Introduction to creating documentary podcasts

Five days of intensive training to master the basics of producing a documentary podcast and become self-sufficient in creating a future personal project.

In recent years, podcasts have become a real cultural phenomenon. A whole new generation of authors has embraced this medium to share their perspectives on the world around them. Podcasts are part of our everyday lives: they inform us, make us think, make us laugh, and move us. But how do you make a documentary podcast? During this training course, we will learn how to tell a story through sound. Through several practical exercises and the production of a short radio documentary, participants will learn the basics of sound recording, editing, and radio writing, while developing their sensitivity to sound and poetry.

Target audience
This training course is aimed at beginners, but also at those who already have some experience and want to deepen their knowledge and skills in order to produce a documentary podcast.

Targeted skills

Acquire basic knowledge of the history and current events of radio and podcasting.
Be able to conceptualize a podcast (writing and storytelling).
Acquire the basics of conducting an interview.
Acquire intermediate skills in voice and sound recording.
Acquire basic skills in sound editing (learning how to use Reaper software).
Produce a short audio documentary

Prerequisites
No prerequisites

Equipment:
Participants must bring their own computer (Reaper software – available as open source) and sound recorder if they have one; HEAD will provide sound equipment (sound studio, handheld recorder, etc.).

Dates :
From July 6 to July 10, 2026

Language: French
Course format: seminar and workshop 
Fee: CHF 1500 / HEAD – Genève alumni CHF 1200
Certification: Certificate of Continuing Education
Credits: Equivalent to 2 ECTS
Location: HEAD – Genève, Building Encyclopédie, Rue de l’Encyclopédie 5, 1201 Geneva (ground floor rooms)

See detailed program

Teaching methods
Theoretical classes, practical workshops on writing, sound recording, and sound editing in a recording studio, group and individual support.

Session 1
Introduction to podcasting, history, and listening
Technical basics of sound recording: overview of different microphones, learning how to use a recorder, and learning basic professional vocabulary.
Practical exercises to learn how to use the technical equipment.

Session 2
Writing your podcast: elements for designing your project, organizing a work plan, and considering the appropriate technical equipment for recording.
Participants will be asked to choose a personal 5-minute project to complete as part of this training.
Conducting an interview: presentation of the instructor's personal experience as an interviewer, basic advice, and reflections on positioning according to the topics chosen by the participants.

Session 3
First field recordings for the documentary.
Listening to the first recordings and individual support for each project.

Session 4
Writing and advanced sound recording techniques / Second shoot
Introduction to sound editing: getting started with Reaper software / derushing sounds and organizing your project / choosing formats / hands-on exercises

Session 5
Introduction to sound editing 2: organizing tracks / editing voices / choosing arrangements / narrative rhythm / sound effects
Finalizing projects, then listening and group discussion with all participants and the trainer

 

Course led by:

Clara Alloing

Clara Alloing is a sound artist and sound engineer. Her practice lies at the intersection of cinema, radio production, and electroacoustic music. Since 2015, she has been developing creations that give voice to intimate stories and seek to represent the space of the world these voices inhabit. Her documentaries regularly win awards at radio festivals: Nuit. Nuit encore, encore nuit, Prix Archive de la Parole, Phonurgia Nova 2024 / L’été derrière la fenêtre, Prix du Jury, SONOHR Radio & Podcast Festival 2021 / Nous sommes trop jeunes, Prix de la SCAM Belgique 2016. She is also one of the organizers of Geneva's first radio art festival, Les yeux grands fermés, which takes place at the Théâtre Saint-Gervais.

Information & registration
fc.head@hesge.ch
Registration form
General terms and conditions