Series: How to Make Bible Study Podcasts
Podcasts: a better way to lecture
Lectures get a lot of bad publicity. Rightly so in many cases.
But lectures are good when you need to give learners an overview of a topic.
The lecture method is also a good choice when specific knowledge and concepts are new to your learners.
And with a podcast ministry, Bible study lectures give people a chance to spend time learning more about Jesus on any day of the week.
Mid-week Bible study
In a church, these kinds of Bible studies are offered during the middle of the week—during the evening. And usually a teacher spends most of the time talking about some aspect of the Scriptures in more detail.
In a Bible study lecture, a teacher might explain:
- an overview of a particular book of the Bible
- who the writer of that book is
- how this book fits with other books he wrote
- how this book fits into the overall narrative of the Bible
- what specifics learners should look for as they study the book
Bible study lectures are like sermons
Many aspects of the sermon podcast apply to the Bible study lecture podcast, but there are a few differences.
And just like you can go beyond the sermon, you can also go “beyond the lecture” in your Bible study podcast.
You could give your Bible study lecture a one-to-one tone of voice—like a conversation over coffee. Record the lecture without an audience and just talk to your podcast listener.
As with the sermon podcast, that does take additional time. You would need to decide whether it’s time well spent.
Technical considerations
Microphone technique while lecturing
If you record the lecture in front of an audience, make sure your sound is consistent.
For example, if the microphone is attached to your podium or lectern, don’t walk or turn away. The audience in the room might still hear you, but podcast listeners won’t.
Be mindful of the fact that you’re being recorded, and that the Bible study is as much for podcast listeners as it is for those in the audience.
Handling questions
After you lecture, people will have questions.
Sometimes they’ll have questions while you lecture.
Decide ahead of time how you plan to handle those questions.
The most important thing: Let them know you’re recording the lecture for a podcast.
You can ask them—before you start—to hold their questions until after you’ve finished talking.
However, if you want to take and record questions after the lecture or at particular pausing points, then you need to do two different things.
As before, communicate clearly to your audience before you start exactly how you’re planning to handle questions.
Then, and this is very important, make sure people’s questions are heard clearly on the recording, not just in the room.
If you cannot record questions for technical reasons, make sure whoever is teaching repeats the question into the microphone so podcast listeners can follow.
HOWEVER, if you DO decide to record questions from the audience, then consider these things.
Microphone techniques for questions
If you only have the one microphone, you’ll probably need to get audience members who have questions to come to the microphone. That might seem unusual for typical lectures in classrooms, but it will produce a better sound for your podcast listeners.
If you have a second microphone and equipment to handle it, put that microphone somewhere closer to the audience so people can line up to ask questions.
A wireless microphone could work too if you have that capability. Have someone ready to take the microphone to the audience members.
Whatever way you decide to do it, keep in mind you’ll need to do some post-production later.
Edit your bible study lectures
Handling questions in post-production
If you were not able to get a good recording of audience questions but the teacher repeated them on mic, edit out the person’s original question. It will make the whole production sound better without that long period of poor sounding audio.
When you do record the audience questions on mic, edit out any long gaps or noises as people were in the process of making their way to the microphone or when the microphone was given to them where they were seated.
You also might need to match the volume of the lecturer and the audience members since people tend to speak at different levels.
Recording in Progress
Make certain everyone knows the Bible study lecture is being recorded.
And make sure they know, if they ask a question, they are being recorded.
And make sure they know the Bible study lecture is being made available as a podcast that anyone can access.
There might be people who don’t want their questions recorded and made available to the whole world. And that’s fine. They can always ask after the Bible study is over. However, just so there is no trouble later, make sure everyone understands what’s happening.
You should do that in at least two different ways:
- Post signs saying “podcast recording in progress.”
- Before you start your lecture, tell people you’re recording it for the podcast.
So that’s the lecture style Bible study podcast.
Do you do anything like that at your church?
Would you like to? Talk to me. I’d like to hear your thoughts on all of this.
And share any tips you have to make planning, recording, and editing Bible studies for a podcast ministry easier or more efficient.
How to Make Bible Study Podcasts
