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The Communicator 05.17.2018
Arts
Editor: Madison Pearson sfcc.madison.pearson@gmail.com
Madison Pearson | The Communicator The audio booth inside of The Communicator newsroom where the student produced podcast, Campus in Brief is made.
How to: podcast
How to get started in the world of podcasting Madison Pearson
The Communicator
If you’ve paid any attention to recent media, you’ll know that podcasting is all the rage. Podcasts are making up for the lack of diversity in radio broadcasts. According to a study conducted by podcastinginsights.com, as of 2018 44 percent of Americans have listened to a podcast. If you want to jump on the bandwagon, here’s a guide on how to become the next great podcaster. 1. Start with an idea. What would you want to hear in a podcast? Use an idea that allows for growth but, don’t go too general. Try mapping out your first episode in writing and see where you can go from there. 2. Of course a microphone is necessary for getting your start in podcasting. Getting a microphone may seem like a daunting task
at first when you see how many are available to you but, your microphone doesn’t have to be anything special. No need to break the bank on a $300 microphone when there are plenty of other options. Have an old Rock Band microphone laying around? Perfect! Hook it up to your laptop and get recording. Have some money set aside? A great beginning microphone is the Blue Snowball iCE USB mic. It plugs right into your computer and gets you started for just $50. If you’re looking to start off with the best equipment right away, a Blue Yeti USB microphone will set you back almost $250 but, the sound quality will be much more impressive. 3. Once you’ve got your idea and your first episode recorded using your microphone, you’re ready to put the whole thing together. Editing softwares seem complex but, you’ll only need to know some pretty basic skills like trimming clips and altering sound quality in order to make a great sounding podcast. If you happen to have a Macbook, you’re in luck. All Macbooks come with a simple editing software called Garageband. If you’re a PC user, there are plenty of programs available for download off of the internet. Audacity is a free program with simple controls that can help you take your podcast to the next level. Youtube is full of step-by-step tutorials on how to use these programs efficiently. www.communicatoronline.org
4. Congrats! You’ve produced your first podcast! Listen to it a few times to make sure that everything sounds good and then you’re ready to post your creation for the world to hear. There are 3 main platforms that podcasters use to broadcast their work: iTunes, Spotify, and Soundcloud. Soundcloud is a good place to start. Make an account, click upload, and you’re essentially finished. Once you have a few episodes out and gain a little bit of an audience, you can upload your podcast to iTunes or Spotify using the RSS feed link, a URL that contains all of the download information for your podcast. They’ll review it and upload it for you. 5. The last step in making a successful podcast is getting involved in the community. Twitter has an ever growing community of podcasters that discuss future topics and innovations in the industry constantly. This past December, there was even a podcasting convention called PodCon that was held in Seattle where creators discussed those very topics. Getting to know your audience and adapting to their needs is the most essential part of podcasting. Now that you have the tools, go out and create something worth listening to, and take over the podcasting world.