A Beginner’s Practical Guide to Starting a Podcast (Full Transcript)

[00:00:02] Speaker 1: It's time. It's time for you to finally start that podcast you've been meaning to for so long. And if you have no idea where to start, don't worry, you came to the right place. Because by the end of this video, I'm going to teach you everything you need to know to start your very own podcast. It's Ramdy, by the way. Hi. I don't know if you could tell. Okay, let's let's go back to the normal setup. And while we're here, it's time for a little bit of a reality check. I know. I know. I hate them just as much as you do. I'll make it quick. See, if you're starting a podcast because you want to go viral or get a ton of sponsors and get rich, I want to gently reset that expectation for you right now, because there's about a million gazillion frintillion podcasts out there. So there's no guarantee that yours is going to break through the noise, even if it's genuinely Emmy worthy. And as a rough rule of thumb, you can expect about five hours of total work for every one hour of a completed podcast. And I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer. All right. I am here to help you get to your ultimate goals at the end of the day. But it is really important that that reality is something that you understand and accept before moving on. But OK, now that you've accepted that not so fun reality check, it's time for the actual fun stuff. Starting with the first step of making a podcast, choosing your topic. Now, hopefully, if you're here, you already have somewhat of an idea of what kind of podcast you want to make. But if you don't, you have to choose two things, your topic and your angle. Now, your topic is a broad overview of what your podcast is going to be about. You know, true crime, comedy, sports, mental health, etc. I think that's the first time I've ever said etc out loud. Just make sure that whatever it is, it's not overly specific. You want your topic to be broad enough that it can sustain a lot of episodes without running dry. So pick something with some real longevity to it. And your angle is where we start to bring some of that specificity in. It's your specific perspective or tone or audience you're looking to hit. For example, instead of making a podcast about the entire NBA, maybe you want to make a podcast about your local team in the NBA and you follow them throughout the season and react to their trades and offseason moves. And to be clear, it's not like one idea is inherently better than the other. It's just about knowing what you specifically want to make. And a quick way to test whether your topic and angle actually have the legs for a podcast is to come up with 10 episode ideas right now, right off the bat. If you can rattle 10 off without much thought, that's a good sign that you have something there. But if you find yourself getting stuck or feeling like coming up with those 10 ideas was really hard, that's probably a sign you should go back to the drawing board. But it also really helps if your topic has a built-in source of new material to draw from. For example, a movie podcast where you can continually talk about new releases coming out and you don't have to worry about running out of ideas. And okay, now that you've got your topic and angle picked, it's time to think more about the specific audience you're trying to hit. For example, are you talking to total beginners or people who are already deep in the world of your topic? Which tone would fit better for them? You know, funny, casual, a bit more serious? And is there even much of a demand for the show with your audience? Are there existing communities online like Facebook groups or subreddits where you could eventually share your show? None of these questions should lock you into some sort of rigid formula, but think of them more as like a compass that can guide you on the decisions you make. Now it's time to pick your podcast format. And I would say there's three main options. First is the solo podcast, just you. Now in terms of scheduling, this is always going to be the easiest option because you don't have to worry about coordinating calendars or relying on anyone else. But the con of a solo podcast is that you are not relying on anyone else. Having to carry an entire podcast episode all by yourself can be really intimidating. So just make sure that if you do choose to go the solo route, you have a really tight outline to follow as you're recording. Next is the co-host format, which is you with at least one other consistent person. And as you probably know, this is a pretty popular route to go because it gives you a natural back and forth and allows more opportunity for riffing and inside jokes. Plus, it's a little easier to listen to than one person's voice for an entire hour. Just make sure that you keep your group small here. I would say that two to three other co-hosts is about the max you'd want to go. Not just to make sure everyone has a chance to speak without it feeling cluttered, but also because scheduling gets that much harder with each additional person you add. And finally, you have the interview format, which is you, an optional co-host, and a different guest every episode. And this is also a very popular route to go because your guest brings their own stories, expertise, and maybe most importantly, their own audience. The big trade off with this format is it is by far the hardest out of the three to execute because now you have to deal with booking and accommodating guests and prepping questions, occasionally last minute cancellations. So if you do choose to go this route, the name of the game is coordination. You have to make sure you have a detailed calendar of who you're booking well in advance, as well as a strong outline of the types of questions you want to ask or how you want the conversation to flow. And this isn't necessarily about scripting the conversation, but just making sure it goes as smoothly as possible. Now there are other podcasting formats too, like narrative or even scripted fiction, but whichever format you pick, try to make it your own. A small twist or signature bit is what can really separate your show from every other one in the format. From there, you want to decide your episode length and posting frequency. Most episodes