Hugh McGuire started his Podcamp Ottawa, session off with a somber podcast from the Scarborough Dude.  This particular episode was very well done with the Scarborough Dude as the only narrator talking about a funeral, he was wondering if he was a good father, his son stood in front his friends and how his sons friends accept him for who he is.  He had a few pauses and his voice was used well to make the story very compelling with great descriptions of the surroundings.

This lead to a great discussion about silence being a good thing in a podcast.  Using words to describe the setting, what’s going on etc. gives the listener a visual of the surroundings. Radio is a visual medium if done well and old radio shows are good examples of this.  This American Life had podcasts that are very personal, honest, open and connect with others.

Infliction of word has powerful meaning compared to a script, thus audio brings on emotion. Podcasts speak to the human need to communicate.  TV has extra info. to process, while podcasts are just audio.  The need to focus on the audio only and pulls us in. while pauses provide drama.  Podcasts are very powerful and hear it one to one.