Lucy Woodward
Lucy offers the first Creative Impact, where you can come and share the hobbies that have had a creative impact on your life, to share her new found love for podcasting.
Podcasting has helped me grow in confidence more than pretty much anything else I’ve done. If you’ve ever considered starting a podcast or another creative project, here’s why I think you should go for it too.
Imagine the scenes. It’s 2020, and we’re a few months into the first lockdown. You’ve done enough Zoom quizzes with your friends to last a lifetime and the toilet roll stock in the cupboard is almost depleted. You’re over the initial stresses of the lockdown and you’re… well, a bit bored, to be honest.
When we relax or carry out routine tasks, we tap into our brain’s default mode network, which boosts our creativity
That was me. A bit frustrated and a bit bored. However, I always find that good ideas pop into my head while I don’t have much to do, whether I’m cooking, staring into space while supposedly studying, or in the shower. There’s evidence to support this observation too: when we relax or carry out routine tasks, we tap into our brain’s default mode network, which boosts our creativity.
Starting a podcast was one of these random ideas that came into my head last June. A lot of the time I think we’re taught to believe we’re not supposed to push the boat out, that creativity is for ‘someone like me’ but never actually me.
I definitely had a lot of imposter syndrome surrounding the idea, and still do, but I surprised myself by actually following through with creating my podcast. And if it feels right, you 100% can too.
Podcasting gives a wider range of people the opportunity to have their voices and ideas heard and therefore promotes a more diverse group of people contributing
Podcasting, unlike a YouTube channel or small business, is straight-forward and low-cost to start up. Which is great, because it gives a wider range of people the opportunity to have their voices and ideas heard and therefore promotes a more diverse group of people contributing to society’s collective knowledge.
The podcast essentials are some audio-editing software (I use a free app called Audacity), a reasonable quality USB microphone (the one I use is linked here), earphones, and a space you can record in such as a bedroom or office. You’ll also need to sign up to a podcast distribution site, who automatically send each episode off to Spotify, Apple Podcasts and wherever else you want people to be able to listen. I’d recommend Anchor, which is free and easy to use. For more advice on starting your own show check out ThePodcastHost.com for planning, motivation and technical tips.
This article is not necessarily all about podcasting though. There are so many ways to express your creativity, which is in my opinion, one of the most important and fulfilling things you can do with your time. Creativity opens our mind to new possibilities when faced with a problem, promotes innovation and broadens perspectives.
That said, sharing a creative project with complete strangers as well as people in your life can be completely terrifying. It was for me. However, a year on, I’m so glad I pushed myself out my comfort zone and set up Space To Learn. As well as a tool for creativity, I’ve had conversations with some really inspiring people and have genuinely grown in self-confidence.
One of my main motivations for starting my podcast was simply because it scared me, and I didn’t want to live my life too scared to do things I wanted to. If you’re looking for a way to push yourself going into a new year at uni, I think a creative hobby would never be something you’ll regret.
Lucy Woodward
Featured image courtesy @spacetolearnpodcast via Instagram.
In-article image courtesy @spacetolearnpodcast via Instagram.
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