Note: This glossary is for the newbie podcaster. Some terms listed are very specific to podcasting and may have other, more complex definitions outside of what’s presented here. I’ve kept it simple to avoid Information Overload as a beginner.
I’ll also be adding to this as time goes on. If you see anything I’ve missed, go ahead and put a comment below!
You guys … YOU GUYS! I am all sorts of giddy right now!
You know how I sometimes warn podcasters about Shiny Object Syndrome and not going all out for the newest tool for podcasters? Well, I’m kind of throwing that out the window (temporarily, at least).
If you remember Blab that shut down in 2016 (RIP Blab), you may remember this amazing live video platform where you could have a chat room, record podcasts, bring in guests easily, and you could join via mobile app. Unfortunately, Blab is no more.
But after years of its legacy hanging around, I was so happy to have been introduced to GetVokl and talk to Alex today from the company!
So you’re ready to start your podcast but … oh, what do you say?! Well, you know generally what you’re going to say. You have ideas for your episodes, but what do you say to get started? And how should you end the podcast?
Listen to a handful of podcasts, especially from different genres, and you’ll find a multitude of different ways to start a show. None of the suggestions below are set in stone, and people are coming in all the time to change how “things have always been done,” and that’s awesome. But for those just starting out and need just a little bit of guidance, here are what I look for in a podcast intro and outro.
Apple has been cracking down on podcasts using lots of keywords in their titles and author tags over the past few weeks. Podcasts have been removed and new podcasts have been rejected when submitting to Apple.
If you are using keywords in your show title or author tags or even subtitles with keywords, it's safer to remove them now rather than have Apple remove them.
Anchor has been rising slowly to become a contending player in the podcast space. There's no denying it. Many well-known personalities are now using it to easily create their podcasts. Although I don't recommend them as a hosting company for a number of reasons, there is one major thing to be aware of if you're using them for your podcast:
YOU should be the one to submit your show to podcast apps.
Even though Anchor makes it simple to let them do it for you, I really recommend this is something you should do yourself, especially if you want access to your podcast stats from Apple Podcasts. I go into more detail about this in the video.
While your comfortable (or getting comfortable) behind the microphone, your guests might not be. Although they may have amazing insights to share and your audience will love them, it's still nerve-wracking to be put on the spot.
While I can't do much to take away their nerves (aside from give you my recipe for Sangria, maybe), I can offer some tips to help them feel more at ease about sounding good.
While it might be easier to have your guest join you in your studio, it's not always possible. The tips in this post are for podcast interviews done remotely.
If you've ever gone into a podcasting Facebook group and asked about microphones, you may have noticed some contention around the Blue Yeti USB Microphone.
"It picks up everything."
"It sounds like you're in the bathroom/tunnel."
"You can't use it with a mixer."
For the most part, the first two can be fixed with some tweaking, as you'll see below. And with some extra cables and software, even the third problem can be fixed.
With technology evolving and more ways to connect than ever before, it can be incredibly easy for someone to find out a lot about you by just searching your name in Google or on social media.
Before you begin a podcast, know that you will be putting yourself out there to the masses and it's a good idea to evaluate what other information you may already have that's easily searchable. And it's a good idea to take precautions sooner rather than later
As Thanksgiving is upon us in the United States, it's important to take this time to think about what we're thankful for in our lives. And that includes our podcasts.
It's easy to get caught up in the game of comparing your podcast to others, especially those with more experience than you. But I can't tell you the number of times I've been turned off by podcasts I'm listening to in which the hosts complain about their "low" numbers.
Don't be those podcasters. Remember, everyone starts with zero listeners, as one of my podcasting mentors Dave Jackson says. Moving that number up is your job as a podcaster and marketer. And the more you cherish the audience you already have, the more they'll feel compelled to become your podcast ambassadors and spread the word about you and your show.
A line you might see in articles that seem to come out every few months is the idea that podcasts are "the wild west of media." While I don't necessarily agree with the idea that podcasts are new (shameless plug for my podcast The Story Behind Podcasts), I love the idea that new podcasts are being created and new formats are being experimented on all the time, and it's wonderful.
I get disheartened when I see emerging podcasters lose steam when they see a podcast that's similar to what they are producing or, maybe even worse, not seeing any podcast that sounds like the one they want to produce.
But that's the great thing about podcasting. Could anyone have predicted that following a true crime investigation of a single case for 12 episodes would be a huge breakout hit? Or that a guy in his garage would get to interview the president of the United States? Or that indie shows like a show with the premise of ghost tours for the theater of the mind would surpass 2 million episodes and thrive on being entirely listener-supported? Or that a stack of found letters between two girls and their landlord would become a cult phenomenon?
