You have a show. You want to interview. You have guests locked down – and you need something to record what you do. There are a few options available – and not all platforms are created equal. However, these are the ones people who record interviews use to capture the audio necessary for their episodes.
Here are the most oft-used recording capture platforms offered for podcasters and interviewers:
Skype
This one is an introductory recording capture platform. The biggest positive for Skype is that it’s free to use. Plus, you can do video chats as well as audio. The biggest negatives are that you must have a third-party call recording platform (like Pamela or Amolto) and your sound quality will make your interview sound like a phone call.
Zencastr
You can use this platform for free – with limited recording time per month and up to two guests. If you would like, they also offer unlimited recording time and guests. The positive with this product is that it separates your track from the guest(s) tracks (to provide a more layered sound) – which makes for great sound quality. The negative is that many users have complained of inexplicable glitches resulting in whole interviews being eradicated. Many interviewers, though, love this audio-only product.
Ringr
Here is one of the most innovative audio-only tools in recording. One of the biggest positives is that you can record your interview over the phone from anywhere and it gives you pretty good sound quality. It also splits your track from your guest’s recording to, once again, provide the layered, balanced sound. The negative is that Ringr, at times, can sound as though you are speaking though a pipe. As good as the quality can be, the overall sound quality is not totally top-notch. Most who use the product, though, love it. You have to subscribe in order to use it.
Google Hangouts
Here is another free tool, and it is versatile. You can capture audio-only or via video. Just like Skype, you would need a call recording third-party capture (like Movavi, as an example). The sound quality from those who don’t use microphones sounds great – provided you use a headset that has a mic attached to it. It is a surprisingly sound recording capture to have.
UberConference
You have free options, and paid options. You can also choose a phone option or a computer option. If you are doing panels, this is your platform.
You can invite up to 10 people (unlimited time) for free. If you, and your guest, record from the computer mic setting – your sound quality will be absolutely excellent. Here are your negatives: Phone recordings sound the same as the quality doesn’t improve, and there are international fees if ‘phone’ is selected for mic choice So – encourage your guest to select ‘computer’ for mic choice (that option is free everywhere). It also comes in mono mp3 – so no track splitting.
Zoom
For track splitting, sound quality and video conferencing, this is the tool for you. You can layer tracks as it splits from you and your guest(s).
Plus, the sound quality is wonderful. The negative is that you were to record a panel, you can. However you have a 40-minute limit. Otherwise, you have to subscribe for the service. Phone charges do apply if you select to talk via phone as well (like UberConference). This service is worth your time to use – especially if you want to video conference your guest.
With all of these platforms: Make sure you go into the ‘Settings’ tab for every one, see if they have mic settings, and adjust accordingly. With many of these places, you need to select your mic setting so you can get the truest, richest sound of your voice for the recording possible. After all – your interviews are nothing short of an audio business card. Sound your best with these tools at your disposal.
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No. This isn’t a stream of consciousness thought. These are the words and sounds which can slow down any audio recording and its momentum.
All of us have crutch words and phrases. We rely on them more than we realize in our everyday speech. It is a force of habit.
Being on the mic can be quite unnatural if you are not being yourself. This isn’t about throwing away who you are on the mic. It is about being your best self when the recording light is on.
And it’s not just words. Phrases, too, are problematic in audio recordings, as well – and then … there are the sounds. The following are culprits in derailing any type of progress during audio recordings:
Teeth sucking
Deep breaths
Hard swallowing
Smacking when opening your mouth
Clearing your throat
Surely audio producers can weed out these obstructions, right? Yes, they can. However, you make their jobs longer and more difficult when these noises are in the audio mix – and you want to sound like a polished professional. The thing is – You CAN sound like a polished professional. Being disciplined on the mic will help you – and your producer – get you there a lot faster.
Teeth sucking – Many people use this as an ‘attitudinal bit’ in speaking their piece. The problem is you are letting a sound carry the weight of your content’s potency and not your words.
Deep breaths – If you are skiled at doing this in conversation, you can frame a deep breath to give you some dramatic hook. Do it before you say something huge. Doing it in the middle of speaking can be problematic in ridding once you are min the middle of expressing something.
Hard swallowing – When anyone does this, it is a clear-cut sign that your mouth is watering up with saliva. When that happens, the normal tendency is to swallow the saliva so that your throat can get some type of lubrication. Drinking water will cure you of this tendency.
Smacking – It is a natural thing to open your mouth and have a sound come out of it while doing so. If you can recall your mother talking to you about smacking while eating your food. The same rule applies, here. Your mic is sensitive. Be mindful of that when you open your mouth.
Clearing your throat – Many of us have to deal with congestion. Outside of sickness (when it can’t be helped), water and green tea with honey are your greatest allies. Instead of the harsh clearing, drink something to free your throat. You will save on damaging your vocal chords.
