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Many books and on-line guides have been written about how to podcast, and you can learn a lot by starting with these resources:

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Podcast 411 Links to Resources Podcast 411 Forums … and yes, there are others websites! These two are good launching points for your own discovery. If you like the feel of paper, the turn of the page, and the portability of a book, you might try one of these:

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After that, many people are interested in learning how I put together the Podcheck show. The following is a summary of the process and the tools that I use to put together the Podcheck Review podcast.

The Ingredients:

On the client-side, I use the following stuff:

Audio-Technica AT3035 Cardioid Condenser Microphone

Behringer Eurorack UB802 Mixer

Behringer MDX2600 Composer Pro-XL Compressor

Goldwave 5.0 (though you might want to try Sound Forge Audio Studio)

Sony ACID Music Studio 5

LAME mp3 encoder

Some music beds that I made (podsafe!)

Lot’s of time (8-15 hours per show)

More info about my audio quality is available HERE. More information about where to actually buy Podcasting gear can be found HERE.

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Where I Host My Web Site:

There are many companies that offer podcast hosting (like Libsyn), and others that offer WordPress hosting, but since I am a software developer, I happen to have my own server co-located at ‘an undicslosed location.’ So, on the server-side I use the following:

Microsoft Server 2003

WordPress 5

PHP

MySQL

The Podcheck Process

Between shows, I’ll watch for Google Alerts to come into my inbox, browse technology news sites, and e-mail my confederates in the podcatastophere. When I come across a story of interest, I’ll make sure that I put it in my Microsoft Outlook folder named “Show Prep.” Often, I’ll e-mail the story to myself so that I’ll have an e-mail to put in that folder.

When it comes time to do a show, I open a copy of the previous show’s Microsoft Word document (because it already has my opening and closing notes about contact info, and it serves as a reminder about what I’ve already covered in the last show). After deleting out the old content from the document, I open the MS Outlook folder that contains my Show Prep items, and I’ll copy/paste the interesting ones into the Word document. After choosing each item (either including it in the show or not), I move the items from the “Show Prep” folder to the “Show Prep - OLD” folder.

After filling the Word document with the items, I re-arrange them and group similar subjects together, and I also make initial notes regarding commentary and further research that might be required in order to comment on each story.

With the document put together, I begin deciding what “special bit” I might do for this show. The Podcheck audience expects a certain format/pattern in the show:

the intro

the welcome

the newsroom transition

some news

a special “comedy bit” that varies from week to week

podcast reviews (sometimes done with a twist that satisfies the “comedy bit” requirement

Listener feedback

Outro music and goodbye

The comedy bit requires between 3 and 6 hours to produce, depending upon the complexity. Each bit is hand-crafted, built from scratch using all original audio production, deep-fried, and wrapped in bacon. It’s my favorite part of the show, and it’s what keeps me coming back for more. The process of producing each comedy bit is simple; decide what to do, and then do it.

After pre-producing the comedy bit (so that it’s ready to stick into the show), it’s often time for bed. So, I go to bed.

The next step is to record the voice track for the show. I do not record the show “live.” Instead, I record the voice track, edit the voice track, and then compose the show in Sony ACID Music Studio to add music, sound effects, clips, etc. When I record the voice track, I turn on the mic and mixer, launch Goldwave, open the Word document, and start talking. I don’t read the Word document verbatim for a couple of reasons; 1) I prefer a conversational and improvisational tone that would be limited by a script, and 2) I just don’t have time to script out a whole 30-minute show! When I record the voice track, I use the Word document as a guide, and I talk around the points of stories, desperately hoping that I’ll think of something funny or insightful to say. When I’m done talking, I edit out the unfunny-and-uninsightful parts, leaving only brilliant and stimulating content for your consumption. I’ll usually leave in flubs and natural stumbles; I’m not a total perfectionist.

After recording the voice track so that it’s ready to stick into the show, it’s often time for bed. So, I (sometimes) go to bed.

Now for MY favorite part; the master edit. I make a copy of the last ACID project that I used (for my last show) and open the copy. I’m now ready to remove last week’s voice track and bits, and insert THIS week’s voice track and bits. I then align the music beds so that the music theme changes with each story. I also insert the ‘comedy bit,” and adjust the timing and audio levels of all of the elements. This process usually takes about an hour from start to finish because I listen to the show several times to catch flubs.

Next comes my LEAST favorite part. Encoding, tagging, uploading, and posting. I use LAME to encode the final WAV file that came out of ACID Music Studio, and I use MediaTagger to apply the approriate mp3 tags. I start the file transfer to get the mp3 to my server. While the transfer is running, I create a new blog post for the show, copy/paste some show notes from my Word document, and… viola. Done.

No, this was not an in-depth technical discussion on how do produce a podcast; there are some GREAT resources already available for beginners, and the best way to learn is to try it yourself! The joy or podcasting is quite a bit like the joy of golf; you’ll suck at it when you start, and you’ll suck at it often, but that ‘one great shot’ will keep you coming back for more.

–Scott