run 30 to 60 minutes, but there's no universally right number. Some of the biggest shows run 2 to 3 hours. And for posting frequency, weekly episodes is kind of the norm for podcasts, but something like bi-weekly works too. More than anything, it's about picking something that you can actually maintain long-term. And alright, now it's time to talk first impressions. What are people going to see when they first find your podcast? First let's start with your podcast name. Now there's no perfect method for picking a podcast name since it heavily relies on what it's about and who's hosting. So just make sure that whatever you pick is short, easy to say, and unique to you. And also make sure it's not already taken. With the amount of podcasts out there, that's definitely easier said than done, but always do a quick search when coming up with a name just to make sure that you're not going to be competing with an already well-established podcast. Next is our show description, and this is where you tell people what the podcast is actually about. You want to keep it to about three sentences max. And whatever you write in that space, you want to make sure that the tone, the format, and exactly who it's for comes through clearly. You don't need to spend a ton of brain power here. Just get to the point fast, let some personality show, and make it obvious who the show's for. And now we have the big boy, our cover art. And this is actually kind of important because data shows that new listeners are significantly more likely to click on a show if they like the cover art. So here's some rules of thumb. First, make sure that your show's name is actually legible on the art itself. Second, make sure that your design also works at a very small size. Since most of the time, people are going to be seeing this as a tiny little thumbnail on your phone instead of full size on your show page. So whatever design you come up with, make sure to shrink it down and see if it still reads relatively clearly. Third, don't overload it. Keep the design relatively simple. You don't need a million fonts and graphics fighting for attention here. The cleaner it is, the faster someone can understand it. But fourth, make sure that it's still interesting, because simple does not have to mean boring. Now, having good cover art for your show is definitely easier said than done, but don't worry, it's definitely not something that you need some super expensive professional designer for. Even just using something like Canva can get you a totally clean, professional-looking cover with little to no design experience. Just make sure you're using high-quality assets that don't look blurry, and also make sure you're using the right specs. Apple Podcasts recommends a cover size of 3,000 by 3,000 pixels, so make sure that you're building yours at that size. Next, let's talk gear. And this can be an intimidating subject for a lot of people because they think you have to spend a million dollars to get a nice setup. But you can get a genuinely good starter setup for anywhere between $100 and $200. So it's not cheap, but definitely doable. First off, let's start with the microphone. And this is where the majority of your budget should be going anyways, because we want the best possible mics for our money. Because listeners will almost forgive anything, but they will never forgive bad audio quality. It's the quickest way to lose them. For podcasting, you generally want a dynamic mic over a condenser mic. Dynamic mics are less sensitive, so they pick up less background noise, which is super important when you're not recording in a treated studio. So here are a couple options based on your budget. First, we have the Samson Q2U. It's the very definitional reliable. It has both USB and XLR outputs, so you can use a separate audio recorder with it, or just plug it directly into your computer and record from there. It's pretty plug and play, sounds good out of the box, and you can find them for $70-80. Around that same price, you can also find the Rode PodMic. But you're also going to need a mic stand or arm for this one, and it only has an XLR output, so you're going to need a separate audio recorder as well. So on average, you're going to be spending a little bit more with this one, but it's more fit for podcast setups, and it has that nice podcast-y look too. And finally, if for some reason you want to go all out or maybe upgrade in the future, you can get the Shure SM7B. A true industry standard mic, if you've watched any podcast at all, you're very familiar with this one. But you really don't need a mic this expensive to sound nice and professional, especially when starting out, so I personally would just skip this choice for now. Now if you're using a mic with no USB outputs, you need an audio recorder, something like this guy, along with a compatible SD card. And recorders like these usually take microSDs. Now these can get a little pricey, but ideally you want something with at least two XLR inputs and the ability to record in 32-bit float. Which if you have no idea what that is, that's fine. Basically, you know when you record too loud and your audio levels peak and they just sound really gross and distorted and you can't really fix that in post? Well with 32-bit float, you can actually fix all that peaking and distortion. You can bring down your levels in post and all that information is still retained. So it's not essential, but it's a really, really good nice-to-have that can save your butt on multiple occasions. And the last piece of the puzzle is headphones. And you really don't got to overthink this. Any pair of wired headphones will be fine. And you really only need to wear them if you're recording a remote podcast to avoid echo, or if you want to monitor your audio when you're recording. But they're totally optional. So if you want your ears nice and free the way nature intended, you can do that too. Okay, we've gotten this far. Time to actually make the dang thing. First, we need an outline. See, rambling is one of the most common mistakes that new podcasters make. And even a bare-bones list of bullet points can really improve how an episode flows. And a good method for making an outline is to actually start backwards. For example, what's one takeaway that you want your listeners to