The Power of the Podcast: Part 4 “No Partridge Please!”

In a few short weeks I felt like telling everyone all there was to know about Podcasts and how to do one. Going from have no idea about Podcasting to feeling like pro had been frantic but here we were. The hardware had arrived undamaged, the hosting site was paid for and ready and some content was ready to be editing and uploaded.

Yet, there is a crucial step I have neglected to mention so far. Yes, it might be easy to gather all this equipment together and yes it is easy to host it somewhere. But who will take the Podcast? My research in Part 2 had shown that while, Spotify was making headway, iTunes had the biggest audience and the biggest reach. I decided to aim big.

Before I had the logistics of hardware and software in place, it was clear that iTunes does not allow a user to simply click a giant button that says “Upload Podcast”.

From the screenshot (below) you can see that iTunes had an extensive list of requirements before a Podcast is accepted.

An RSS link contains constantly updated information such as Podcast title, episodes uploaded and the correct logo. See? Some knowledge has stuck.

I mentioned that we had decided on the format of the content and how the Podcasts would be conducted. Having this information proved useful as it determined where it would be “indexed” on iTunes. We even had some audio content already which I could upload with some of my dialogue as the first Podcast episode.

Fast-forward to the equipment turning up, I could get to grips with the recorder, edit audio clips and add my own voiceover to introduction and conclude the Podcast. As a beginner with this type of job it was my goal to eventually sound just as charismatic and energetic as Greg James, or even Chris Evans – and not Alan Partridge. Aha!

Setting up a Podcast suddenly became so simple:

• Step one: Record and edit podcast
• Step two: Upload recording to a hosting site such as SoundCloud
• Step three: Copy RSS link to music platform such as iTunes.

While I had most of the physical equipment and the logistical software in place, I still needed some form of editing software. Exactly what kind of editing I’d be doing I had yet to discover. All I knew was I needed something.

Back I went to trusty Google to seek out the editing software I would require.

Some quick detective work pointed to an open-source app called Audacity which was “easy to use” and free. The rating from the online audio aficionados couldn’t be higher.

Previous: Part 3 – “The Setup”                             Next: Part 5 – “What’s next for Podcasting?”