9 Tips for Hosting a Podcast
I have hosted 16 podcasts to date, so yeah. I'm basically a pro when it comes to being a podcaster.
What? You don't trust me? Fiiiiiine. I should probably give you some background information:
I am the multimedia manager for the Phoenix Fiction Writers. Because of this, I design, coordinate, record, edit, and upload all of our podcasts. We have an hour-long, writing-related podcast come out once a month. This podcast has been running for almost a year-and-a-half, thus the fact that I've hosted 16 podcasts. On top of this, I've also hosted multiple interview-style podcasts both for #ChatWithIndieAuthor and for the 2018 WriteOnCon.
I've learned a lot about podcasting during this time. I'm not perfect, but I've gained some cool knowledge that you will find helpful if you're planning to host a podcast.
1. You'll want to have a co-host or a panel of podcasters. Being the only member on a podcast is very challenging. You are solely responsible for being entertaining, for talking continually, and for contributing interesting ideas to the podcast. It's a lot of work. Also, consider this: No matter how interesting you are, you'll have far less chemistry when you're talking to a microphone alone in your room vs talking to another human being.
I'd recommend a group of three podcasters. Four is too cluttered. Two can work, but it's easier to share the talking workload between three people rather than two. The third person in a podcast means that I, as the host, have time to kick back and enjoy the podcast conversation without constantly worrying about what I'm going to say next.
2. Having a structured format is key. Do you have incredible speaking skills, epic think-as-you-go skills, and stellar editing skills? No? Me neither (Except maybe the think-as-you-go skills, and that's only when I'm not tired. Which is basically never). Because of this, it's important for your podcast to have structure. The PFW podcast has this basic flow:
Introductions: It's what it sounds like, dollop-head.News: Dude. Not explaining this one, either.Story time: Where each podcaster tells a writerly story from their recent adventures.Discussion: The segment where we discuss our chosen writing-related topic.Book club: Where we talk about the books we're reading this month.Closing: Where we say our goodbyes and plug future podcasts.The Discussion segment is further broken down into individual questions. These questions are written in a Google doc for all podcasters to see. That way they can think-ahead and aren't blindsided by the questions I pitch during recording.
Without this structure, I'd end up spluttering my way through an hour-long recording. With this structure, I only splutter for about 5 minutes, and these 5 minutes are scattered about the entire hour-long session. Not bad.
3. Set a speaking order. One of the most important parts of structuring is speaking order. There's nothing more awkward than pitching a question or topic in a podcast, then being met with blank stares by your fellow podcasters.
Or, worse: Two people stumbling over each other to answer first. The solution to this issue is simple: Write down the speaking order in a Google document. That way everyone knows when they're supposed to talk. It's a simple thing, but really streamlines the recording process.
4. Record via Skype. Facetime is not an option because not everyone has Facetime. Google Hangouts isn't always reliable. Skype may be kind of old-school, but it's easy to use and many people have an account (or can easily make one).
Plus, Skype interfaces with a lot of great programs that can allow you to easily record video and/or audio. I personally use ECamm Recorder. I love it: It's a breeze to use, and has a cool option that allows me to retroactively lower or higher the sound level of individual audio tracks (which is great because I tend to sit too close to my microphone, so my audio always needs lowering).
S.M. Holland, the host of the Get In My Head podcast, uses Amolto for her Skype-recordings. It's a great, free option for all you Windows-users. Unfortunately, it does not work for Mac-users (but ECamm does, so. Yay!).
Shout-out to S.M. Holland for sharing this info with us!
5. Keep it casual. Look. You can spend hours working on producing a highly-professional podcast with scripted discussion and lots of editing. OR you could spend far less time by having a semi-structured chat with some of you favorite people. Keeping things causal works to your advantage in several ways. It means way less work, less stress, and far more fun (both for yourself and your audience). Think about it. Would you rather listen to a lecture-like podcast? Or a podcast that makes you feel like your sitting in on a discussion between good friends?