walk away with? Once you know that, just brain dump everything in your head that supports it. Then arrange and refine that list into any sequence that you think makes sense. Next, let's talk about sound treatment. Now, you probably don't have money for super expensive acoustic panels or a studio rental. But there are a couple things we can do to make sure that our room is as ideal as possible. Picking a smaller, quiet room with a lot of soft surfaces like couches, carpets, curtains, other things that are soft, will sound noticeably better than a big, bare room with hard, flat walls. Well, I guess all walls are flat, if you get what I mean. Since that sort of environment will just create a ton of echo. But if you are recording a solo podcast, then even recording in a closet is probably going to be a better option than just a big, empty, echoey room. Now, before doing your actual, official podcast recording, always make sure to do a test run beforehand. Say a couple sentences in your normal speaking volume, and make sure that you're speaking into your mic, and it's two to four inches from your mouth. Then, play that recording back, and just make sure that your audio levels sound right, and everything's just good to go. This is a non-negotiable, alright? Especially if you're starting out, or if you have a guest with you. Because it only takes 30 seconds, and there is nothing worse than finishing an hour and a half long recording, and then playing it back and realizing there's this small, weird little noise that's been going on the entire time, and now that whole recording is useless. Trust me, do this in advance, you are going to thank me. Now, for editing your podcast, that's actually it's own full beast that we're not really gonna get into much here, but luckily for you, there's actually already a full hour long video of me editing my own podcast episode entirely into script. I go over recording a podcast into script, using text-based editing to easily chop down my raw recordings, multitrack sequences, layouts, clips, all that fun stuff. So, if you want to see me edit for an hour, check it out in the description below. Now, here's the part that confuses beginners probably more than anything in this video, is the difference between a podcast host, and a podcast directory. Directories like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, places where your audience actually listens, they don't store your audio files. They stream your show from wherever it's actually hosted, and your hosting platform is where your episode files actually live. When you upload it there, it generates something called an RSS feed, think of it like your show's permanent address on the internet. You submit that one feed link to every directory you want to appear on, and from that point forward, new episodes will appear everywhere automatically, instead of you having to manually upload them to all the different directories. A hosting platform like Buzzsprout is probably the most recommended starting point, since it's simple and easy to understand, and has a generous free plan to start. But Spotify for Creators is another great option, and it's completely free, although it's more built for Spotify's ecosystem specifically. But there are a ton of other options too, so it's really just about what you need, and what fits your budget. And if you're editing your podcasts into script, you can even export straight into some of these hosting platforms. So you can go from a finished edit, straight to a live episode, without bouncing between separate tools. But alright, now that we got our podcast nice and ready to go live, how do we get as much people as possible to actually tune in? Well before you even publish episode 1, you should decide how you want to launch. And there are a couple main strategies here. One, is you can go for the grand launch, where you build up as much hype as possible a few weeks before launch through social media, and try to just get as many eyes and ears on the launch as possible. Or you can do a soft launch, you know, where you release quietly, and don't really focus much on promo, and let yourself get more comfortable, and iron out the kinks first. Then you can start focusing on promotion when you start feeling more comfortable in the show. And again, neither is really wrong, it's just about picking what matches your personality and how ready you feel. And once you're chugging along making more and more episodes, the most effective way to get more eyes, or ears, I guess, on your podcast is to cut your full length episodes into short clips for social media. And post them everywhere, spread them like wildfire, I'm talking reels, I'm talking YouTube shorts, I'm talking TikTok, anywhere where your audience spends any time. This is so important not only for that extra visibility, but because not a lot of people are going to commit to an hour-long episode of a podcast they've never heard of. But almost everybody will watch a 30-second clip that shows up in their feed. And if that clip is genuinely interesting or funny enough, that can be what pulls a total stranger into watching the entire episode. A good episode can produce anywhere from 5 to even 10 clips. So even just a one-hour podcast can fuel weeks of these clips coming out. And with Descript, you don't even have to manually comb through your podcast for these clips. Because we have tools that'll find and reformat those clip-worthy moments for you automatically. And okay, I think that's about it. I've literally taught you any and everything there is to know about podcasting, and about two months from now, you're set to be the biggest podcaster in the world. Okay, obviously, I'm kidding. But if there's one thing I want you to walk away with, it's this. None of the info in this video or anywhere else actually matters if you don't commit to pushing out that first episode. So don't focus on having the perfect setup, or cover art, or guest. Just record something and put it out. Because trust me, you will learn everything you need to as you go. And I will be here watching and listening through it all. That sounded a lot creepier than I intended. I don't know what that was. But all right, that's it for me, guys. You go off and you make that episode one. You do it. And I'll see you in the next one. Bye.