5 Steps for the Perfect Podcast

Whether you want to talk about technology, sports, nutrition, music, or more, podcasts are a great way of sharing your passion with like-minded individuals. However, a few fundamentals need to be taken care of to ensure that your podcast keeps your audience hooked and reaches as many of them as possible.

So, in this blog post, we will tell you how to get started with a podcast, how to improve your podcasting style, and how to reach your prospective audience.

1. Choose a topic that sells

Learn about yourself and your podcasting objectives first. What goals do you have for your podcast? Are you attempting to entertain, teach and educate, create a community of like-minded individuals, motivate people to take action, or do something else?

Once your objective has been established, stick with subjects you are knowledgeable and enthusiastic about. Consider producing a successful podcast as a marathon rather than a sprint because garnering a sizable listenership can take some time.

Lastly, understand who your target market is. Remember, the most effective podcasters first understand their potential listeners’ tastes, similar to how companies conduct market research to understand the most recent trends and consumer interests.

Lastly, when you have all the information with you, finalize topics that have a salability quotient. For example, a good topic for a paranormal podcast episode can be - ‘I Went To Hell! What I Saw Will Scare You To Your Core!’

2. Use the best equipment

The first bit of essential equipment that you will need for a successful podcast recording is a microphone. It will be the source of the sound in your podcast, second only to your actual voice.

If you want listeners to enjoy listening to your podcast for hours on a loop, make sure that the audio quality is considered carefully. If the recording sounds uncomfortably “sharp” and contains disturbing background noise, interference, or even whooshes, it is possible that your podcast episode won’t get traction, even if your content is interesting.

In the market, you will find two different types of microphones - Condenser microphones and Dynamic (moving-coil) microphones.

Condenser microphones achieve very high resolution, make subtle nuances audible, and are very sensitive, which is why room reverb and other types of noise are transmitted. Conversely, dynamic (moving-coil) microphones are less sensitive, sound a little warmer, and require a little less discipline when used.

In some cases, you can even use your smartphone, laptop, or other microphones that are already built into devices. However, with these options, you will often forfeit the ability to adjust the sensitivity or configure other settings. The quality will also fall short of a separate microphone with a pre-amplifier and/or audio interface.

Headset microphones, as found on gaming headsets, can represent a mid-way compromise. However, they are often designed only to focus on voices and so you might find that there is a distinct lack of bass.

If purchasing a wide range of different equipment, such as a mixing console or audio interface, is out of the question, you could also opt for a USB studio microphone such as the beyerdynamic FOX - Boasting a USB port, a headphone output, and a monitoring function, this microphone has just about everything that a mixing console has to offer.

The right headphones are also of course essential. Closed-back headphones, such as the beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO or DT 240 PRO or are highly recommended for podcasts. These headphones boast extremely detailed resolution and very transparent sound. Also, if you wish to monitor your own speech signal, the closed-back headphone system prevents any crosstalk in the microphone.

3. Spend enough time in post-production

Programs like DAW (digital audio workstation) allow you to record, cut, post-produce, and mix audio signals from your microphone. So, after recording an audio track, listen to the whole thing again and optimize the sound with an EQ. Once you are happy with it, you should process the signal with a compressor to achieve a uniform volume. Export the file once you are done with both steps.

Other recording options, in particular, if you want to bring in guests online, include recording programs that record a Skype conference, otherwise, you can connect with your guests directly in a “recording session”.

One such program that has been specially designed for this application is Zencastr. This online application enables you to make recordings, insert sounds and directly download the individual files as soon as you are done. You can even mix everything directly in the cloud.

4. Pick the right platform to publish

The extent of media design work will depend on which publishing platform you choose for your podcast. For example, if you want to appear on YouTube, it is mandatory to design at least a cover for each individual episode and film the entire podcast.

On the whole, it is not a bad idea to appear on several platforms, because your presence on multiple platforms will extend and broaden your reach. Also, it will demonstrate your general sense of availability.

This is all achieved behind the scenes via an RSS feed, a file that you create for websites and which is displayed for users in the form of notifications. However, on the face of it, there is no getting away from the fact that you will have to do some web design, create Facebook and Instagram accounts and update data in Spotify or iTunes.

5. Promote on social media

There are over 500,000 podcasts on iTunes. So, there is a high chance that someone already runs a successful podcast in your niche. However, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t work on your podcast.

One way of excelling in this field and making your podcast famous is - Good social media promotion.

Your podcast should have at least one or two social media channels in order to reach a good number of listeners. Also, it is important to constantly update the channels with the latest episodes and information.

You don't need to spend a lot of money to record and publish a professional podcast. Given the surge in interest in audio material on a worldwide scale, a lot of good quality audio software and hardware is available at affordable prices.

beyerdynamic offers a wide range of audio devices, providing studio-quality sound with the best German audio technology.