Create a Radio Show Podcast with WeVideo

Objective: Use WeVideo to record, edit, and publish your own Radio Show Podcast.

What IS a Radio Show, Anyway?

Before you make a radio show of your own, it helps to listen to a few to see what they were like.

Click on any of the links below to listen to some old radio shows before television sets had appeared in American homes.

The Green Hornet
This crime-fighting series followed the adventures of Britt Reid, a wealthy young journalist and his faithful side-kick Kato.
Little Orphan Annie
Little Orphan Annie was a 15-minute radio drama show that began airing on WGN Chicago on August 5, 1924. It followed the adventures of Annie, along with her dog named Sandy and "daddy" Mr. Oliver Warbucks.
The Lone Ranger
The main character is a masked Texas Ranger in the American Old West who gallops about righting injustices with the aid of his clever, laconic Indian sidekick, Tonto.
Abbott and Costello
Abbott & Costello were one of the greatest comedy teams in the history of show business. They mastered the straightman/clown relationship, creating a magical chemistry that would take them from the burlesque stage to radio, to broadway, to film...and finally, to television.
Abbot & Costello: Who's on First?
Abbott & Costello's most famous routine which was awarded the routine of the millenium by Time magazine.
Dick Tracy
What set Dick Tracy apart from other old time radio serializations was his use of high-tech and ultra-modern gadgets to fight the forces of evil. He was never without his faithful sidekick Pat Patton and his band of merry followers, Junior Tracy and Tess Trueheart.

The first thing you must do is to choose the story you will tell from the list below. Click any of the links to see the script of the story. Choose either MS Word or Google Doc.

Once you have selected a story, print out a copy for each person, or make a copy of the Google Doc and share it with your group.

Each person should select a part to read. Highlight those parts so no one forgets where they start.

Now practice reading the story together until you can do it perfectly. Be sure to enunciate the words clearly, and use good expression in your voice! When your group feels it can read the story with no or few mistakes, you are ready to record your story in Step 4!

The Ant and the Dove
The Bat, the Beasts and the Birds
The Ant and the Grasshopper
The Bundle of Sticks
The Frog and the Ox
The Frogs Who Want a King
The Hare and the Tortoise
The Lark and Her Young Ones
The Oak and the Reeds

Before you dive into WeVideo, let's take a few minutes to explore WeVideo.

You can always get to WeVideo by typing 'wevideo.com' in the browser Omnibox (at the top of the window). WeVideo works in many browsers, but will always work the best in Chrome.

Logging In Correctly

If you are in a school district that has purchased WeVideo, you'll be able to access ALL the great features by logging in correctly. Watch the video below to learn how to log in to a school account (skip this if you use the free version)

Create a WeVideo Edit

Now that you can log in to your account, we need to create a WeVideo edit that we'll work in to actually put together our Radio Show podcast. Watch the video below to learn how to create an edit correctly.

A Quick Tour of WeVideo

You are ready to start working on your Radio Show now! Let's take just another few minutes before we dive in to understand how to work in a WeVideo editing screen. Watch the video below so you'll know where you should be looking and working as you continue.

This step should only be completed after your group can read their story almost perfectly every time, and each person is able to speak loudly, clearly, and with expression!

To prepare to record your story you should:

  1. find a quiet spot large enough for everyone to gather around a Chromebook, or the microphone if you have one to use.
  2. make sure each person has their script with their parts highlighted.
  3. have your Chromebook open to the WeVideo edit you created earlier.

Watch the following video to understand how to successfully record your story in WeVideo.

That wasn't hard, was it? You probably made a mistake or two while recording your story. It is almost impossible not to! We told you not to worry, you can fix it, right? Well, the video below shows you how you can easily cut out the mistakes so no one ever knows they happened!

It might seem strange to talk about adding a title to a radio show, but let me explain! Think back to the examples you listened to. Every good radio show had an opening with music and an announcer letting everyone know the show was starting. You can imagine kids running from all over the house to sit in front of the radio when this opening started playing.

Your group needs to add an opening "title" to your show. Watch the video below to learn how you can do this easily in WeVideo. Watch closely! There are some tips you need to successfully finish this task.

We're just about done. First, though, we need to add some excitement and interest to your Radio Show by adding in sound effects. The listeners will be drawn into your story and listen more closely if you use sound effects to help them understand what is happening and imagine it better in their heads.

Watch the video below to learn how to add sound effects properly to a WeVideo edit.

Your Radio Show is now edited to perfection. After listening to it many times with your group, you are now ready to share it with others. In order to do that, though, you have to finish your WeVideo edit. The technical term for this is to "render" your edit. When you complete this step you'll have a single MP3 file that can be played on any music player, phone, computer or web page!

Watch the video below to learn how to FINISH your WeVideo edit so you can share your Radio Show with others.

The video below will show you some great little tricks you can use when editing to speed up the process and make things more professional.

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