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How to Start a Podcast for Beginners in 2021 (Equipment Setup, Software & Where to Host) - read the full article about video creation tips 2021, Video production and In motion from Think Media on Qualified.One
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Starting a podcast can be so overwhelming.
What gear do you choose? How do you edit it? And how do you distribute it to the world? We just started a brand new podcast here at Think Media.
And I wanna break down three easy steps for you getting your podcast started this year.
Were gonna be breaking down the gear, the editing, and the distribution so that your podcasts can get out to the world.
- [Narrator] You got to just press record.
- Hey, whats up, its Heather Torres here with Think Media where we help you build your influence with online video, and on this channel, we do YouTube tips, video tutorials, as well as podcast videos just like this.
So if youre new here, consider subscribing.
We love podcasting here at Think Media, its such a great way for you to go deeper with your audience, create longer form content, and be able to grow your influence online.
And were gonna walk through a beginner setup so that you can actually start podcasting today.
You dont need a lot of things to get started.
Im gonna walk you through these three steps.
Ill be talking about a lot of different gears, so Ill link everything down below.
So if you wanna go and check out that piece of gear or the videos that we referenced, everything will be linked down in the description box below.
Number one is the gear.
Getting started with your podcast is all about the audio.
Were gonna be talking strictly about the audio type of podcasting.
So the first piece of gear that you need is probably something you already have.
You can actually use the on-board microphone from your iPhone, or you could use the headphones that come with the microphone to record a podcast.
Now, I dont recommend doing this outside or in an echoey room, you can actually take your phone into a closet and record a quality podcasts.
So, you can get started today with what you have.
But Im gonna cover two other microphones that I think are great if youre just a beginner.
My next two options if you have a few dollars that you wanna invest into your podcast setup would be the lavalier mic, the Deity lavalier, and this USB microphone.
Now, what I like about both of these options is that you can actually plug them both into your smartphone or your computer.
So depending on where youre actually recording your podcast or how you want to actually collect the audio, you have these two different options.
Now the lavalier microphone can connect right to your shirt, and you can record either into your smartphone or the computer, but I actually liked this USB microphone.
And I like it because it actually has a richer sound, more like a radio show.
Theyre easy, compact, and you can take them with you wherever you go.
Now heres the thing, you can get started with your podcasts with just an audio file.
So while I think these microphones are great, all you need is to just start recording.
I do think that its great when you have different pieces of gear that can level up the podcast, but really what you need to do is just get started.
Now, if you want to be interviewing guests or you wanna have more of a pro set up, Im actually gonna link a video below where Omar from the Think Media team did a video about how to record two people at the same time.
It levels you up from these two options, but if its something you wanna do, I highly recommend that you check out that video.
So step number one was gear and step number two is recording and editing.
Really podcasting is not hard but its just making a few simple decisions at the beginning so that you can have success with your podcasts as you start to grow.
Now, we need to get into the recording and the editing.
You need to decide, are you recording onto your smartphone, or are you recording into your computer? If youre using your smartphone, I recommend downloading a free app called Ferrite.
This app will help you to just record directly into it.
And youll have an audio file that you can then use to upload later on.
If you are using your computer, like I am right now, you wanna make sure that you select the right input.
Computers dont normally select the microphone that you want to automatically.
So you wanna make sure you go into your settings and select the microphone that you have plugged in.
Second, once youve selected the right microphone, you want to actually do an audio test.
Make sure that youre not peaking, which means that your audio is too loud, or that its too low.
That will mess up your editing in post production.
So you wanna make sure that you do a few different audio tests.
Just say anything into the microphone, testing, testing, testing.
But I recommend that you actually talk like youre going to talk into the microphone.
One mistake that we see people make is theyll talk at like a normal level.
So if I were to talk at a normal level, it would be like this.
Like if we were having a conversation.
But if Im actually gonna put some enthusiasm into my voice like I am right now, I project it further.
So you wanna make sure that you are talking into the microphone the way that youre going to be producing your podcast.
And now my friend, its time for you to press record.
Hopefully youve scripted out your podcast and you know what youre going to say.
By now we need to capture the audio file into an actual piece of software.
Theres one that I recommend if youre using PC only, which is Audacity.
This is a super simple user free software that all you need to do is just press record and itll capture your audio file for you.
Now, if youre using a Mac, you have two different options.
You can use GarageBand, which is another free software that comes with your Mac, or you can actually use Audacity on that as well.
So either one of those are great, simple, and easy software for you to get started with your podcast.
What I love about this software also is that not only can you record into them, but you can also do your editing inside of them as well.
Now, as a creator, its up to you if you want to do one take all the way through and keep things like ums and mistakes, or you can do like I do and cut out some dead space and some mishaps when I am talking through a podcast.
So both of those pieces of software are great for doing that.
You just wanna make sure that when you export, or youre done with your project, that you export it as an MP3 file.
Youre gonna wanna save it to your desktop, because then were gonna jump into number three, which is the hosting and distribution of your podcasts.
Now hosting just basically means where does your podcast live? Where do you upload it to the internet so that it can then go out to the world? We love to use Buzzsprout and weve worked with them for this video because its such a simple and easy software.
We love Buzzsprout because its so easy to create and publish your podcasts to every major podcasting platform including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and so much more.
It also gives you analytics across those different platforms.
So you can make better podcasts episodes for your listener.
So now that you have your MP3 file, the next thing is to actually upload it to the software.
So when you do that youre gonna wanna put in your title and description, and give Buzzsprout and the world as much information as you can about what your episode is about.
Next is gonna require your podcast setting.
So what does your artwork look like? And your name of your podcast.
Youll wanna make sure you have these things dialed in before you get started.
So have those in a separate file, ready to be uploaded.
And then third is the directories.
Where do you want your podcast to go? To iTunes, to Spotify, to Google Podcasts? Youll have to select those so you know where you want your podcast to go when you upload that first episode.
And thats all you need.
You just need the gear, you need to record it, and edit your podcasts and then distribute it to the world.
And heres the thing, you just have to get started.
Dont too much about whats the artwork look like? Or did that sound good? This is the first of many podcast episodes that youre going to record.
And I just want to encourage you to just lets get started.
You know, podcasting is taking off and it really does help you build that relationship with your audience.
I love the version of audio podcasting only because it just allows you to not have to set up the video camera and get pretty to do your podcasts, but you can just start rolling boarding today.
But if youre like Heather, Im ready to do a video podcast and distribute it to more places, put it on YouTube, and have clips for social media.
Well, then you definitely want to check out our podcasting playlist that Omar did here at Think Media.
This video podcasting playlist is the exact blueprint that we used here at Think Media to grow our podcasting to one of the fastest growing marketing podcasts in the world today.
So make sure you check out that playlist if you wanna go deeper on video podcasting.
Thanks so much for watching, and well catch it in the next video.
Think Media: How to Start a Podcast for Beginners in 2021 (Equipment Setup, Software & Where to Host) - Video production