This is a thread I hope to expand on overtime.
I’m researching a course I’ve come across costing €999.00 (no misprint)
Course duration = 1 year
According to the course leader (an accredited documentary maker), he writes:
‘‘Once you have completed the online course, you’ll also have the opportunity to gain a University awarded and Ofqual validated DipLCM Qualification in Creative Storytelling. This allows you to use the letters “DipLCM” after your name and is the first qualification in the world of this kind!’’
Q1: Yes but is it worth €999.00?
A1:
Q2: Will this DipLCM be a pre-requisite now for audio jobs and favour people who have done this course?
A2:
Q3: Do you consider this an investment in your career and the potential for future work?
Q3:
Initially, I learned by doing but I’ve also learned an incredible amount by attending workshops and classes. I think the important thing overall, is to remember that having a microphone does not a podcaster make. There are so many podcasts with so little basic production value eg. Levels are too low, levels are too high, bad editing etc. There’s a lot to be learned from those who’ve been doing this years. That’s not in reference to this specific course I’m talking about, but just in general. A DipLCM certainly isn’t a requirement to becoming a freelance audio producer. Well not for now at least, but it could give a candidate an advantage.
The course for €999.00 covers:
How to create a documentary that really connects with your listeners.
The art of storytelling.
The KEY ingredients to award winning documentary making.
How to stop your listeners’ from switching off and tuning out during your story.
How to make sure your documentaries or podcasts sound professional.
The vital elements you MUST have with you at every recording session.
A comedian can have nightly sell-out shows at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival and be stuck with a bill for £10,000 for the venue hire and promoting the shows and media production. He gets exposure to industry leaders who leave London for a couple of weeks in August to find and book new talent for TV shows and tours. So yes, it’s an investment in his career in the long term.
I think the keyword here is story telling - this is what sets podcasters apart from good to great. Story telling is also going to be absolute key in content creation moving forward. Marketing experts are making this a buzz word of 2019. Story telling is definitely an art and it’s not something you have or not have - you have to learn how to do it! If the course is putting emphasis on teaching you story telling then in my opinion that’s a good investment. €999.00 for a 12 month course is not excessive. Many Open Uni courses that lead to some sort of degree start at a few thousand not hundred.
Well a beginner is not going to have an audience so creating content on the basis that “if you build it, they will come” seems like putting the cart before the horse before you identify a market. Story telling engages people and it’s your job to be better skilled than you were yesterday. I would advise anyone interested, before spending thousands to get with the production side of podcast making and learn to develop your chops first. Even join or start a small community group and report on the local happenings and learn to cut a 30-minute magazine type production made up of separate pre-recorded packages that are fed in to the live recording by the engineer or presenter…