6. Keep your energy up. Not to freak out any hosts, but: If a podcast is boring, it's largely your fault. Podcast hosts need to be energetic (or, if the podcast isn't an energetic one: Hosts need to embody the mood of the podcast). Hosts also need to be capable of pumping up their fellow podcasters and squeezing information out of them. This means you need to be fully awake and prepared to keep the podcast lively. Given that I'm almost always tired, I usually manage this through caffeine intake and also allowing myself to make a complete idiot of myself. I generally say the first thing that pops into my head, thus allowing me to keep the conversation going (and also sometimes resulting in some semi-decent jokes. Sometimes).
7. Take notes as you record. Editing is a huge pain if you don't know what parts need to be edited. As you talk, keep an eye on the time (ECamm has a timer that tells you how long you've been recording). When you notice any awkward pauses or weird mistakes you know you'll want to edit out, make a note of it. My notes look like this:
But yours can look however you want. I'm not the note police.
8. Don't edit out the charm. This goes back to the "keep it casual" tip. If you edit the podcast too much, you'll cut all the human-ness right out. Sure, you can chop some of the awkward pauses, or the stumbling-over-each-other bits, or the whoops-I-accidentally-spoiled-something-I-wasn't-supposed-to sections. But there are some tiny errors and mannerisms that you'll want to leave in. Listen to the podcast as an audience-member, not an editor, then decide whether you really want to edit something out. Otherwise you'll end up with a sterile-sounding podcast (and lots of hours lost to editing).
In case you're wondering: I use iMovies to edit the podcast. It's a very minimal editing tool and not at all professional, but it's free and it gets the job done.
9. Have fun! Podcasting can be a lot of work, but it should also be fun. If you choose the right people to record with and the right topics, podcasting can be an epic adventure that you look forward to embarking on. Remember to keep things light and always take the time to enjoy being with your fellow podcasters!
Do you host a podcast? Drop the link below so I can listen! Or, if you don't host a podcast yourself, riddle me this: What is your favorite podcast to listen to? Bonus points if it is writing-related or nerd-related!
Related articles:
How to Use Youtubing and Podcasting to Build Your Author PlatformTips for Writing Dark Fiction - A PFW Podcast
3 Reasons to Use Livestreaming to Boost Your Writing Platform (And How to Do It)
Enjoy this post? Take a look around. If you like what you see, please don't forget to subscribe by email for a new post every week!
Some links are Amazon affiliate links. Thank you for your support.
What? You don't trust me? Fiiiiiine. I should probably give you some background information:
I am the multimedia manager for the Phoenix Fiction Writers. Because of this, I design, coordinate, record, edit, and upload all of our podcasts. We have an hour-long, writing-related podcast come out once a month. This podcast has been running for almost a year-and-a-half, thus the fact that I've hosted 16 podcasts. On top of this, I've also hosted multiple interview-style podcasts both for #ChatWithIndieAuthor and for the 2018 WriteOnCon.
I've learned a lot about podcasting during this time. I'm not perfect, but I've gained some cool knowledge that you will find helpful if you're planning to host a podcast.
1. You'll want to have a co-host or a panel of podcasters. Being the only member on a podcast is very challenging. You are solely responsible for being entertaining, for talking continually, and for contributing interesting ideas to the podcast. It's a lot of work. Also, consider this: No matter how interesting you are, you'll have far less chemistry when you're talking to a microphone alone in your room vs talking to another human being.
I'd recommend a group of three podcasters. Four is too cluttered. Two can work, but it's easier to share the talking workload between three people rather than two. The third person in a podcast means that I, as the host, have time to kick back and enjoy the podcast conversation without constantly worrying about what I'm going to say next.
2. Having a structured format is key. Do you have incredible speaking skills, epic think-as-you-go skills, and stellar editing skills? No? Me neither (Except maybe the think-as-you-go skills, and that's only when I'm not tired. Which is basically never). Because of this, it's important for your podcast to have structure. The PFW podcast has this basic flow:
Introductions: It's what it sounds like, dollop-head.News: Dude. Not explaining this one, either.Story time: Where each podcaster tells a writerly story from their recent adventures.Discussion: The segment where we discuss our chosen writing-related topic.Book club: Where we talk about the books we're reading this month.Closing: Where we say our goodbyes and plug future podcasts.The Discussion segment is further broken down into individual questions. These questions are written in a Google doc for all podcasters to see. That way they can think-ahead and aren't blindsided by the questions I pitch during recording.
