In this my first podcast, I wanted to convey the definitions and concepts of gamification as well as the way they might be applied to altered reality and physical outcomes. I am keen to give listeners a chance to ponder the ways in which a gamified experience can be applied to gain new habits and positive outcomes in physical, mental and social health. My strategy in this podcast is to provide listeners with a opportunity to encounter the concept of gamification, perhaps for the first time and consider the ways in which the mere playing of games might help them form new habits, find motivation and take new journeys of meaning making.
In my reading in the area of gamification I have been struck by the consistent references to motivation and meaning and have found that writers such as Yu-ki Chou, Brian Burke and Jane McGonigal have all explored the concepts. I was also fascinated by the lack of connection between spirituality and gamification even though motivation and meaning seem to be core to both.
I have personally found that the inclusion of music in podcasts and online videos content has given me a stronger sense of engagement. For this reason, I sound tested several music files from creative commons for inclusion. It was difficult discerning process and I had to be careful not to spend too much time on it. I settled on “I’m a Starman (Stems, Loops & Preview)” by Scomber 2009 – Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0)
A clear introduction, welcome and entry liturgy is also helpful to draw listeners into the podcast and give them a sense of ease, I then moved to some clear definitions and a personal story to illustrate my direction of the podcast. I want the listeners to use the podcast to be inspired to search further on the topic.
Purely by accident I overlapped the sound files at 3:41 in the podcast which gave the effect of me interrupting myself. On listening to the play back I found that this “imperfection” added an authenticity to the conversation style of the podcast which I will try to replicate in future
The biggest challenge I faced was narrowing the scope of the podcast down. I had to constantly remind myself that I could create more content to delve into interesting tangents if I wanted. I found creating a concise title and topic sentence for the podcast was essential for keeping rigorously disciplined to the subject focus of the podcast. I have made a short video about this challenging dilemma which I have shared here..
I have been surprised at how simple it has been to just jump in and have a go at making audible media and have enjoyed using Audacity and sound cloud in the process.
