How I Record Podcasts and Post The Tracks I Make To the Internet.

I’m no audio expert. I’m not even a voice-over artist, but podcasting works for me. I’m an author and promote my work this way. I’ve seen good sales growth since creating audio content. This is how I podcast.

A podcast requires a microphone and something to say into it. Words are easy to make, but the recording device isn’t. This is where you can spend a lot of money, or too little, on the device, that is, not the ideas to go into it.

The Tech Bit

The most straightforward recording device I’ve ever used was my phone. It’s a pretty logical place to start. It’s got a microphone and a place to store audio content — but, as it turns out, it’s not so good for making great-sounding podcasts. I found my phone was constantly interrupting my recordings. Beeps, Tweets, hums, vibrations and phone calls appeared on the track (switching off the notifications fixes that, but there’s more to come). The sound quality was less than most podcasters expect.

After some experimentation, I decided that using my phone to make my podcasts wasn’t such a good idea, and I needed to switch to something better.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the technical specs of podcast equipment and purchase far more than what’s needed. There’s such a thing called overkill. Besides, you may already have something in your collection of gizmos you can use. Like you, I felt I should exhaust all avenues with what was already available to me before spending a dollar on a new mike.

I tried:

• My Lapel microphone
• Karaoke microphone
• Noise-cancelling headphone/microphone set
• My laptop mike

I had some noise-cancelling gear from my Skype days. Its results had no bass or treble at all. I’d describe it as squawky, like an old AM radio broadcast. The only benefit was there were no echoes, unlike the laptop mike that produced so many echoes that they’re still echoing right now!

Scratch off the noise-cancelling headphones and the laptop. My lapel and karaoke mike weren’t much better.

What else?

I invested in a USB condenser microphone and tried again.

Wow. What a difference that made!

Ignoring my voice’s lacklustre texture, the tone the mike captured was fabulous — clean, rich, with plenty of depth and, depending on where I recorded it, had few echoes. Beware. Condenser microphones are super sensitive. They’re great for capturing the nuances of the spoken word, but they’ll also pick up a ticking clock in the corner of a room. (Cars, bird chirps, aircraft noises, trains, wind, etc.)

You could get around this (apart from recording in a soundproof room) is to obtain a cardioid mike. They’re highly directional. You need to speak right into the microphone (less than three inches from it) to get it to hear everything that’s being said. The cardioid pattern is great for knocking out background noise. The downside is that if you move an inch away from its optimum recording spot, the sound being recorded drops off dramatically. This means you’ll have to train yourself to stay still.

For me, this kit does well but lacks something in portability. I required a roving version because sometimes I like to record podcasts at other locations.

That’s when I searched for and found my handy Zoom 1Hn. It’s become my regular recording mike. Powered by two AAA batteries, boasting ten continuous recording hours of power, it’s got an automatic recording level control (and a manual one). On top of that, it has a limiter to stop loud passages of noise from distorting the audio (yes, that matters). The other significant thing about this device is it has stereo microphones. It’s a twin arrangement that makes the speech come alive in ways mono-mikes don’t do.

No, I don’t have shares in ZOOM. I’m just an author, remember?

The 1Hn doesn’t edit audio. It’s a recording device. It needs to be attached to a computer (or a phone) so you can extract the recordings it makes. Once you drag them across to a computer, that’s when the magic happens!

The Edit

Did I mention editing software? Like me, you’ll want to chop out long gaps in your speech. I often cut out those kinds of gaps but also delete coughs, snorts, awkward breathing, clicks, flubs, bloopers, mispronunciations, umms, ahhhs, and such. Most software comes with filters for taking out unwanted background noise. This can be particularly helpful if you’re not using a soundproof studio (like me).

You can also add extra bass (or less), extra treble (or less), echo, musical backgrounds, and sound effects, or cut/paste/insert other audio into the track. By now, you should see how important it is to include the software in the podcast equation. Even the most basic audio editing software includes the stuff I mentioned in these last two paragraphs. Unless you’re expecting to expand into movie-making or band recording, you have all you need in an entry-level package for making a podcast.

Going Live

The most basic way to get your podcast out there is to upload it to your webpage or blog and then share it via social media. Most platforms allow easy audio uploads through their dashboards’ media section. They even have specially designed widgets that put your podcast up on your pages without having you write any code, making it look quite professional from the outset. The other way is to set up an account with a podcasting host and upload your audio to their server. They claim to have vast distribution channels that’ll surpass anything you could achieve on your own.

