Starting a podcast can be as overwhelming as it is exciting! There are a lot of small details and nuances that many new podcasters may not be aware of when they start their podcasting journey. This guide is meant to help those new podcasters better understand the intricacies of this medium!
Pre-Recording Best Practices
The best practices start before you even sit down in front of the microphone! Many newcomers to podcasting mistakenly believe that creating an engaging podcast is as easy as just talking into the mic. Some are surprised to learn that almost every successful podcaster has done some level of planning when it comes to their show!
The 5 P’s
Podcasters are masters at making carefully planned shows sound like off-the-cuff conversations. It’s a delicate balance between planning and going with the flow that allows them to create incredible shows. You can learn how to gab like the best of them through what we like to call the Five P’s of Podcasting!
- Plan: What’s your podcast going to be about? What’s the format? What’s it going to be called? This step is essentially designing your podcast and setting a goal for it.
- Prepare: This covers more technical aspects of podcasting like what equipment to use to record, edit, and host your show.
- Practice: Practice is key to perfection! While some folks may have a natural affinity for speaking, hosting a podcast is a skill that can built up over time.
- Publish: This one is pretty self-explanatory but still requires some attention. It’s important to understand how podcasting works as a medium in order to reach your target audience.
- Prosper: Once you’ve nailed all the other parts, you can start to focus on how to monetize your show (if that’s something you want to do!)
You can learn more about each “P” in our blog article, How to Start Your Own Podcast.
Passion Above All Else
Aside from the 5 P’s, it’s also incredibly important to make sure that you’re tapping into your passions when you begin to podcast. If you start with a topic that you think will get popular but you’re not particularly interested in, then you’ve already set yourself up for failure. Podcasts don’t just get popular because they touch on trending topics, but rather the passion and excitement of the host propels them to success. Listeners naturally gravitate toward authentic hosts as they feel equally invested in the topic. If you’re not actually interested in what you’re talking about, then your listeners will catch on pretty quickly and possibly move on to another show.
Stuck on figuring out a topic? No worries, we’ve got you covered in this blog here.
Storytelling as an Art
As you can probably tell by now, podcasting is another form of storytelling. Humans have been telling stories since the moment we formed complex thoughts. Podcasting is no exception to this! Like many other forms of storytelling, there is a level of preparation that’s required to create an engaging story. Even improvisational stories rely on the skills built by the people telling them.
To create a podcast that captivates your audience you’ll want to spend some time crafting a script, or even just notes, so you guide your audience through this audio journey. We’ve crafted the exact information you need in our blog post here!
Recording Best Practices
Now that we’ve covered best practices before you sit down with the mic, it’s time we looked at best practices while recording.
Luckily, these are fairly straightforward thanks to the standards created and upheld by the podcasting industry in general. We’ll do a quick overview rather than dive too deeply, but if you want to learn more then check out our articles on recommended equipment and the technical side of podcasting.
The Right Equipment
At the heart of it, all you really need to start a podcast is something to record yourself on. We sometimes get too bogged down in having all the right parts before we start something. If this sounds like you, then we generally recommend using what you already have rather than trying to get the top-of-the-line equipment. But if you want to, and have the means to, then we recommend the following at the very least:
- A computer or other device to record and edit
- A microphone
- An editing software
- A hosting platform (check out this blog for advice on choosing the right hosting platform for you!)
If you want to go a step further, then you might want to incorporate these into your recording sessions:
- Headphones
- Pop Filters and/or windscreens
- Mic Stand
- Mixer
- Acoustic treatment to dampen sound
For a full list of equipment, and recommendations, be sure to read through this blog!
Notes for the Host
Having the right equipment is a good place to start but don’t forget to focus on growing your own skills! Some general tips include:
- Sit closer to the mic! Don’t be afraid to get up close and personal with your microphone. You want your microphone to be about a hand’s length from your face for optimal sound pick-up.
- Be sure to sit still (as best you can!) It’s important to be mindful and not shift around a ton when recording. Each adjustment could be picked up by your microphone, or cause you to cut out when speaking. You want to make sure you’re creating a pleasant listening experience!
- Don’t forget to hydrate! Not only is drinking water excellent for your skin and overall health, but it also helps keep your vocal cords smooth which keeps your listening experience smooth.
- Starting an interview-style podcast? We wrote an in-depth blog on everything you need to know to be an incredible interviewer!
See our other blog posts for more tips on creating a sonically-pleasing podcast!
Editing Best Practices
Even a little bit of editing can help a podcast go from good to great. You don’t need to hold a degree in audio engineering to make your show sound amazing, though! You just need to understand a few key things about podcasting as a medium.
Audio Leveling
Put simply, audio leveling creates a consistent level of sound across your entire podcast (dynamically inserted audio included!) This is key to crafting a podcast as you don’t want your listeners to experience audio whiplash while tuning in. The recommended audio level for your podcast is -16 LUFs. At the very least, make sure all of your audio is set to that level!
You can go a step further by equalizing and normalizing your audio. See our other blog post for more details on this type of post production!
Post-Recording Production
This is where you can add all extras to your show – intros/outros, special announcements, Cross-Promotions, bridges to ad breaks, and whatever custom or evergreen audio you want! Tools like Dynamic Insertion make this step incredibly easy as you simply just need to drop a pin in your uploaded episode where you want the custom audio to play and then assign the corresponding Audio Block.
You can even use this opportunity to create marketing assets to share on your socials and help grow your show!
Post-Upload Best Practices
Finally, you need to ensure your show is made widely available so you can reach as many listeners as you can! It’s not enough to just post your show and hope people find it. You need to get your show into the ears of potential listeners!
You can do this in so many different ways, but here are the most commonly recommended:
- Distribute on every available listening platform
- Don’t forget tried-and-true marketing strategies like SEO
- Go where your listeners are – interact on social channels where they might be
- Invite someone on your show and see if you can appear as a guest on theirs
- Participate in Cross-Promotions to reach shared audiences
- Attend industry events, like Podcast Movement and Podcast Summit, to meet and collab with other podcasters!
Podcasting is an incredibly exciting, and nerve-wracking, adventure! By following these best practices, you’re sure to come out on top!
Interested in taking your podcast to new heights in 2025? Why not sign up for a Free 7-day Trial and see how RedCircle can launch your show to the stars!
