So I did something.. My first podcast : Episode 1 — Optometry and Public Health
But I’m glad I did it! I wish I could say the internet made me do it but that wasn’t how it happened.
One of the main reason I uploaded my first recorded and edited podcast was because of the Health Communication’s Course (by Sangath) I was a part of. But I thought I should break down some things that worked for me ,and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the follies. ;)
Here’s what I did:
- I first went over the content provided to the cohort on how to make a podcast (with Padma Priya from Suno India)
I knew I wanted to do an interview because that’s the only podcast I truly enjoy listening to myself. I like the banter and I like the back and forth between two people. (On a tangent here is the current podcast I’m listening to : https://www.dateablepodcast.com/ . But in retrospect I wish I had gone for a completely scripted podcast with just me. It would have been an easier first attempt I think)
2. I then spoke to my guest and we brainstormed some more ideas about what the podcast could include.
3. Next came the tentative questions I would ask my guest. Once this was ready I shared it with him and asked him for any suggestions or changes he recommended.
4. The next bit required finding a place to record in. As a musician I have recorded music in the studio but knowing that both me and my guest work six-day weeks it didn’t seem likely that we would get time to go into a studio. So I asked him if we could do it on his iPhone and then I’d edit it.
5. At the last minute a studio near us was available, and we could find the time to record the podcast in a soundproofed room. I am so glad we did that! Because the sound quality was pretty great.
- In terms of the follies, I don’t know where to begin. The first would be the length of the actual recording I think. It was a solid one hour of recording. And as conversations go, we often went into tangents that did not make it to the last cut. Me and my guest spoke about his experience in London right at the start of the Pandemic. The food he ate, his love for cycling and so much more. But alas, much of this didn’t make it to the last cut.
- The next problem I faced was because of the cuts I had to make to make the podcast shorter and remove some details like the food and the travel bit (that I mentioned in the previous point)
6. One thing I forgot to mention was the software I used to edit my recording. I first started with GarageBand. As a mac user, this seemed like an appropriate choice. But it didn’t take long before I realized the challenges. In the peer feedback session that followed, I lamented about the same. And as someone mentioned Audacity, it took me back to my old hp computer where I recorded songs on Audacity and felt like I was an actual songwriter.
7. Once I edited the audio file, I looked for intro and outro music. Of course my old trusty friend SoundCloud came to my rescue with copyright free music. I picked my pick and then just put the file onto the right places on the audacity track.
8. Then came the long drawn out part of post production. If I was doing this at a bigger scale, I would probably ask a friend that was a sound engineer to do this step for me. But thanks to all my audacity pre I came across an online resource to produce my recording. I did this via auphonic. Yet it was a long process of uploading a mp3 file and then seeing the software process it. Plus the added pressure of only 2 h of processing on a free profile. After a few takes, this was done. I had a clean sound to work with and upload to my podcast streaming platform.
9. I chose Anchor for this job, as I had heard so many people do this before. But from all the podcasts I followed I knew I would have to do this with a cover photo. So while my audio got uploaded to Anchor I also edited cover pictures on Canva.
- By the end of that day there were unfortunately two different uploads that I did not intend on uploading. One that sadly had an audio leak with the wrong audio. I don’t blame myself for uploading a wrong file though. I had 8 ‘final’ versions in two days itself so some errors were bound to happen.
What I have learned about making a podcast is this —
- You don’t sound natural when you read off a script. So practice to make it sound more natural. The initial prep is crucial. I feel like with time you will get better at this and the more podcasts you produce the lesser time you will require.
- You will hate your voice and how you sound. That’s the editing process for you. My advice would be to do this with as little critique about your voice and tone and more on the content.
The bottom line is that you might need to ask for help from scripting, to editing and even recording. Do what’s feasible. Perfection can seem daunting, but don’t let go of it as it will also help you in the long run. For your first podcast though cut yourself some slack and just do your best. Until you do your next podcast just assimilate some of these things and listen to your favorite podcasts so that you’re inspired and ready with your next podcast. That is definitely going to be a step ahead from your first one.
Happy Podcasting!
ps if you’re a podcaster please do feel free to share some more tips and tricks! :D
