PodSchool Podcast | How to record a podcast

Hello and welcome to the show. Today I'm going to go right back to basics. Often on this podcast I'll talk about tips that will help you when you are a few steps along in the podcasting process but often I'll get e-mails from people saying “How do you even record?” and that's a fair point. If you don't know how to do that that’s a great question to ask.
Of course I have an online podcasting course PodSchool.com.au if you are looking for a step by step guide to help you go from coming up with an idea to actually getting it into people’s ears. But I thought I'd take you through some of the ways that you can record if you are literally at the beginning of the idea phase and you've got no idea about how your voice actually gets into people’s ears.

The first way is by recording directly into your computer. This is usually the best option if it is just going to be you that's talking because you don't need to worry about moving your computer around anywhere and it's probably just the simplest way to go. You just a USB mic into your computer and record directly into audio editing software like Adobe Audition, which cost some money each month, or the free program called Audacity

The next way is if you are going to have other guests or callers or people that aren't going to be in the same room with you on your show. Again you just need your computer and a microphone but the way you’ll record will be different. Usually the easiest way is with Skype. Traditionally that has been via a program called Ecamm if you’re a Mac user and Pamela if you use a PC. These programs then record the Skype video and audio that you can edit later. Just recently though Skype finally came along to the party and created their own recording software. I have yet to use it but apparently it comes with the latest version. This is how you would record whether you’re talking to someone on Skype, it’s also the way you’d record if you were calling someone for your show. If you are calling them on the phone you’re not going to have a telephone line tapped through your wooden desk like you would have in a radio station. So Skype is usually the easiest way to do that. You just get some call credit and call people and then record using either Ecamm, Pamela or Skype’s inbuilt recorder.

Another website that got started up a little while ago that I've used that can work brilliantly but can also be a bit glitchy from time to time depending on your internet connection is Zencastr. Again I’ll pop links to all of these sites in the show notes page. Just head to PodSchoolPodcast.com and type “record” in the search bar there. So Zencastr is a fantastic website that basically links you and your guest up remotely so you control everything at your end. You just press record and they can see when the conversation is being recorded so it's not like they are being recorded and they don't know. Then at the end of that session it actually records your audio where you are and your guests audio where they are and then it sends you two separate audio files in a drop box that you just match up at the end so it sounds like you are in the same room. It's brilliant when it works but I have often just gone with Skype because I found that pretty foolproof but I have people that swear by Zencastr and really when it works it is the perfect solution because it does allow you to have that high quality audio at both ends and makes it sound not like you're talking to somebody on Skype but like you're talking to somebody in the same room so that can be a great way to do it as well.

The third option is to have a portable recording device. I suggest this when you are doing a show that requires you to move around a lot and go and interview people. I think it's the best way to do that because you don't want to lug your computer around and risk it running out of juice or not being able to be plugged in somewhere. Or heaven forbid you don't have enough memory or the computer crashes. I've recorded podcasts before on audio software and 45 minutes in the entire episode has died. I did that once and I never used software again. A lot of people use software without any problem at all but I am a get it on to a hard drive lady. I use the zoom H6 which is an awesome little device that allows you to plug in up to four microphones and it's super portable. With my show You’ve Gotta Start Somewhere, I go out and I sit down with people one on one to do the interviews. I don't do any of the interviews over Skype or remotely. I can just pop everything into a carry case and take it with me and every single time when I bring out all my gear my guests say “wow, this is really prodfessional.”

The last thing I'll bring up is something that's only just recently come out and that is Anchor. They are also a podcasting platform so you can host your show there as well. I have yet to use this but I'm seeing it around more and more. It's an application or a Web site that allows you to actually record in the app, on desktop or on mobile so you can plug in whatever microphone you want. Originally when it first came out there was this idea of recording podcasts onto your phone to try and make it really easy and I thought “Oh God the last thing we need is a way that makes crappy sounding podcasts.” You know I like the idea of being able to take things everywhere but for me audio quality is the most important thing if you want to compete and have a lasting show because there's a lot of good stuff out there and if you're just talking into your phone in a windy park you're never going to compete with the big guns. The application that they use to edit by the looks of things is sort of a bit drag and drop. I prefer to use a program like audition but with anything as long as you are recording high quality audio (and that’s mostly to do with microphones which I’ll cover next week), it doesn’t matter what you record into. It just depends on what you prefer to work in. Audition is a much better program than Audacity but the sound quality isn't going to be any worse at the end if what you have laid down in the first instance through a great microphone is high quality. So really your audio program comes down to your personal preference. Anchor seems to be spending a lot to get their program out there and drag and drop is good when you’re just starting out. So that could be an option for you to check out to it's free for hosting so you can actually host your podcast there.

I hope that helped you understand what it takes to record a podcast and get it into a little audio file. That means you can send it to your podcast host and have people listening on the other end. If you want even more in-depth help with your podcast you can head to PodSchool.com.au and check out my online podcasting course. And if you have any questions you want answered on the show you are always more than welcome to e-mail me. Just head to PodSchoolPodcast.com and click on the contact page. I'll see you next week and until then, happy podcasting.