you might think that it’s annoying. But from my previous experience with sports commentary, they always seem supermundane and monotone. BUT it was super refreshing to hear your enthusiasm!
2. Great use of pregnant pauses. It was clear to me as the listener when you were either switching topics or adding on to the topic. The only recommendation that I have for some of your pregnant pauses is to maybe shorten the time of them. Some of the pauses seemed a bit too long creating a sense of “awkward silence”. (I recommend for the really long ones to maybe just shorten them into half the time)
3. As a hockey newbie, I commend you for not going too complex with your word choice. I was able to follow along with the content of the podcast without a hitch. Overall your podcast was written really well and with the enthusiasm that you showed within the podcast, it made for a really good listen!
4. First off LOVE the sound effects! Secondly, LOVE the background music! I really liked your music choice as it fits pretty well with the overall theme of your podcast (upbeat lofi type beats are the musical equivalent to ice hockey). The volume of the music was also really good I was able to hear you no problem while still being able to hear the background music. The only recommendation that I have would be to maybe not use certain songs that contain a voice-like element because it’s was a bit distracting when you’re suddenly interrupted by another person’s voice.
5. I thought your overall pace/speed was pretty good, there was A LOT of content that you covered, and I commend you for not feeling too rushed to get in all that content.
6. Overall I really enjoyed listening to your podcast! It really exposed me to all the TEA within the world of ice hockey, and I LOVED it. Great, GREAT job CaraLynn! And I can’t wait to listen to your final product!!
Great job on this! It sounds really professional and clean.
Is my voice interesting/expressive without being annoying?
A: yes! I could tell you were genuinely excited about what you had to say and I was impressed by how relaxing yet not boring your voice sounds! I also liked how you had some little shifts in tone or pauses when you were talking because it made everything feel more natural and conversational. A small thing I noticed is sometimes your t’s pop a little so it stands out a bit from the rest of the word you’re saying, but I don’t think it’s a huge problem.
Are there enough pregnant pauses to break up the speaking?
A: I think there is definitely a good amount of separation between each section.
Is it taxing/boring to listen to? And is the vocab I use specific but not pretentious (few 12 dollar words)?
It’s definitely not boring. Even though I don’t know much about ice hockey, I still enjoyed the vocab you used because it made me feel like I was a part of the ice hockey fan club with you instead of an outsider.
Is the balance between my narration and the background music good?
I thought that the balance was pretty spot on overall! I few small things I noticed were the difference between the intro music and your voice (your voice was a fair amount louder so it was a bit shocking for me when your voice came in) and the volume of the background music you played through 23:52. For the first point, it might help to gradually make the intro music before you are about to start talking, but it might just be my sensitive ears. For the background music around 23:52, I found that the popping instrumentals were competing a bit with your voice around that time.
How is the pace/speed of my speaking?
I thought the speed you were going at complimented your tone perfectly!
Did you enjoy the podcast, in general?
I enjoyed it a lot! The audio was very crisp, I liked all of the music that you chose, and it was very interesting hearing your analysis of the facts that you gave. Overall, it is very well done and I hope you’re proud of what you created 🙂 It definitely gives me Vox (the youtube channel) vibes which was really fun to hear.