Podcasting 101

A weekend intensive covering podcast fundamentals with producer and creative audio maker Jess Fairfax.

Whether you want to tell an enthralling story, market your brand, interview your favourite artist or investigate an injustice, this workshop will cover the basics you will need to piece together your podcast or audio story. With plenty of practise and listening time, we will cover:

- Storytelling technique

- Recording in a podcast studio and with a portable recorder

- Interview techniques

- The art of using sound effects and music

- Editing audio

- Incorporating video

- Marketing your podcast

- Platforms for distribution

As part of the program, participants will create a pilot podcast episode. The workshop is limited to 20 people. 

What to bring

• A laptop for editing with enough space
• Headphones for your laptop
• Something you can record on (a phone or recording device) with enough space.
• Please download audacity onto your laptop before attending the workshop: https://www.audacityteam.org/
• Ensure you can get audio files from your recording device onto your laptop

Details

When: Saturday May 31 & Sunday June 1
Time: 9am-5pm
Where: Cowork + Create - Level 1, Suite 2&3/283 Old Geelong Rd, Hoppers Crossing VIC 3029*
Cost: $250 inclusive of:

• Morning tea, afternoon tea, and lunch on both days. Dietary needs may not be accommodated so please bring additional snacks.
• 30% discount on future bookings of Cowork + Create’s podcast studio.
• Workshop notes and handouts

* Please note access is via stairs, please get in touch if access will be an issue

About the host

Jess Fairfax is a creative producer who harnesses the power of sound and story to craft immersive experiences and audio that spotlight the wonders of the world. Jess Fairfax is a creative producer who harnesses the power of sound and story to craft immersive experiences and audio that spotlight the wonders of the world.

From 2011 to early 2020, Jess co-presented and produced All Our Stories on PBS 106.7FM, a program dedicated to amplifying local voices often overlooked by mainstream media. Over nearly nine years, she interviewed more than 800 guests—musicians, visual artists, poets, academics, historians, activists, and community leaders—sharing their stories with depth and care.

Driven by her love of radio and storytelling, Jess now works as a freelance audio producer, creating podcasts and radio documentaries for the ABC, Monash University, Arts Centre Melbourne, and Climactic. In 2022, she produced a feature on Werribee South’s Market Gardens for ABC Radio. In 2024, she completed an episodic series with All The Queen’s Men and Arts Centre Melbourne, celebrating the vital contributions of Australian LGBTIQA+ artists and performers.

Jess also runs podcasting workshops for emerging storytellers and is currently developing a new podcast series titled Things That Make You Go, Awe. She has worked for Multicultural Arts Victoria and the Werribee River Association, curating events and projects that encourage learning and community connection through the arts and nature immersion.

Alongside her audio work, Jess curates Café Philosophique with The Little Theatre Company—a monthly gathering that explores the unseen forces shaping our lives through poetry, music, magic, and conversation.

Portfolio: https://www.jessfairfax.com/audio-production