So you’re thinking about launching a podcast — awesome! You’re likely feeling excited and a bit overwhelmed as you look for proven podcast production tips.
It’s no secret that the world of podcasting has grown rapidly over the past decade, with an estimated 140 million listeners worldwide. With such a vast audience available, it’s no surprise that podcasting has become a proven way to build a community.
However, podcasting is more than just recording audio and putting it out into the world. The last thing you want is to get your audience all hyped up to hear from you and end up putting out a piece of content you’re not proud of.
So, you’re probably wondering how you can make a quality podcast that helps you meet your goals.
Let’s take a look.
Why Podcasting?
Before we dive into podcast production tips, let’s talk about what makes podcasting a great medium for content creation.
As someone who wants to connect with your community, podcasting gives you a direct line to starting a conversation. You can create content that will resonate with your audience, and cover topics that interest them in real-time.
Not only are you likely looking to create a stronger bond with your existing community, but growing that community may also be a priority. Podcasting offers a way for new people to discover you, the work you do, and can potentially create new leads (if that’s what you’re looking to do).
Also, podcasts allow for the space to have as big or as small of a conversation as you like. Think about something like blogging — you may or may not have the time and skills to write a 3000-word post, but it’s likely you can easily have a conversation about it!
Another thing to consider is how podcasting gives you another platform to showcase your expertise. If you want to be seen as an expert in a certain industry or topic, podcasting enables you to position yourself as an authority while showcasing what you have to offer.
As great as this all sounds, make no mistake — creating a podcast takes time, care and attention. That’s why considering proven podcast production tips before hitting the ground running will help ensure you can have a podcast that does exactly what you want it to.
Podcast Production Tips – Before You Even Start Recording
Before you even start recording that first episode, there’s some planning to be done. Having a detailed plan will help ensure everything runs smoothly and your podcast doesn’t turn into a headache.
#1. Know Your Audience
Before you start recording, you need to have a really strong idea of what you want to talk about. Consider this: with so many options as a podcast listener, why will they listen to YOU?
Think about your potential audience. What topics will resonate with them? What topics are in your zone of genius? What is it about you that draws your community in? How can you talk about topics in a new and fresh way?
Do: Know who you’re targeting and what they are most interested in.
Don’t: Try to be everything to everyone. Trying to be the “expert” on too many topics will erode your community’s confidence in you.
#2. Plan Your Content
Podcasting, like all other forms of content creation, is all about consistency. Now, that doesn’t mean you have to do it weekly, but it does mean you should have a schedule and stick to it.
Your community should know when they’ll be hearing from you so that they come to not just expect it, but actually start anticipating hearing from you.
Planning for your podcast can be done monthly or quarterly. Having a regular schedule planned in advance will make it that much easier to ensure production goes smoothly.
Do: Have a plan that includes periodic breaks in the schedule. Podcasting and creating content 52 weeks a year is a massive undertaking so allow for some time off.
Don’t: Be so rigid that you’re unwilling to switch gears. Sometimes the topic you’ve planned isn’t the right time depending on what’s happening in the world, or something more timely may pop up. Be willing to be flexible.
#3. Do Your Research
If you’re going to be talking about things that aren’t directly within your scope of expertise, you need to make sure you aren’t just going off the cuff. It’s one thing for you to put your own spin on a topic or give a different perspective, but it’s completely another to be talking about things you don’t fully understand.
Do: Consider inviting a guest who’s more knowledgeable if you want to tackle a topic that’s outside your wheelhouse.
Don’t: Go so far down the rabbit hole in your research that you end up being convoluted, confusing, or contradictory. Stick to what you know!
Podcast Production Tips — The Nuts and Bolts
Since podcasting is a recorded medium, your audio quality matters. Before you run off and start trying to create an episode on your iPhone, you need to nail down the details of your recording process.
#4. Choose Your Recording Space
The last thing you want is to turn off possible listeners because the sound quality of your podcast is subpar. First things first, you’ll need to decide where you will record your episodes.
Background noise can be an absolute killer, so think about where you can go that will have minimal distractions in terms of noise levels. In general, the smaller the room the better the recording space it will make.
Do: Test out some different spaces for recording. Consider background noise, echoes, and anything else that can impact your audio quality.
Don’t: Assume everything can be fixed during editing. While a great editor can take care of a lot of issues, a poor-quality recording can only be tweaked so much.
