Dubai Press Club discusses ways to enable podcast makers to transform ideas into influential professional content

Dubai, July 19 / WAM / The Dubai Press Club concluded the first week of the third edition of the “Arab Podcast Program”, which was launched on July 13 at the club’s headquarters, as part of an intensive training course aimed at enabling participants to develop their ideas and turn them into professional and influential “podcast” projects, through a program that combines theoretical knowledge and practical application.

The first week of the program focused on the establishment and identity creation phase, which is the main gateway to building podcast projects capable of excellence and continuity, as the training sessions and workshops covered the basics of podcast making, from formulating the idea and determining the target audience, all the way to building the editorial, audio and visual identity, and developing narration and media performance skills.

The first week witnessed a series of specialized workshops and sessions presented by experts and pioneers in the audio-visual content industry, where Charbel Issa, Customer Success Manager and certified trainer on the Podeo platform, presented three training workshops that included “Introduction to Podcasting – Concept Engineering and Identity Building,” “From Idea to Text: Steps to Building a Podcast Episode,” and “Professionalism Skills,” where participants learned about the concept of contemporary podcasting, the mechanisms for choosing the appropriate topic, defining the audience, and formulating the identity features of each project, in addition to research skills. Writing scripts, building an episode structure, and rules of professionalism and professional sustainability in the podcast industry.

The “Building a Voice Imprint: Tools and Strategies” workshop, presented by Rahaf Khaled Al-Halabi, a certified specialist in vocal performance and the art of delivery, shed light on the importance of voice as an influential element in building a relationship with the audience, through developing delivery skills, adjusting the tone, and employing vocal performance in a way that reflects the personality and identity of the program.

In terms of visual identity, the workshop “How to create a professional visual identity for podcasts?”, presented by Muhammad Abdel Aziz, a visual artist and expert in designing logos and visual identities, reviewed the foundations of designing an integrated and attractive identity, including choosing colors and fonts and designing episode covers and promotional templates, ensuring a clear and distinctive visual presence across digital platforms.

The week concluded with two workshops, “Appearance Charisma: Performing Arts and Managing Media Dialogue” and “Storytelling Arts: From Abstract Idea to Inspiring Content,” which were presented by Chantal Saliba, Head of Training and Media at the IMI Media Academy. They focused on developing the participants’ skills in appearing in front of the microphone and camera, managing dialogue confidently and professionally, in addition to crafting inspiring story content capable of attracting the audience and leaving a positive impact.

Maryam Al Mulla, Director of the Dubai Press Club, stressed that the first week of the program reflects the importance of starting from clear foundations before reaching the stages of production and publishing, noting that the speakers in the Arab Podcasts program focused on the elements of podcast success, especially building the idea, identity, and voice of the project, which are the main elements in creating a “podcast” capable of competing and leaving the desired positive impact on the recipient.

She said: Enhancing narrative skills and media performance to build inspiring and attractive content is one of the most important goals of the program, as we are keen through this edition to enable participants to understand the tools of podcast making in an integrated manner, adding: What we observed during the first week of interaction and enthusiasm confirms that there are promising energies with ideas that can be developed and grown, and in the coming weeks we will continue to work with the participants to refine their ideas and transform them into more mature models ready for production and publication, which contributes to providing qualitative and influential Arabic content.

Widad Kahour, Head of the Media Talent Development Department at the Dubai Press Club, said: We were keen for the first week to be a practical space to test the participants’ ideas and develop them through applied exercises and direct interaction with the trainers, allowing them to understand the requirements of the podcast industry more broadly.

She added: The diversity of the workshops between the editorial, audio and visual aspects helped give the participants a clearer vision of the path of their projects, and prepare them to move to the next stages of the program with greater confidence and readiness.

The program’s work is scheduled to continue during the next two weeks through specialized workshops in artistic production, implementation, publishing and promotion, leading to the stage of evaluating the completed projects before a committee of experts and specialists.

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