This year, the New York Times reported that one in every three people listen to at least one podcast every month (link). Podcasting is growing in popularity and it’s easy to understand why. Podcasting is an intimate medium, and it’s a medium that people can engage with while doing other things. You can listen to podcasts while walking the dog, for example, or while doing household chores. See this Globe and Mail Article (link) for five recommended science podcasts to get you excited about podcasting.
To record a podcast, you want to invest in a good quality microphone and audio editing software like GarageBand (Mac) or Audacity (multi-platform). How-to-Geek has a tutorial on using Audacity to edit audio files (link). Or you can conduct a YouTube search to find tutorials for a variety of other audio editing software.
You will want to make sure you find some creative commons licensed audio for any intro or background music you will be using on your podcast. See section 6 in this chapter for an overview of copyright and the Creative Commons.
When thinking about recording a podcast keep the following things in mind:
- Pick an area in your house with minimum background noise to record. If possible, hang blankets on the wall to dampen any natural reverb.
- Don’t be afraid to record your podcast in small “chunks”. That way if you make a mistake it’s easy to go back to the last place you stopped and rerecord, editing your audio back together more smoothly.
- Give yourself 3 or 4 times the amount of time you expect the finished podcast to be, in order to account for recording, re-recording and editing
- Write yourself a script, or detailed outline prior to recording
- Consider transcribing your podcast and posting the transcript so you have your content available in multiple formats
- Podcast length is variable. Pick a length that makes sense for you, and is repeatable on a regular basis
- Posting your podcast on your website is desirable, but could incur additional fees – check with your provider on upload, download and hosting limits
- If you cannot host your podcast on your own website, soundcloud is currently a good option for uploading audio with a low or no subscription fee
Podcastage has a useful YouTube video that provides 11 steps for launching a podcast. You won’t necessarily need all of these steps, but it’s a helpful guide to seeing what can go into producing your own podcast and launching it to the world. Access the embedded video here, or use this link to watch it on YouTube.
The next section will provide an overview of current popular social media platforms, to help you determine which ones to use to communicate your science. Choose the format and community that’s right for you, and keep it fun for yourself. That way, it’s sure to be the most engaging for others.