If you are making a difference with your work, your research or your social enterprise we can help you amplify your impact through storytelling. Telling your story and sharing your knowledge can create change and have a real impact in the world, changing minds and inspiring action.
In a media environment dominated by the bite-sized factoid and muddied my disinformation, Impact Studios specialises in long-form, in-depth storytelling in audio, multimedia and live formats. We have particular expertise in audio because that’s where the audience is: 43 per cent of Australians listened to a podcast in the last month. Podcast listeners are deeply engaged in the stories they hear. They listen often, and they listen all the way through, then they recommend their favourite podcasts to people they know.
Our award-winning team has strong research backgrounds in both media and academia. We can connect you with expert talent across UTS and beyond to help you or your organisation participate in the public conversation as thought leaders.
As well as producing media, we deliver storytelling workshops so that you and your team or organisation can gain the skills you need to amplify the work you do.
So whether you are a researcher, a business, a non-profit or a cultural institution, Impact Studios is ready to tell your story. Our team of producers will collaborate with you to develop, produce and evaluate your media project so that you can reach your stakeholders, your community and a larger audience.
To learn more, listen to this short podcast about how we do our work, and contact us to start a conversation about how we can help you.
Impact Studios has a bespoke approach to all audio outputs. Our production timeline is usually broken down into five stages:
Turning your idea into a plan
Podcast pitch | Concept development | Series & episode outlines | Budget | Production schedule | Assigning a producer
All good podcasts start with an idea. From there, we’ll work with you to decide which type of podcast (e.g. chat, documentary) best suits your idea, and to define the host, number of episodes, length, release schedule, intended listeners, interviewees and more. We'll get to work on series and episode outlines, a budget and production schedule. Finally, we’ll bring on board one of our freelance producers to work closely with you on the series development.
Recording and editing
Interviews | Host & field recordings | Script writing | Audio edits | Group feedback rounds | Fact checking & editorial discussions
The next step is the fun part – hitting record! We’ll record interviews (either in the Impact studio, on location or remotely via our virtual studio), your host’s narration and any field recordings. There will be rounds of paper drafts and audio drafts to work through, including feedback from our Supervising Producer, Executive Producer and the rest of our team. We’ll conduct fact checking where necessary. And we’ll refine the focus of your podcast through ongoing editorial discussions. This step can take some time – but it's all to make sure your podcast is a quality production.
Making it sing
Sound design | Music scoring | Mixing & mastering
This is the step where we bring your podcast to life for the listener. At Impact Studios we know the power of the audio medium to create an immersive experience for the listener. Sound design can include creating audio “scenes”, archival material, sound effects and other audio elements. We’ll add music to enhance mood and tone, including a theme track. And we’ll bring on board a sound engineer to mix and master the final episodes, so they sound great in speakers and headphones.
Finding your listeners
Podcast tile | Show notes | Transcripts | Hosting & Feed management | Promotion & marketing strategies | Media partners
This step is sometimes overlooked but it’s a key part of making a podcast. After all that work crafting your podcast, it’s important to reach your listeners! We’ll find someone to design your podcast tile (or cover art) that appears in podcast directories. We can also make you some audiograms – short video snippets to share on social media. We’ll manage your podcast feed and share it within our Impact Studios channel. We can also help you write your show notes – the episode descriptions and additional information listeners can read while listening to your podcast. We’ll help you think of ways to promote and market, or partner with other media organisations. Podcasts are still primarily shared by word of mouth, so tapping into your own networks is still the best promotion strategy!
Measuring & reporting
Data collection & metric analysis | Developing an engagement-impact report
We evaluate impact in a variety of ways – podcasting is a long-form medium targeted at niche audiences so we don’t just measure in “clicks” or “likes”! Instead, we measure:
Downloads, reach, listener experience, tracking communities of listeners, syndication and partnerships, licensing and sponsorship, curriculum embedding, policy development, knowledge communities, events, reviews & awards, interdisciplinary connections, and creating a model of good practice for other podcasts.