Without this structure, I'd end up spluttering my way through an hour-long recording. With this structure, I only splutter for about 5 minutes, and these 5 minutes are scattered about the entire hour-long session. Not bad.
3. Set a speaking order. One of the most important parts of structuring is speaking order. There's nothing more awkward than pitching a question or topic in a podcast, then being met with blank stares by your fellow podcasters.
Or, worse: Two people stumbling over each other to answer first. The solution to this issue is simple: Write down the speaking order in a Google document. That way everyone knows when they're supposed to talk. It's a simple thing, but really streamlines the recording process.
4. Record via Skype. Facetime is not an option because not everyone has Facetime. Google Hangouts isn't always reliable. Skype may be kind of old-school, but it's easy to use and many people have an account (or can easily make one).
Plus, Skype interfaces with a lot of great programs that can allow you to easily record video and/or audio. I personally use ECamm Recorder. I love it: It's a breeze to use, and has a cool option that allows me to retroactively lower or higher the sound level of individual audio tracks (which is great because I tend to sit too close to my microphone, so my audio always needs lowering).
S.M. Holland, the host of the Get In My Head podcast, uses Amolto for her Skype-recordings. It's a great, free option for all you Windows-users. Unfortunately, it does not work for Mac-users (but ECamm does, so. Yay!).
Shout-out to S.M. Holland for sharing this info with us!
5. Keep it casual. Look. You can spend hours working on producing a highly-professional podcast with scripted discussion and lots of editing. OR you could spend far less time by having a semi-structured chat with some of you favorite people. Keeping things causal works to your advantage in several ways. It means way less work, less stress, and far more fun (both for yourself and your audience). Think about it. Would you rather listen to a lecture-like podcast? Or a podcast that makes you feel like your sitting in on a discussion between good friends?
6. Keep your energy up. Not to freak out any hosts, but: If a podcast is boring, it's largely your fault. Podcast hosts need to be energetic (or, if the podcast isn't an energetic one: Hosts need to embody the mood of the podcast). Hosts also need to be capable of pumping up their fellow podcasters and squeezing information out of them. This means you need to be fully awake and prepared to keep the podcast lively. Given that I'm almost always tired, I usually manage this through caffeine intake and also allowing myself to make a complete idiot of myself. I generally say the first thing that pops into my head, thus allowing me to keep the conversation going (and also sometimes resulting in some semi-decent jokes. Sometimes).
7. Take notes as you record. Editing is a huge pain if you don't know what parts need to be edited. As you talk, keep an eye on the time (ECamm has a timer that tells you how long you've been recording). When you notice any awkward pauses or weird mistakes you know you'll want to edit out, make a note of it. My notes look like this:
But yours can look however you want. I'm not the note police.
8. Don't edit out the charm. This goes back to the "keep it casual" tip. If you edit the podcast too much, you'll cut all the human-ness right out. Sure, you can chop some of the awkward pauses, or the stumbling-over-each-other bits, or the whoops-I-accidentally-spoiled-something-I-wasn't-supposed-to sections. But there are some tiny errors and mannerisms that you'll want to leave in. Listen to the podcast as an audience-member, not an editor, then decide whether you really want to edit something out. Otherwise you'll end up with a sterile-sounding podcast (and lots of hours lost to editing).
In case you're wondering: I use iMovies to edit the podcast. It's a very minimal editing tool and not at all professional, but it's free and it gets the job done.
9. Have fun! Podcasting can be a lot of work, but it should also be fun. If you choose the right people to record with and the right topics, podcasting can be an epic adventure that you look forward to embarking on. Remember to keep things light and always take the time to enjoy being with your fellow podcasters!
Do you host a podcast? Drop the link below so I can listen! Or, if you don't host a podcast yourself, riddle me this: What is your favorite podcast to listen to? Bonus points if it is writing-related or nerd-related!
Related articles:
How to Use Youtubing and Podcasting to Build Your Author PlatformTips for Writing Dark Fiction - A PFW Podcast
3 Reasons to Use Livestreaming to Boost Your Writing Platform (And How to Do It)
Enjoy this post? Take a look around. If you like what you see, please don't forget to subscribe by email for a new post every week!
Some links are Amazon affiliate links. Thank you for your support.
No comments have been added yet.
