Making a podcast: A beginner’s guide
In our earlier blogpost we explained what podcasts are and what kind of benefits they can bring to your company. This time we are focusing on how to make them yourself – here are four steps on how to produce mint podcasts!
Plan the podcast content
Like all other contents, the first step in crafting a podcast is making a solid plan. Think about questions like who is the podcast for: just your company for the customers and public? Will you talk professionally about your work and industry, or is the tone somewhat more relaxed and aims to both entertain and inform? Will you be the only one talking, or will you have partner to chat with? Perhaps you could even invite charismatic guest speakers!
Appropriate equipment
Your plan defines the kind of equipment you’ll need. During practice rounds, a good smartphone or earphones with a decent microphone are sufficient, and the quality may even be good enough for short podcasts made for your company’s internal use.
However, the public may sometimes require extremely high quality, and of course, for your customers you only want to present productions that are polished to the smallest detail. The more ambitious podcast maker should invest in a separate microphone at least – or a few, depending on how many speakers you plan to have.
One clever solution is to purchase a USB connectable mic. Some microphones, such as Podcaster, allow for recording speech directly into your computer’s audio recorder. The prices for USB mics start from approx. 100 euros, and you won’t necessarily even need any other equipment except for a computer.
Here at Myy Agency we use a Zoom H6 recorder and two Rode NT1-A microphones including their stands, fasteners, and pop filters. The recorder on its own works just fine as a portable studio, but with separate mics you can comfortable get a high-quality recording anywhere, without even dragging your laptop along.
Edit your recording to publishing-ready
Audacity is a programme available for both Mac and PC free of charge. The programme has all the standard editing features, and you can easily cut off unwanted bits, add sound elements and adjust sound levels. The straightforward programme is a popular sound editing tool, and there is a myriad of tutorials all over the internet.
However, it’s good to keep in mind that even if some ambience more important than a top-notch editing programme is a quiet, echoless recording environment. While it may suit some more casual podcasts to have some background noise to seem a little bit livelier, an appropriate environment guarantees the quality needed for a professional recording. The aforementioned pop filter may also come handy, as it prevents the harsh cracking and popping of consonants on your recording. Some mics, such as Podcaster for instance, have an in-built pop filter.
Share your thoughts with the world
When your first podcast is ready, it’s time to let the others hear it. You can make an account to, for example, the popular Soundcloud or the Finnish Kieku and easily upload your work online. Kieku is totally free of charge, and Soundcloud up to a certain bit amount as well.
These services allow you to embed audio to your website or social media channels, making it easy for others to access your podcasts. It is also possible to share them with only a selected few through sending them a private link.
Want to reach the masses? This article is part of our series about podcasting, and we will soon tell you how to attract even more listeners.
Until then, we are happy to help you with your podcast, or even make it for you – so we hope to hear from you soon!