I use Spotify for my podcast distribution. Podcast episodes are uploaded using their straightforward, easy-to-use dashboard. The second best about using Spotify for podcasting is that it’s free. The sharing doesn’t end there either. Spotify sends the podcast feed to several other well-known podcast agents who, in turn, have their own followers. The combined coverage is pretty amazing. Spotify also provides embed codes to set your podcast episodes into your blog posts, just like if you used your website or blog to host them. It’s about the best you can get in podcasting, right?

Podcasting Topics

And then there are those inexpensive ideas I spoke about earlier. What makes up an episode? What the heck do you talk about once you’ve decided to commit to podcasting? Do you have enough material to keep it going after you start your channel?

Some podcasters choose to go it alone, while others bring in other people and run an interview-style show. I must say, the second option often fills up a track with plenty of content. Two (or more) heads with two voices with two opinions are great, but they can also quickly get off track and away from the podcast’s mission. I don’t do it that way. I’m a lone podcaster.

My novels touch on many topics; in the beginning, the podcast covered all of them. If there was something about photography in one of my books, I’d talk about photography for an episode. If there were something about Ghost Gumtrees, I’d talk about them and the Australian bushland. After a year of doing that on a different podcasting host, I could see which episodes attracted the most interest by looking at the traffic statistics. It was the topic of sexless marriages. This intrigued more visitors than any other. In 2021, I moved my website to my current host and shifted the podcast to Spotify, concentrating on that topic alone.

My best advice is not to publish episodes on the day you record and edit them. Record and edit them on one day but sit on it for another before doing anything more to them. I guarantee you’ll find at least one significant error, and you’ll want to re-record the episode before it goes live.

It’s also good to listen to a few random podcasts to learn how other podcasters structure them. Do they introduce themselves at the beginning of an episode or much later? Do they start with a question that immediately hooks you in? Is there a hard sell, soft sell, or no sell at all? When do they mention a product or service? Is there a cliffhanger at the end to keep you coming back? How long are their episodes?

Successful podcasters have their preferred structure and usually keep to it because they know it works. There’s an art to creating podcasts. You might want to employ some of their ideas in your own.

I keep mine simple:

• About ten to twenty minutes long
• Greeting with podcast I.D
• Brief musical transition
• Introduce myself and the purpose of the podcast
• The title of the episode
• “Body of podcast”
• Invite comments
• Inform listeners of my website address
• Where the product/service can be obtained
• Sign off
• Musical transition
• End

In most cases, this is the order I prefer to use, but I’ll swap them around if it feels right to do so (or I forget the proper order when recording it). It’s been refined over the years, and some of the earliest episodes were an absolute disaster. The musical piece I incorporate into them is barely two bars long and is of an inoffensive, age-appropriate genre. After hearing several podcasts use music to dominate the first minute of an episode, I decided to keep mine short and sweet. It’s recognizable, passes quickly and connects with the kind of listeners my podcast attracts. It begins and ends the show, using it like a DJ uses a catchphrase. Once heard, you know exactly where you are.

Recently, I’ve incorporated a sound effect to delineate the beginning and end of a sound byte. If a listener sends me a file they want me to hear and I use it in a podcast episode, I’ll add a click to the front of their monologue. I’ll add another at the end so the listener hears it like I’ve pressed a button in the studio. The other thing I’ll do is add some hiss behind their track so it sounds like it’s coming from a different location (as it is). These embellishments help make the listener enjoy the experience better.

Headphones During The Podcast?

If you’re the only one recording your tracks, then no, they’re not necessary. I don’t use them. You won’t need to use headphones until you start editing the track. If you have an interview-style podcast with guests, you may need to monitor their voices with headphones while keeping one hand on the control levels.

Wrap Up

It’s your story. Say anything you like, but try to get to know your listener through every podcast episode you post. Try to think like they do and tailor your material accordingly. Experiment, learn, adjust and repeat. It’s that simple. Just remember, podcasting has two advantages over text-based blog postings. First, search engines are hungry to find podcasts (blog posts aren’t even on their radar). Second, not everyone likes to read. Instead of gluing their eyes to a page, they’ll listen while commuting, jogging, walking, going to bed, house cleaning, driving, etc. That doesn’t mean they can’t or won’t read words. It just means that they don’t have the time to read. Listening allows them to multitask.

I hope your podcast brings you everything you need (and more).

-Michael Forman

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