A podcast is something that, if done right, can be a fun and entertaining experience for everyone involved. However, if it fails, it can also be a sad and baffling experience for the people involved. In this post, I’m going to share my tips I use when podcasting and tips that I would recommend for you to use when starting your own podcast.
1. Find a topic you are passionate about
When you’re podcasting, you need to keep your audience entertained. This is kinda hard to do if the topic you are talking about isn’t that exciting to you. You need to find a topic that you know a lot about and enjoy talking about. For me, that topic is technology. I know a lot about technology and I usually have a lot to say about it. This is why I chose to go into podcasting about technology. This could be different for anyone, but definitely find a topic you enjoy talking about for your podcast.
2. Get a good microphone
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people with horrible mics, especially with podcasting. A good microphone is essential for podcasting, because if you don’t have one, it seriously degrades the quality of your content. If you want a simple USB microphone, I would recommend the Blue Snowball
. It is a wonderful microphone with excellent audio quality, and for $75, it is very affordable for podcasting. I own a Blue Snowball and I would definitely recommend it. If you plan on going to the next level, and getting gear such as a mixer to produce your shows, I would recommend the MXL 990
. It isn’t the latest generation of microphones that MXL offers, but it is one of the best mics out there for podcasting, and the price is VERY LOW compared to how much other microphones of its quality cost. I use the MXL 990 for most of my podcasting as well as live shows and I would recommend it as well.
3. Keep your viewers entertained
I don’t know how many times I’ve seen podcasters that are straight up boring and uninformative. If you’re going to do a podcast, you should do it right and keep your viewers engaged and entertained. I find that maintaining a balance of professionalism and being laid back is perfect. Being too professional will bore you viewers and eventually make them unsubscribe but being too laid back causes the podcast to become unorganized and eventually people will unsubscribe as well. Alas, a balance makes it so you are not too stiff and professional, but also that you have something to talk about and a show plan.
4. Have a set time for recording your podcast
You should always plan a set time to record your podcast and edit it. This way, it keeps things organized and you have a set time each week you know you’ll be doing one. Plus, if you live stream your podcast recordings, this gives viewers a expected time to tune in to your podcast live stream each week if they want to watch live. This definitely is a good idea in both how I mentioned above on being organized and this makes sure you don’t crowd up your schedule for the week then forget to record your podcast.
These are four tips I use for podcasting and I hope they help you! Podcasting can definitely be a fun and rewarding experience, but if you don’t have the time for it and don’t have a topic you are passionate about, then you may as well not do a podcast in the first place.
If you have any other suggestions for people reading the article, be sure to leave them in the comments!
-Carmen
