As I mentioned in the previous post, I have been on a podcasting frenzy. I’ve downloaded a slew of informative podcasts on a variety of topics, including the environment, worship, finance, and faith. I take advantage of “me” time – the time from when I drop Cathy off at work to arriving at work, and vice versa at day’s end – to listen to a few podcasts and learn from what the experts are saying.
As I listen to each of these podcasts, I, too, find myself becoming more inspired to start a podcast of my own. The GarageBand software that’s bundled in with my Macbook Pro makes podcasting an absolute breeze, and I know my radio background – I was a DJ on a tiny Manila radio station for almost a year – will come in handy for this.
The real question, at hand, therefore, is what could this podcast be about? A week ago, I thought to myself that it would be a good idea to make a podcast on the environment. I realized soon afterward, however, that I wasn’t eminently qualified to talk much about this. (Von Hernandez should have a podcast!) I mean, the love is there, but love alone is not enough to sustain a podcast, much less get the interest of many of my fellow Pinoys. You need to know what you’re talking about if you want your podcast to be informative.
Most of the podcasters to whom I’ve subscribed know what they’re talking about, and that’s the joy of it. I’ve subscribed to Kevin “Kuya Kevin” Sanders’ podcast, Basta Lovelife, because he talks to teens about their issues from a Christian perspective. He loves it and is qualified to talk about it. Whether it’s James Dobson and his Focus on the Family panel who talk about Christian issues, or Make It Green Girl (MIGG), who discusses in five minutes or less tips on a more environment-friendly life, or Cameron Strang and his cohorts on the Relevant Magazine podcast, their podcasts are engaging and successful because they love what they’re talking about.
I don’t want to make a podcast for the sake of podcast. I want to make a podcast because I’d like to share what I love and know, and do it in a sustained manner. Having said that, here are my options:
1) A podcast on Contemporary Christian music. Maybe a discussion of the week’s charts, a spotlight – and snippets – of new releases, and brief features on spotlighted Christian artists. Hopefully, that’ll expand to include interviews of local Filipino CCM artists. I’ll definitely enjoy making this, but I don’t know if it’ll be interesting enough for Pinoys to want to download and subscribe.
2) A podcast on worship/songwriting. Music is one of my spiritual gifts – actually #1, if I believe The 3 Colors of Ministry, which has a test for this kind of thing – and I know I could stand to share a lot about worship from a Filipino perspective. We’ll talk about worship and about Christian songwriting. Maybe once a month, a devotional using a Christian song. I think the heart of worship is definitely there, and there’s a market for this kind of thing. The questions at hand are these: a) what qualifies me to talk about this? I’m not a worship director; and b) while I have had original songs sung in church, and even placed two songs in the Top 10 of a nationwide praise and worship songwriting competition, I don’t have much else just yet to back up my assertions in this podcast. (If credentials are what I need, then maybe God will provide. *wink*)
3) A podcast on Filipino-Christian blogging. I’ve been blogging as a Christian for years. There are, however, Christian bloggers with much more explicitly Christian material than I. Shouldn’t I bring them in on a podcast, if ever? Kinda like Blogging 101 for Christians?
What do you guys think? 1? 2? 3? Another option I may not have considered, something you think I might be good at, as a major theme for my podcast?
