Podcast SOW Draft_6-28.22.pdf

National Institutes of Health Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR)

The Behavioral and Social Science Side of Health Podcast Creation

STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW)

June 28, 2022

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The National Institutes of Health, Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) seeks to create a podcast series focused on the behavioral and social science dimensions of health, with a focus on using behavioral and social science research to explore health topics that have an important societal impact (e.g., substance use and mental health, digital health, climate change) and to challenge common health misconceptions. Additionally, in order to build up internal expertise in this area, OBSSR aims to train its staff members on the principles and processes of creating impactful podcasts, and more broadly, audio-based communication strategies. Collectively, these efforts will support OBSSR’s goal of communicating behavioral and social science research findings to researchers and the public, disseminating evidence-based information, and fostering the adoption of behavioral and social interventions.

2.0 BACKGROUND

One of the main priorities of the NIH, OBSSR is to “facilitate the adoption of behavioral and social sciences research findings in health research and in practice enhance” (OBSSR Strategic

Plan 2017-2021, Priority Three). Effectively communicating behavioral and social sciences research findings that may be used to inform and improve health is a foundational process used by OBSSR to meet its core priorities.

OBSSR has deep expertise and experience in communicating behavioral and social science research (BSSR). Podcasting is a relatively new but rapidly growing form of mass communication. Creating a podcast would build upon and expand OBSSR’s communication efforts and provide new ways to engage with the existing BSSR community as well as reach new audience members with this format. Podcasts are currently consumed by millions of listeners around the world, and a BSSR-specific podcast could contribute to reaching and successfully engaging the internal NIH community, behavioral and social scientists interested in health-related topics, biomedical researchers interested in BSSR topics, and the general public interested in health and BSSR. Considering the current communication channels that may perpetuate individual opinions and amplify information that is not grounded in science, OBSSR views the development of a podcast as an influential way to contribute evidence-based, health-related research findings that is free and publicly available for use by NIH staffers, researchers, clinicians/practitioners, educators, students, and the general public.

3.0 SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES

The goal of this procurement is two-fold: 1) to develop a health podcast using the behavioral and social sciences to answer key questions about human behavior and combat common misconceptions about health, and 2) to train staff members at OBSSR in the principles, processes, and best practices of creating podcasts.

The contractor shall work with the OBSSR team to create a complete podcast season (9 episodes, each one of 20-25 minutes in length). The contractor shall help develop the title and theme for the season, source and verify guests, help create the story for each episode, facilitate the recording of each episode, edit each episode, ensure that any sound used within the podcast has the appropriate attributions, generate captions for each episode, and produce a final, production-ready version of each episode. The contractor shall also train OBSSR staff in the principles, processes, and best practices of creating impactful podcasts. The contractor shall provide expertise on all aspects of creating and producing a podcast and facilitate the creation of a podcast season, including the following activities:

• Convene kick-off meeting with Contracting Officer Representative (COR) and NIH scientific team within two weeks of contract award to review the SOW and discuss details of the podcast creation and training.

• In collaboration with the OBSSR project team, conduct an iterative pre-production and planning phase with the following activities:

o Brainstorming sessions to identify goals and strategizing about how they can be met through podcasting o Competitive analysis including neighborhood network graph creation and analysis to ensure that OBSSR is creating a novel podcast o Brainstorm and finalize show concept, format, and title o Identify themes and episode ideas for all of season 1 o Provide training for OBSSR podcast host

• For development of the pilot (first episode) allow for up to 3 rounds of feedback from the OBSSR project team to ensure the preferred format, tone, and messaging. Once these are finalized for the pilot, these ideas will be carried through to creation of the remainder of the season (additional 8 episodes).

• In collaboration with the OBSSR project team, conduct production and post-production for each of the 9 episodes in the podcast season through the following activities for each episode:

o Pre-interviews and guest booking for up to three guests per episode o Verify the credibility of guests and veracity of their stories, including all scientist and non-scientist guests o Recording equipment management and training for guests, including providing resources for improving sound quality for remote participants as needed.

o High quality and production ready recording of all audio material that is ready for posting to various podcast platforms o Scripting for each episode to ensure that perspectives of the guests and host come together to tell a compelling and interesting BSSR-related story o Edit, score, and master final episodes o Incorporate feedback on editing from OBSSR project team o Secure all music and other 3rd party rights o Provide all copyright-free imagery for all episodes o Produce captions (transcripts plus any additional captioning necessary, such as descriptions of any audio used or other relevant details not accessible to individuals with hearing impairments).

o Add podcast to major podcast platforms

• Conduct a virtual training and provide training resources tailored to OBSSR staff in the following areas:

o Principles, processes, and best practices of creating an impactful and engaging podcast o Education around what makes a good podcast episode and what stories to “chase” o Recommendations on how to package and promote an OBSSR podcast, including but not limited to, title, description, artwork, episode titles, and show notes o Strategies for building and expanding promotion channels (including existing websites, social media channels, newsletters) and additional external channels (such as major podcasting platforms) o Analysis of analytics, strategies for benchmarking, and establishing custom metrics of success o Recommendations for podcast hosting and strategies for distributing across all major podcasting platforms o Summary of all main training materials in a PowerPoint presentation

• Regularly solicit and incorporate OBSSR feedback on each episode, and the overall process.

Feedback may be collected through email and/or through attendance at regular working group meetings.

• Provide podcast process documentation to OBSSR and provide production updates on a regular basis as determined by the contractor and OBSSR team.

• Using knowledge of the podcasting landscape, develop and deploy a plan to evaluate the success of the OBSSR podcast. This evaluation may be based on the metrics of other podcasts similar in scope and topic.

• Submit monthly progress reports and presentations that summarize methods and results to date as well as completed activities, upcoming activities, and unanticipated issues. Convene monthly meetings with the project team to update on status and progress.

4.0 TYPE OF CONTRACT

This is a fixed price type contract.

5.0 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The anticipated period of performance for this requirement is for 12 months: September 1, 2022

– August 31, 2023.

6.0 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

All services shall be provided at the Contractor’s facility unless otherwise required to come to NIH campus for meetings. The government will provide access to the NIH information or personnel needed to satisfactory complete the deliverables.

7.0 REPORT(S)/DELIVERABLES AND DELIVERY SCHEDULE

All written draft and final deliverable products shall be submitted in electronic copy for review and comment. All deliverables shall be sent electronically using Microsoft products for any training materials or plans, and .mp3 or .wav for audio files, per the following deliverable schedule:

Task Due Date

Kick-off meeting Within 10 days of award

Complete Podcast Training and materials Pilot episode draft

December 1, 2022

Final version of pilot episode ready for distribution with final files and transcript

January 1, 2023

Episode 2 ready for distribution with final files and transcript February 1, 2023

Episode 3 ready for distribution with final files and transcript March 1, 2023

Episode 4 ready for distribution with final files and transcript April 1, 2023

Success metrics analysis plan draft Episode 5 ready for distribution with final files and transcript

May 1, 2023

Final success metrics analysis plan May 15, 2023

Episode 6 ready for distribution with final files and transcript June 1, 2023

Episode 7 ready for distribution with final files and transcript July 1, 2023

Episode 8 ready for distribution with final files and transcript August 1, 2023

Episode 9 ready for distribution with final files and transcript Final process documentation

August 31, 2023

Monthly progress reports and meetings 15th of every month