How to Start a Podcast

Starting a podcast is one of the best and most effective ways to present information to your audience. Don’t be afraid of starting your own digital radio show, digest, or serialized audiobook – the creation is not hard, even if you do a podcast from home.

What do you need to start your first podcast? In actuality, all you really need for starting a podcast is a computer with an internet connection, a microphone, a good sound card, and software like Movavi Screen Recorder. All of this can be very inexpensive, if not completely free.

What is a podcast? In short, a podcast is an internet-based talk show that can feature guests and producers from all over the world. As the host, you will be responsible for collecting guest interviews, submitting them to your sponsors, arranging studio time, and, of course, producing the finished podcast. However, it’s not quite as simple as that might sound, hence these tips on creating a podcast that will help those of you just getting started in the business.

Here are some basics that will help you create a podcast and then make it perfect.

• Choose your topic. To become a successful podcast producer, you must be passionate about your subject matter. It’s up to you to make people interested in it. It’s not enough just to be a professional. You may be super smart and erudite on the subject. But if you bore yourself, you’ll never convince anyone else to listen to your podcasts. So, making podcasts starts with deep questions about your core interests and goals in life. Be especially thoughtful at this stage of preparation!
• Keep it simple, yet unique. Even if your subject is really complex and you need to use specific terminology, try to keep your approach as simple as possible. For some people, it may be hard to take in complex information by ear. So don’t talk in long sentences with hard-to-follow figures of speech. Imagine that you’re discussing the subject with a child.

  You also have to make sure that each of your episodes is unique. You should never repeat the same content; instead, you should select and incorporate new and interesting subjects and guests that expand on your theme.

• Define your audience. Who is going to listen to you? Imagine the typical person you want to have listening to your podcasts. Start with their age and social attributes, like profession, education, marital status. Then describe their interests and values. Find the point where they intersect with yours.

  But don’t be distracted by your imagination, because age, gender and social status are not the most essential attributes to understand. Focus on questions like: when and where will your subscribers listen to you and how much time do they have for listening to one episode? A business executive and a stay-at-home parent may be both interested in travelling. But the business executive listens to podcasts while commuting and may only have 10 to 15 minutes to listen, while the stay-at-home parent may have several hours to listen while cooking or doing housework.

  Understanding your audience will help you choose the most appropriate format.

• Choose the format. Long evening monologues, round table discussions, face-to-face conversations, or one-on-one interviews – all are possible formats for your podcasts.

  Think about what’s easiest for you – to chat with other people or cover the topic yourself. If you choose the first, you’ll need to find participants who are just as passionate about the topic as you are. You’ll need to search for people whose opinions are important and interesting for your audience, and some may not like the idea of taking part in a homemade radio show.

  If you’re confident about your ability to carry the show solo, the monologue will be a better choice. But, in this case, you have to make a good plan because there should be no long pauses or boring stretches.

• Make a plan. We could have listed this first, but we’ve placed it in the middle because it’s not the main driver of success. First, you must create the idea and get a clear understanding of your audience. When all your mental preparations are done, you can plan the first episode.

  Separate your performance into four sections – inception, main body, summary, conclusion. This structure is also known as a fish skeleton. Then detail each part. What will you start with? How are you going to greet people? What’s the agenda? What will be the headliner for your stream?

  The main body should be also divided up into multiple subsections. Define the points that you want to highlight and think through each of them. Fill out some interesting facts and maybe add a little humor.

  At the end of the show, summarize the content for your audience. If the episode was short, it can be as short as one sentence. But if you were talking for an hour, it’s better to give a more detailed summary.

  What can you say in your conclusion? It’s a good idea to invite people to the next episode and ask them for feedback. You can also create a branded ending that will be your identifier.

  After you’ve made the main plan, make a Plan B. You’ll need it in case something goes wrong. Do you know how astronauts prepare for flight? One of the things they do is create scenarios of their death. They try to predict the worst situations and make plans of what to do in those cases. You should do the same with your show. Imagine what can go wrong and make a Plan B so you can react quickly.

• Get good equipment. Podcasting can be recorded using computer equipment or a microphone and a digital recorder or even a handheld recording device. A microphone is optional but might be more appropriate if you intend to broadcast in a public place.

  If your budget is tight, you can choose to use cheap microphones that are not branded, but it is important that the quality of the microphone is good. If the microphone is not portable, you might want to borrow one from a friend who uses good quality microphones. Many companies offer a range of accessories, including cables and USB microphones. When choosing a USB microphone, you can either go for a wired or wireless model.

  Some recording devices come with pre-installed software that can help in editing your podcast. You can get software like Movavi Video Editor that will make editing easier. If you already own music software, you might want to check which programs it is compatible with and download it.

• Install audio recording software. Obviously, sound quality is a significant factor. But it doesn’t depend solely on your recording devices. You should also have some professional software to get high quality output without unwanted interference and dropped sound.

  You may have some built-in tools for audio recording on your computer, but we would not recommend using them, as they’re unlikely to produce clear sound and don’t include editing tools.

  There are plenty of audio recording programs available – from desktop software to online recorders and browser extensions. But the most convenient and reliable way is to install a desktop app. When choosing an appropriate recorder, pay attention to the choice of exporting formats. Some programs don’t support saving audio separately from video. So you wouldn’t be able to export files in MP3 and upload them to podcast hosting websites.

  Later, we’ll explain how to make podcasts with software from Movavi. You can try it for free before deciding to use it in future or explore other options.

• Train yourself. Now you have an idea, plan, equipment, and software. Is that all? Can you start your own podcast now? Not quite yet.

  Before you start your first show, you need to train yourself. First of all, practise your talk and listen to how it sounds. Written material is different than spoken words. You may notice that some narrative can be easily understood when it’s on paper, but less so when it’s spoken aloud. You could even record your presentation with a voice recorder to check how it sounds.

  Pay attention to the correct pronunciation of words, especially if you’re going to use complex terminology. Remember that people prefer to listen to clear speech.

  Check the equipment and recording program you’re going to use. If you encounter technical difficulties during the recording, you may lose the thread of your presentation and get confused. So, it’s better to spend a little more time on preparation than be disappointed with the result.

• Choose your web platform. There are many websites dedicated to podcasts where you can publish your content. They are trustworthy, of course, but you risk getting lost in a crowd of newcomers like yourself.

  One great way to attract listeners is via social media sites. Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ all have millions of viewers, and new podcast episodes are being uploaded to YouTube every week. If you have a Facebook page or a Twitter account, you should promote your podcast every week to reach a large audience. You can even upload multiple podcasts to each social media platform every week.

• Commercialize the channel. In addition to having a good idea of what kind of podcast you want to create, you also need to think about how you will market your podcast. Promoting upcoming episodes is essential if you want to get biggest return on your investment.

  You can make money through podcast hosting by selling advertising space or products related to your podcast, but you can also use wrap-around marketing strategies to promote your episodes. Consider hiring a ghostwriter or professional website designer to help you create a newsletter, ad campaign, and other online marketing efforts to start generating revenue from your new career as a podcast host.