As for the words that get in the way of a healthy conversational flow: A few ‘uh’ and ‘um’ sounds are fine. But you … uh … can’t go overboard … uum … in using these sounds, words and phrases … YouknowwhatI’msaying? This one simple technique can spell the difference between making an audio production sound beautiful … and one which sounds bogged down by unnecesary words …
Pause.
Yes. Pause. If the words aren’t coming out of your mouth, take a pause and allow the words to come into your head. The late Dr. Maya Angelou, one of the most eloquent human beings ever, used the gift of pause to collect her thoughts and make sure every word carries weight with it. Don’t rush the thought. Let it naturally come to you. Dead air is a bad thing – but it is much easier to eliminate pauses than it is a noise that doesn’t belong.
Prepare what you want to say. You don’t have to read a script. Have some sort of direction in mind – even if you are improvising your thoughts on the mic. Practice broadening your vocabulary, as well, so those ‘thinking words’ have no place in your whole conversation.
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When you create a podcast, you are not aware, or sure of, all the things you need to do in order to be prepared. Since it is an involving process, hopefully this checklist will make it less painful and stressful. Along with giving gifts to your favorite podcaster – here are the things you need to do in order to successfully launch your podcast:
Note: It will take a lot of work in order to get it all in place.
Community
Form one … or , at least, gather the interest to have one. You can put forth an audio medium, but without having it point to somewhere, it will be like the proverbial saying, “If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound?” Know that your podcast serves as the extension of the brand you are promoting – rather than be the ultimate vehicle for your product. Example: In mainstream media, newscasts are there to do more than just put out information to the public. It is there to help steer, and keep, ears and eyes to what they are doing – because, in the mend, it is about the advertisers. The bigger your community, the stronger your calls to action can be. Do not be afraid to create a Facebook Group geared toward your podcast/brand, and grow it from there.
Social Media Presence
Unless you have a big budget to buy a ton of ads on Google, Facebook and Twitter, word of mouth of your best route to go. You can only do that by creating brands-specific social media sites for your podcast. Create your addresses to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others, to reflect the name of your show. You will attract your crowd a lot easier more efficiently that way. Steer the look of your brand and be in total control of it … at all times. No matter what platform you are on, chances are other people will take what they see of yours and guide it in another direction. Your brand is supposed to speak to those pain points – whether it is an episode, a blog post, a product you are selling or a challenge you are making to your audience. The more you control the narrative, the less others will control it for you.
Hosting and Storage
With podcasts, the way you have others listen to what you have to say is through what they call an RSS feed (the central address to your podcast). You create said RSS feed via podcast companies (Libsyn, Podbean, PodOmatic, Blubrry, Spreaker/BlogTalkRadio and SoundCloud). You will have to invest money each month in order to have your podcast air from these places. Some of them (Podbean is one, I believe, Spreaker is another) where, from time-to-time, they offer a free month to try out their product. With others (PodOMatic), they offer a certain amount of space for free. Others, like Talkshoe and Podiant, are free all the time. It ultimately depends on what you need. Another option is to create a WordPress.org site, download the PowerPress plugin (which is powered by Blubrry), and create your own RSS feed. It gives you the ultimate freedom in showcasing your podcast. Speaking of showcasing …
Podcatching Locations and Directories
What you need, in order to spread your podcast around the world, is to place your product on as many podcatchers as you can. What are podcathers,, you ask? They are locations where you can take your RSS feed, place it into their format, and they will pull from your address and automatically update every single episode you load onto your original feed. The more places you put your podcast, the bigger your potential reach. iTunes/Apple Podcasts is the most well-known podcatcher. Others include: Google Play, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Tunein, Acast, MediaMonkey, AntennaPod, Amarok, Media Go, RadioPublic and Podcast Addict just to name a few. Start with Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Play – and grow from there. When you submit your RSS feed to these podcatchers, give them five business days for them to accept your show.
How Many Episodes?
One of the biggest points of debate is this question. Here is the appropriate answer to it: Your put forth as many episodes as you need to give yourself the proper introduction to your audience. If people hardly know you – quite honestly – one episode is perfect. If you have built up enough anticipation for your podcast, then at least three episodes will suffice. It has been seen a podcast has debuted with six episodes. The object, here, is to get as many people buzzed about what you are doing once you open yourself up to the masses. The most important episode is the one called ‘Episode 0’. That is the term given to a show that is not the normal episode. It is the purely plain and simple introduction to your audience as to who you are as a host, what the audience member should expect and your overall intention of your podcast.
