You hear about podcasts everywhere, but you don’t know what they really are? What is a podcast and how can you start with the podcast format? Read our article to find out more about this form.
What is a podcast?
A podcast is a series of audio or video recordings divided into episodes. Files with individual episodes can be downloaded from the internet or streamed online. Podcasts can also be subscribed, thanks to which new episodes automatically reach recipients. The word “podcast” was created from the combination of the name iPod with the word broadcast. You can listen to podcast via iOS and Android apps, Spotify and other sources.
How to start with your own podcast?
Choose a format
You need to start with setting the formula. Of course, the most important is the topics you will talk about. It is best to establish a niche in which you feel the most comfortable, and in which you have the most to say. All the time keep in mind that people will listen to you, and to attract their attention you need to talk about something interesting, or at least in an original way. Here it is also important to set the length of the episodes, days of recordings, publications.
Podcast: equipment
You can start with a smartphone, they usually have good mics. Activate the voice recorder on the phone, point it towards the mouth and you can record. If you want more professional solutions, record with a Zoom H2n recorder connected to a computer with a USB cable. In addition to the microphone you can use a tripod and a pop filter – a round strainer to mount on a tripod, between your mouth and the microphone. This eliminates such “air shots” when pronouncing the sounds “p”, “b” etc. Better microphones do not require the use of a pop filter, you can also possibly use a sponge on the microphone.
Podcast: how to record
The free Audacity program may be good for a start – for recording and editing a podcast it is sufficient, free and easy to use. It’s good to record several episodes before publishing, minimum 3. You can use them as a backup to regularly publish new episodes, or you can share several episodes at once. Thanks to this, your podcast is more likely to collect more views at the very beginning, and this can help you get to the recommended categories in the podcast listening apps.
Where to record a podcast?
You want to record a podcast. How to start? The first element is the room. Even the best microphone won’t do its job if you are recording a podcast in a room where there is a lot of reverberation.
A good room is one that is best damped. No outside noise is heard, but it also absorbs the sound that is inside. If in the place where you record, you have a rug or carpet on the floor, thick curtains on the windows and upholstered furniture, then they muffle the room and thanks to this, only what comes out of your mouth gets into the microphone. But when you sit in an empty room with bare walls, with a tiled floor, your voice is reflected and it sounds much worse.
