How to Create a Podcast

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Do you have something to say? Are you interested in getting your message to the masses? Do you like to talk, or have a group of people you can converse with? Creating your own podcast may be what you need, then.

A podcast is “internet radio,” in the sense that there are various “stations” people can listen to, on their computer, tablet, or phone, and even in-car. What makes podcasts better than radio is that there are many shows to choose from, and you can listen on your schedule. Let’s see how you can create your very own podcast.

 

Idea

Before you sit down to record, you might want to flesh out your ideas a bit, first. What are you interested in? What can you talk about for a length of time, for weeks on end? Are you going solo, or will you have a round-table discussion? What about guests? Don’t worry if you don’t have your idea 100% fleshed out early on; it’s perfectly fine to refine it as time goes on, as you gain experience.

 

Hardware

You’ll need a way to record your episodes. If you’ve got a laptop, you probably have a microphone built in. That sound is probably adequate, but might sound too low-quality for you. In that case, you’ll need to invest in a dedicated microphone. Logitech offers a variety of affordable options. An unobtrusive solution is a lapel microphone. Just clip it to your shirt and speak.

Lapel Mic

Lapel Mic

 

Software

There are many choices when it comes to recording software. Our top pick is Audacity. It’s free and open source, and very powerful. After you’ve plugged in your microphone, you simply start Audacity, and hit record. You’ll be amazed at the power of this app: you can create recordings from multiple microphones, add music behind voices, fade in and fade out sound, and minimize noise (static), and remove all the “Umm” and “Uhh” sounds you didn’t realize you made. All for free. It is a bit of a learning curve, so make sure you read the manual.

 

Distribution

Once your episode is recorded, you’ll need to publish it, so people can subscribe and listen. We like SoundCloud because it’s modern, straightforward, and powerful. You can get a free account, but it limits you to a total of 3 hours space for you to upload your episodes. You’ll probably want to opt for the SoundCloud Pro Unlimited account, or start with SoundCloud Pro and see if you like what you’re doing.

 

Promotion

While all art may, at first, be self-serving, if you find a like-minded audience, there is an extra layer of joy in your endeavors. That is, if you promote your podcast and you get listeners, it may motivate you to keep at it. You’ll want to use your favorite social network to let everyone know about your new show. Don’t forget to check out our various articles on how to use social media for promotion. Our Twitter article, for example, can help you.

 

Conclusion

If you’ve got a passion, you should be podcasting. If you’ve got a company to promote, you should be podcasting. The barriers to entry are quite low, so you could very well succeed if you put in the time and effort.

Happy podcasting!