#5. Invest in Some Decent Equipment
One of the best things about podcasting is that it doesn’t necessarily require a huge investment to get started. Having said that, if you’re only going to take one or two of these podcast production tips into account, buying good equipment should absolutely be on the list.
A quality microphone is a must for recording as it will improve the quality of sound. People are listening to hear what you have to say, so ensuring your words are crystal clear is paramount.
Do: Research quality starter microphones for your podcast. We often recommend the AT 2020 to people just getting started with podcasting.
Don’t: Spend money on the highest quality mic just because you want to feel fancy.
#6. Mind Your Body
When you’re recording, there are a few other things you’ll want to be aware of. First of all, reducing movement is important. Because you’re doing a live recording if you’re doing things like pacing around or moving things across your desk it WILL be picked up.
You’ll also need to think about how you modulate your breathing as you speak. Listeners don’t want to hear big sighs, heavy breathing or giant inhales.
Finally, don’t forget to hydrate! Since a podcast is all about you talking, your throat and vocal cords need to be well lubricated.
Do: Plan to do a few practice runs to figure out how to best mind your body and breathing while recording.
Don’t: Overthink things too much so you end up sounding like a robot! You want to sound natural.
Podcast Production Tips: Once Your Episode is Recorded
You’ve got your episode recorded — woohoo! Now we need to move into podcast production tips that will be important for getting that episode out into the world and heard by your existing and potential community members.
#7. Create Shownotes
If you want to capture a larger audience and broader your community, accessibility is critical. By offering show notes for your episodes you’re ensuring accessibility for everyone.
Additionally, show notes are a great way to distil down the key points of the discussion so that someone who doesn’t have time to listen can still get the essence of what was being discussed. And bonus, they can help your overall SEO strategy as well!
Do: Have show notes and/or transcripts readily available for every episode.
Don’t: Make your show notes and transcripts hard to find. They should be readily available through your website.
#8. Have Accompanying Graphics
Your podcast is going to need images for promotional purposes, and that starts with some great cover art.
If you plan on making your podcast available through major platforms like Apple or Spotify, you’ll want an eye-catching image that piques the interest of possible listeners.
Do: Create a visually compelling cover for your show that will stand out on podcast platforms. Then, be sure to have branded images for each episode.
Don’t: Overspend on design. You only need one or two images to promote each episode so your budget is better spent on ensuring quality podcast production.
#9. Have a Plan for Promotion
Recording a podcast weekly or biweekly isn’t really going to be worth your time unless people actually listen to it! If you’re going to create your podcast, you’ll want to have a plan for how to get it out into the world.
Whether it’s Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, or any other platform where your target audience congregates, you’ll want to have a social media presence where you can promote your content AND engage in conversation with listeners.
Do: Go to the social platforms where your community hangs out.
Don’t: Promote it once and never think about it again. Many podcast episodes are evergreen and can be promoted at various times throughout the year.
Getting the Help You Need
Now you’ve got a plan and want to hit the ground running. However, you may have realized that you need help to get things going.
#10. Hire Some Help
As you can see from the different podcast production tips we’ve already shared, creating a podcast isn’t a small undertaking. That’s why bringing in some external help can be exactly what you need to get your show off the ground, or keep it going week by week.
Think about your time — do you have time to plan the topics, create the key points, record the episode, edit it, create show notes and graphics and then publish and promote? In addition to all the other things you’re already doing?
The beauty of hiring external help is that you get people who know exactly how to produce your show once you’ve recorded each episode.
Having help with podcast production lets you do the fun part (be the talent!) and then hand it off to a team that makes all the magic happen.
For those of you who want to be a bit more hands-on, most podcast production services offer different packages so you can be involved to varying degrees depending on which parts you’d like to handle yourself.
Do: Consider how much of your own time you can really invest in podcast production.
Don’t: Assume that services that handle all the moving parts for you are out of your budget.
Ready to Start Podcasting?
As you look through all the podcast production tips we’ve shared, you might be feeling a bit overwhelmed. But have no fear, you CAN get help! As most successful and seasoned podcasters will tell you, regularly producing a podcast is usually a team effort.
By having a realistic idea of what needs to happen and how you can leverage these podcast production tips, you can decide what the best path from recording to going to live is for you.
Are you looking for support with your podcast production?
Our team can help!
Whether you’re new to podcasting and looking for support or a seasoned veteran ready to hand over the reins, we’ve got a variety of podcast production packages to meet your needs.
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