Logo Creation
Earlier, it was mentioned about your show needing a logo. The dimensions for Apple Podcasts to accept have also been discussed. Know this one fact: Your audience loves visuals! So set out to make your avatar as eye-catching as you possibly can. However, don’t make it too busy or active – to where the name of your show gets swallowed whole by the image. Pick the color, the font, the picture (if you can) and blend it in the logo square the way you want. You can change them if you like. Just know that if you do, your show will, more than likely, have to undergo a validation hiatus courtesy of Apple Podcasts. Take the time to choose the look of your show before you settled on the one image that will forever brand it. You can create your logo with Canva.
What Type of Episodes?
Are you going to go episodic? Are you going seasonal? Are you continuously releasing episodes? Are you doing one a week? Two? Five? All of these questions you do have to answer before proceeding. Here is how you can determine what is what: If you are telling a story – then episodic releases are the way to go. You can determine the length of that, yourself. If you are doing something instructional, then you can air your show in seasons. You can go four months on – one month off. As long as you tell your audience your intention before they invest further into your product, you will be just fine. If you are doing interviews – or solo shows … chances are they will be never-ending. Also – consider how long each episode is going to be. Between 30 to 60 minutes is the normal time. Think of a commute to and from work. That is your parameter.
What Is Your Avatar’s Name?
Huh? What’s an Avatar? A name? Why? OK. This isn’t as complex as you may think. Al businesses do constructive marketing strategies. They take a product, examine and see who is going to be the best consumer for it – and gear their advertising toward that type of individual. Harlequin novels are targeting middle-aged women who have children. Grills are geared toward middle-aged men who love holidays, sporting events and food. Your podcast is the same thing. Think of your show – and what it discusses. Then, give your Avatar (or the one person you create) a name, age, occupation and daily habits (even daily spending habits if you have products your show advertises). Don’t speak to the many. Purposely speak to the one. Because once you hook your Avatar, you will find another one of your Avatars even faster and easier.
Production
If you have a business, and you want to put your best foot forward, your podcast is the greatest ‘best foot forward’ you can possibly have. Why? Because it is your voice, your beliefs, your products and your reputation all wrapped up in one (hopefully) nice-sounding package. Many look at the word ‘podcast’ and put forth shoddy audio because, “All I need to do is be heard.” Well – you will be heard, alright. You also will be judged. If the audience hears long pauses, horrible noise sounds your mouth makes, eating on the mic, saying too many ‘thinking words’ and sips of water or swallows? Chances are people will not take you serious. Eliminate that concern now. You can use Pro Tools, Sound Forge, Adobe Audition and Audacity to mix and record your show. You can do it yourself … but doing a quality broadcast take a large investment of your time. You are better served making your product the best it can be … and you would hire others to supply you with paper, pens, copier toner, coffee and other products, right? The same should go for the right audio sound quality.
With all of these tools at your disposal, you will not fail to launch. You will get the proper blast off to a show you, others, will enjoy. The one thing you must do is not get stuck in analysis paralysis. Plan properly – and then pull the trigger.
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You are all set to go. You slide the mic in front of you. You cut the greatest content with the words you expressed. Everything is great …
… except one thing when you listen to the audio: You sound too distant like you are far away from the mic. Or – you may sound like you’ve swallowed the mic whole because of being too close.
So what is the proper length of space between where the mic stands and your mouth? When I was talking with a fellow podcaster, one who has had a ton of experience in speaking on mics – along with his father being an on-air personality himself – he said, “Take your fist, and place it between the mic head and your mouth. That is the distance you should be in accordance with your mic when you speak.”
The distance from one side of a fist to another varies. However, it should be between 1 – 2″ (one to two inches) from the mic.
Why that distance? It captures many things the right way without the need of a ton of mixing:
all whispers can be easily heard without elevating the vocal in post-production
all screams can be picked up without having to purposely ease back and distort the mix
all normal speaking (as is the case with most podcasters) will have the power necessary
Plus – it saves on overusing your voice.
Now – you do have to set your mic at the right levels before speaking, and that is determined by you. The goal is to not sound like your vocal is stuck in the mud (too much bass) or speaking into a tin can (too much treble). You want your vocal (no matter your voice range) to be consistent throughout the recording. The name of the game is to combine having power with clarity in the final mix. How your raw vocal is recorded goes a very long way in determining how powerful and clear your vocal will ultimately sound.
You don’t want to be on top of the mic (unless you have mic voice training – that is for another time). Otherwise, you will be distorted no matter how good an engineer can mix down your vocal. You don’t want to stand too far away from the mic, either. You don’t want to compete with echo, distance and white noise.
Remember: You voice is the star, and you should protect it at all costs. Let the mic do all the heavy lifting and take care of making you sound good. All you need to do is sit/stand 1 – 2″ (one to two inches) away from the mic, and let everything else take care of itself.
