"We love podcasts here at the Ministry of Testing, so when I heard Neil’s idea for his new podcast, I immediately applied to be a guest! Then after some time I thought I’d love to support Neil with this new pod, so I reached out and offered him the backing of MoT. I’m very pleased to confirm that we are indeed supporting Neil with his podcast and have agreed to host them on The Dojo. Enough from me though, read what Neil has to say about his new podcast adventure!"
Richard Bradshaw, FriendlyBoss at Ministry of Testing
There’s something about podcasts which make them a particularly compelling format for telling stories. Some of my favourites are those which have a storytelling structure, allowing guests to share their experiences from the world of testing in a compelling and relatable fashion. In my role as co-host of the Screen Testing podcast, some of our best and most-popular recordings are those where guests have joined us with a particular narrative journey to discuss (our Hidden Figures discussion with Ash Coleman and Angie Jones, and our Yes Man chat with Leigh Rathbone, are recent examples of this).
I wanted to create a new testing podcast which was specifically focused on storytelling. Something which encourages testers to share their passions and experiences, and which can provide a platform for voices that haven’t been heard before. A podcast which, like Screen Testing, has a different spin which allows people’s personalities to be brought into the spotlight.
And so, today I’m delighted to be launching Testers’ Island Discs, with help from the Ministry of Testing. The concept is straightforward: each episode, I’ll interview a different member of the global testing community to talk about their career, interspersed with clips and discussions of the music that they love. Every guest gets to select five songs, and throughout the episode, we’ll occasionally pause our interview to discuss those selections.
I’m not expecting you to select the five greatest songs of all-time. They’re five of the songs that mean the most to you: maybe they spark a particular memory, maybe they help you to get “in the zone” when you’re testing, or maybe they just put you in a great mood. Everyone’s tastes are different (I’ve had applications from 15 guests so far, and nobody has picked the same song twice!) so it’s going to be very interesting to help showcase this diversity within our community.
Getting involved is easy, and recording is very straightforward. I’m here to help along the way. The introductory episode explains more!
Listen to the introductory episode of Testers’ Island Discs
If you’d like to participate in the podcast, have a think about what you’d like to talk about, select your five music tracks, and then complete the Testers’ Island Discs signup form. You can leave the rest to me – I’ll contact you to arrange a suitable recording date.
There are already a variety of great testing podcasts (you can find many of them on the Ministry of Testing podcasts feed). I’m not looking to compete with them; instead, I hope that the unique twist of Testers’ Island Discs can help to introduce new listeners to the world of podcasting, and encourage more people to get involved with sharing their stories with the world.
