Get started with your own Ally Podcast Club in three simple steps
Pick a time.
Though you can run an Ally Podcast Club as a one-off event, consistency and repetition are powerful forces. Plus, there is much to learn. So I highly recommend picking a regular recurring time to meet.
For a work/school setting: In my team, we meet every first Monday of the month at noon. While I am generally protective of the lunch hour for work meetings, I have found this time slot to work well for something like this (even during our current work from home situation). People’s calendars are generally more open and people can eat their lunch while we listen and then be ready to discuss.
For a home/friend group setting: I still highly recommend consistency. People lead busy lives but when they can plan around something on a regular basis I think it helps. I’d suggest picking a weeknight (Mon-Thu) and a time slot that works for most and stick with it.
Send the invite.
Once you’ve picked the time, it’s important to get that invite out and on people’s calendars. Over the last couple years I’ve ended up running the club fully in-person, fully remote, and with a mixed audience. They all work.
Given the state of the world today, unless you can guarantee everyone can meet in person, I think it’s best to default to using an online meeting platform.
If you’re doing this in a work/school setting, hopefully you can just leverage whatever platform is generally in use. If not, here are a few recommendations:
I prefer Microsoft Teams. The free version is quite capable.
Zoom is also a viable option. The free version does have a 40 minute limit which is challenging for the podcast club, but the paid version has no limit.
Other options include Google Meet, Facebook Rooms, etc.
Most calendar apps these days allow you to schedule a recurring meeting. When you set it up be sure to add the online meeting details if you have them.
Facilitate the meeting.
Don’t worry, there’s no magic needed here and you don’t need to be a great presenter or public speaker to have it be a great meeting. The podcast content and the discussion are really the main focus.
Here’s how I do it:
Pick the podcast episode a few days before the meeting. Use our Episode List as a guide or pick your own (see below for tips).
Remind people a few days before the meeting and share the link to the podcast in case they want to listen ahead of time.
If the meeting starts at noon, I generally aim to kick off the podcast episode sharply at 12:10. Encourage folks to get their lunch and eat while they listen.
I never record these meetings and I do like to remind folks that we’re creating a safe space for discussion. Creating that safe space I believe is critical to enable folks to engage in open and honest conversation.
During the listening - if your online meeting platform has a chat option, use it! Make note of a quote you liked, or make a little comment (ex: “wow, never thought about it that way”). People will follow suit as well and join in. We often have great discussion in the chat which lead us to a few key discussion topics at the end.
When the podcast ends, open it up for discussion. Almost always this will flow naturally. Sometimes as the host you’ll have to be prepared to share a thought or ask a question to the group. In our Episode List I’ve tried to provide you with a set of good discussion questions you can use for each episode.
Encourage the use of the “raise your hand” feature if available. The chat window can also be great for people to +1 or add a thought without having to say something vocally.
NOTE: You very often may have to stop the podcast early because having 10-15 minutes for discussion is critical. There’s never a great time to stop, so just look for the end of a thought or moment and call it.
Wrap things on time. More often that not I have to gracefully cut people off at the end. People respect that you are honoring their time by not going over. Some platforms enable the discussion to continue in the chat well beyond the meeting which is nice for follow ups and thoughts people couldn’t get in or have the next day.
Encourage people to bring a friend or co-worker to the next one!
How to pick a great podcast episode.
As the host I think this is probably the part of the process that I spend the most time on and worry the most about.
But to be honest, as much as I’ve fretted over this (and continue to fret over this) every episode has worked out and brought something to the table that helped our group think differently. And that’s the goal.
In general - I’d say here’s what to keep in mind when choosing an episode:
Are there any themes that we’re working on? In our ally group at work for example we started heavily focused on gender bias and gender equality but have been introducing other focus areas every 3-6 months like race, inter-sectionality, etc.
Is the topic relevant to current events? For example if it’s pride month, can we listen to something about pride or highlighting LGBTQIA+ issues? Is there something relevant to the industry that we work in? I do find that timely or relevant topics tend to resonate better and generate more discussion. As a bonus, these topics often have opportunities to cross-promote/collaborate with other things going on at your company or in the community.
Is there a new podcast series we can introduce to people? I do like helping people discover new sources of information they can add to their lives.
Is the episode 25-35 minutes in lengh -or- can we listen to a 30 minute “act”? I’ve found 25-35 minutes to be the sweet spot for having the right amount of content and leaving enough time for discussion.
Is the source balanced enough? This is a tricky one. I’m not suggesting we only use content from NPR (I love NPR) but also I’ve found if the source is too polarizing it’s hard to get the group to really have a discussion that helps everyone grow and learn. Use your best judgement here based on your group.
Has someone sent me a suggestion? I strongly encourage suggestions from the group, so I do try to work them into the schedule when I get them (as long as they fit well within the criteria above).
Luckily, you’ve got our Episode List which we update monthly as a source as well, so you’re not in this alone!