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So you are listening to your favorite vocalist sing something. It sounds beautiful – to the point where you have to ask yourself, “How on earth does their voice sound so clear and strong? There seems to be no effort nor strain when they sing!”
Good! People should also say that about you when stepping behind the mic and speaking.
How does that happen? Well – singers sound the way they do, speakers can go on a lengthy amount of time, and on-air personalities can talk for hours on end without sounding hoarse … because they take care of their voice. It starts with treating your voice with the utmost care before the ‘record’ button is pressed.
A singer is instructed to not obstruct themselves so they can deliver the most powerful vocal … even if it is a whisper. The same premise applies in speaking. Don’t limit yourself when you are on the mic … even if it requires for you to whisper. Your voice is a powerful instrument.
Here are things not to ingest before (or during) your time behind the mic:
alcohol (it relaxes your throat too much and dehydrates your voice)
dairy products (it produces mucus – which is a throat irritant)
soda/soft drinks (dries your voice – especially with the acidic properties it holds)
coffee/other caffeine (except green tea and honey — even though it is hot, caffeine dries your vocal chords just like alcohol)
anything cold (this contracts your voice, and that forces your throat to be tense … and a tense voice is not a good one)
smoking (besides the health risk, it is an instant irritant to your voice … and incessant coughing is not a good quality to have behind the mic)
Here are things you ingest before (or during) your time behind the mic:
water (room temperature water is the best for your vocals)
green tea and honey (you are drinking something warm and soothing at the same time – plus green tea is more herbal and more on the decaffeinated side)
apple cider vinegar (for when you are sick, drink this … and add a little honey to it so you have the vinegar killing off lingering bacteria in the cold while soothing your throat and vocal chords to power through once on the mic)
raw honey (straight from the bottle – it keeps the coughs at bay and gives you more power with your chords as it gives your voice added lubrication)
Also …
Limit the harsh clearing of your throat. If you do this often enough, you will permanently damage the vocal chords. Slip in a menthol cough drop or lightly cough to clear your throat. That limits irritation to your voice.
Cold water is good to drink – just not before you are recording. Even cold water contracts your voice – which was covered earlier.
Your voice is the vehicle which will drive your audio medium more than anything else. Taking care of it – will ultimately take care of you in return.
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You have a mic standing in front of you – and you have something to say. It gets put out there in front of the world. Some praise you for the good things you’ve said. Some may even clamor for more opinions out of your mouth.
Then … you get the shade – a.k.a. the hate. It could be because you breathed wrong on the episode. It could be because your voice grates on their nerves. It could be because of the opinion you may have of something that rubs people the wrong way.
Enjoy that!
Michael Smith of “ESPN SportsCenter The Six” talked about how one of his previous shows, “Numbers Never Lie.” It was nice, but it didn’t really catch on. So, after the production of his latest episode finished, Smith asked one of the producers his thoughts …
“So … what did you think of the show?”
“It was alright.”
“Alright? What do you mean?”
“It was a good show – but honestly, nothing hooks me onto watching it. I don’t love your show nor hate it.”
“So … if you don’t love the show nor hate it – what’s the problem?”
“The problem is that you need people to love what you say – and, at the same time, individuals who ‘hate watch’ your show.”
The overarching message here? Get people passionately invested in your show!
Don’t be vanilla about topics. If you know a subject matter is going to anger individuals, then you are on the right track. You just have to put it in such an entertaining fashion that they will come back and listen to more.
So – to those who hate your show … or even you … embrace it. As long as you are receiving the love, too, you have hit a nerve. Let your show spark conversation. Let your show challenge norms. Let your show explore why things shouldn’t be a certain way. Have the freedom necessary to say, “This is my show … and no one dictates the direction of it – but ME!”
Think of the many celebrities you can’t stand. Think about the many millions of people who comment on them. There is a phenomenon, here. People talk about gaining those devotees who love your show. Naturally invite those who do not like your show, as well. Why? Because they, too, will probably share your show to others as examples, to them, of what not to think/say/feel/emote.
Whether your audience 100% agrees with you – or 100% disagrees with you – one thing remains clear: You can press ‘record’ and speak your mind. You can hear certain things you want to place on each episode and spice it up. You can have certain sound effects placed on your audio. You can even have your show mixed a certain way. If you have a high-pitched voice, you need more bass in it. If you have a deep tone to your voice, a little treble will give it some lightness. If you want your show to have an AM feel, don’t place a noise reduction effect on it. If you want your show to have an FM feel, use noise reduction. However it is you go about your show … it – is – yours!
You influence it.
You shape it.
You define it.
You guide it.
You voice it.
You OWN it!
Now … show the world who you are and what you can do with the power of your voice!
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Skype
Zencastr
Ringr
Google Hangouts
UberConference
Zoom
