Create your own podcast
When I first walked into a radio station a long time ago, I was surprised by what it took to broadcast the spoken word. In addition to the microphone, there was a control room, a director, a producer, an engineer, satellite feed boxes, editing rooms, newsrooms and a whole staff. Now, however, with a computer, Internet connection, mic and some software, you can podcast alongside the largest media companies and the many other independent podcasters around the world.
What's a podcast and why do one?
The term podcast is a combination of pod (Portable On Demand) and broadcast. You can use any MP3 portable music player to create or listen to a podcast. Think of your podcast as your own radio show where you say what you want, when you want. It’s your private thoughts gone public. Your words for the world. Your commentaries and reflections. Your video and audio recordings — even documents — delivered on the Internet using RSS (Really Simple Syndication) that people can download to their computers or portable music or video devices to listen to or watch wherever they want. Video podcasts are great, but I’ll just cover audio podcasts to get you started quickly.
You need more than your voice to begin podcasting, but not too much more. Once you have the equipment, setting up to podcast generally takes from several hours to a few evenings — not much time when you consider how long it would take to set up your own radio station. And after you're set up, making podcasts won't take much longer than it takes to speak the words.
You can use a mobile PC or a desktop computer with an Internet connection to create a podcast. Some podcasters prefer to work with a mobile PC so they can podcast from any location they want. If it has a microphone built into it, you can also record your podcast on a portable MP3 player and then transfer the file of your recording to your computer to edit and post to the Web.
A microphone and headset
Your computer's microphone probably won’t give you the sound quality you’re after for a podcast. For one thing, it’ll likely pick up background (also known as ambient) noise. Mine picks up the furnace switching on and off — even my computer’s fan. You might have the same problem with a portable MP3 player’s mic. All of this ambient noise could be a neat effect (“Listen everyone, I’m giving you a tour of the basement plumbing in my home!”), but before you choose to join the ranks of the sonic avant garde, it’s probably best to focus on getting your voice heard — and heard well.
For quality podcasting, get an external condenser mic that plugs into your computer. This kind of mic will reduce the background noise so your voice comes through loud and clear. If you get this kind of mic, get a stand, too. This will eliminate the noise you’ll pick up from adjusting your hands on the mic during your show. You’ll probably also want a headset that'll allow you to monitor your recording levels as you speak. (You can’t use speakers while recording because the speaker sound will be recorded and you’ll risk getting audio feedback.)
Go online and take a look at some of the USB headset/microphone pairings for an all-in-one solution — or you can get the separate mic, stand and headset (usually pricier) like the pros. There are even several podcasting equipment packages that include a microphone, headset, audio mixer and audio recording and editing software. Using one of these packages doesn’t give you much of an alibi for not sounding your best.
