It has been a blast creating and hosting Eduten’s Finnish Education Perspectives podcast. Since its release, I’m often asked how to get one started. To that end, here’s a cheat sheet to help others with their own dreams of starting a podcast — minus the mishaps.
General Podcasting Guidelines
- Choose a theme or area that interests you. The topic needs to be of interest to YOU so that you stay aligned with the content and guests.
- Identify your audience — and then niche it down even further. Don’t try to appeal to everyone.
- Remember your audience. After niching down on your preferred audience, keep them in mind when inviting guests and devising content. Don’t start a podcast about paleo diets and pitch it to vegans.
- Select a format. Is it a monologue format? Is it an interview format? Is it panel-based with more than one host? Or will you send a series of questions to your guest that they record answers for and you edit them to fit a Q & A style of interview? All formats are ok, but it’s good to have something in mind before you begin.
- Set a goal for your first season. How many episodes do you envision for your first season? Will it be based on the number of episodes or a certain time frame? It’s good to keep this end goal in mind in case of times that you want to throw in the mic!
Behind the Scenes Set Up
- Choose a Podcast Host. When you start a podcast, you need to host it somewhere. There are many hosting platforms, each with its pros and cons, but all of them basically do the same thing — they store your podcast and distribute it to major channels such as Apple, Google and Spotify. If you’re just getting started, Anchor is a great, free option. The analytics are simple but good enough. Later on, you can link your channel to Chartable for example, if you’re looking for more in-depth ranking or feedback. If you want to jump-start the whole production on a pro-scale with in-depth analytics, there are plenty of paid hosting platforms such as Podbean, Squadcast or Zencastr to choose from.
- Name your podcast. Choose a name that reflects your content. Settle on a title with less than five words. Use keywords that represent the main theme.
- Write a succinct and catchy podcast description. People generally judge podcasts by the description and cover. Accurately describe what the listener can expect and how you’re about to massage their brains and ears.
- Create a beautiful podcast cover. Use your company’s branding and colours and if possible, include a picture of the host. (On hosting platforms such as Anchor, you can also upload new artwork for every separate episode that will show on Spotify.) Freelancer platforms such as Fiverr or Upwork can be useful to find a designer.
- Record an episode zero. Decide whether to record an introductory episode. Recording an episode zero can help frame the coming content and allow you to introduce yourself before officially launching episode one.
- Recording and interviewing format. Depending on your resources, you will either be interviewing in person or via an online platform. You could use Google meet or Zoom for instance. Again, depending on your budget and editing skills you can simply record the episode straight, but for even more professional audio, you should download separate files for each speaker and layer them in the final edit. For Finnish education Perspectives, I recorded every interview via zoom and the sound quality was good!
- Pre-record an intro and outro. A pre-recorded intro and outro is easily attached to each interview. Use some music that doesn’t offend the ears and introduce what your podcast is all about. The outro should include a call to action so that listeners can stay in touch or buy your service or product. Don’t forget to encourage your listeners to share or subscribe to the podcast to help boost viability and rankings.
- Select and set up an editing process. If you don’t have specific software to put each episode together, there are a couple of options. You can use free apps such as Garage Band or Audacity that will do the trick, otherwise, outsource the job to a freelancer on Fiverr or such who can put each episode together for a decent price.
- Name each episode thoughtfully. Front-end keywords in case they get cut off in social media sharing. Craft the title the same way you’d write an article or email header. If the guest is well-known in the field, it’s good to mention their name here too.
Gathering Guests
- Choose a ‘wish list’ of guests. Be bold. You’ll never know until you ask! In your initial message, introduce yourself and your podcast’s theme/mission and assure them that the chat won’t take long (30 minutes is a good length of time these days). There will always be one trailblazer who says yes and leads the pack. When you send out subsequent emails, you can list the brave people who have said yes already and it gives other guests confidence that you’re the ‘real deal’.
- Streamline your interactions. Ensure your initial email is friendly but succinct. Don’t waste people’s time. Take note of who you need to return to in case of time/date conflicts.
- Set up dates and interview times. After you’ve heard a yes from a guest, avoid messy back-and-forth emails by using a scheduling app such as Calendly. Try to be as flexible as possible, seeing as though the guest is doing you a favour.
- Be a top-notch podcasting pro. Podcast guests generally agree to do interviews for free so you need to be conscious of this and keep it succinct and professional here. Streamline the process, send a reminder the day before or the day of, and thank them afterwards with a follow-up email or gift.
- Send questions out before the interview. Depending on your niche, you may have guests who are nervous about being interviewed. Help them feel confident by devising a list of questions so they have a general idea of the discussion. Seasoned speakers often have their own list of questions that they feel comfortable about speaking to.
- Let your podcast guests know about your audience demographic. Your desired message will have a better reach and impact if this is clear. E.g. Is it an international audience or local audience? Which area of expertise should your guest speak to? etc.
It’s Showtime!
- Before you hit record, take a deep breath and relax those shoulders. Don’t forget to speak clearly and slowly. Have a beverage on standby to avoid the dreaded frog in the throat.
- Help your guests feel comfortable. Before you hit record, explain how the interview will proceed (for example, time limit, whether you read the intro out before the chat etc.) Give the guest some insight into what type of interview reaches more people. Remind them that stories sell.
- Reassure your guest. If you’re feeling nervous, it’s likely that your guest is too! Cool them down by letting them know that they just need to be themselves and no matter what happens, you can edit, cut things out, start over etc. Nothing is forever!
- Listen carefully to your guest. It’s tempting to cut in and fill gaps with your own opinions or experiences. While this can add value, try to limit your interruption as much as possible and let the guest shine. Of course, if the guest is nervous or not seasoned with interviewing, you will need to lead the dialogue, but in general, listening and silence is golden. Also, if you’re interviewing online the audio quality can become choppy with too much interruption.
- Release the first three episodes to launch. Having a few episodes to binge on gives the listener a firm idea of your show and content and makes them more likely to subscribe.
- Add show notes to each episode. You can’t cover everything in one interview and your listeners might want to explore more about a particular guest and of course, your product or services. Add links to each episode!
- Be yourself. You’ll cringe at the sound of your voice, you’ll say silly things, you’ll miss really important questions. But just keep going and watch the rewarding process unfold. I guarantee that you will improve as each episode is published, make new friends and become a pro podcaster in no time!
So, what are you waiting for? If it has been a dream of yours to start a podcast or you feel it’s the necessary next step for your marketing, get started today! It’s a great process that helps elevate your brand and sell your product or service. Not to mention a great way to network with people in your field. Your voice might wobble for the first few takes but it will naturally iron out as you record each episode.
