If you want 50 million people to listen to what you're saying, you might not have to embarrass yourself singing on live TV, or becoming the star of a viral video. With podcasts growing in popularity by almost a quarter between 2015 and 2016, it seems more people are downloading and listening than ever before.
These days, anyone can start a podcast; all it takes is a good idea and some basic equipment. Karen Pearson, CEO of Folded Wing, an independent production company, says the best place to start a podcast is with an idea you care about, then do your research.
"Listen to as much as you can of what’s out there on the subject for some inspiration," Pearson told WIRED. "For example, if you want to make a podcast about entrepreneurs, listen to the Virgin Business podcast in the UK, or eBay’s 'Open For Business' from the US."
The team at Folded Wing works with the BBC, The British Council, Nike, Fabric and Red Bull Music Academy, to produce high quality audio. The company also offers training for presenters and producers.
"The biggest tip is to present as if you were talking to one person, don’t think of the whole audience," Pearson told WIRED. "Audio is an intimate medium and this is one of the most powerful ways of enhancing that feeling. Be yourself, speak like you would normally, don’t adopt a new way of talking just because there is a microphone in front of you."
Read more: 45 of the best podcasts for curious minds
Alice Levine, Jamie Morton and James Cooper, the trio behind the hit podcast My Dad Wrote a Porno said the most difficult part of making their show was keeping up with the demand. They started the podcast in September 2015, after Morton discovered his dad had written an erotic novel, which he had self-published online.
The format of the show is simple; Morton reads a chapter of the novel each week, while all three comment on the strange choices of adjectives, poor grammar or questionable decisions by the characters. Levine, Morton and Cooper have never read or heard the chapters before they record the episodes. Morton's dad’s erotic fiction turned out to be so hilarious the podcast hit 50 million downloads in February this year.
“Making sure you have quality audio content to put out twice a week like clockwork can be tricky at times, especially as this isn't our job, it's our passion project,” the trio told WIRED. “It's a case of committing to it - you can't start doing a narrative podcast and then decide to have a few weeks off here, or miss a week there.
"You become part of someone's routine and they want to know you'll be uploading something reliably for their Monday morning commute. Dad Porn Addicts are tough cookies. Anger them at your own peril.”
While some podcasts are simply conversations uploaded without any editing, Morton, Levine and Cooper wanted theirs to be more sophisticated than that.
“When you’re expecting people to take time out of their day to listen to your show, you have a responsibility to make it the best it can be,” they said. “Morton edits the episodes each week and generally whittles around two hours down to forty minutes.”
In terms of equipment, the hit My Dad Wrote A Porno podcast was recorded using Garageband and three microphones that cost around £100 each. It was edited using Adobe Premiere Pro, but “other podcast friends of ours use Audition which is a free audio editing software,” they said.
Pearson says there are a few basic things to remember when recording a podcast. "To start with just make sure that your voice and the voices of any guests are recorded clearly and with a good, constant sound level," she says.
"Try to avoid 'pops' when you’re too close to the microphone or long pauses when nothing’s happening. Listeners are very forgiving if they like the person who’s talking or are interested in the subject, but poor quality sound can be very tiring to listen to." Read more: Essential podcast equipment from microphones to mixers
The subject of a podcast plays a big part in whether anyone will download it or not. To find a topic people want to listen to, it is important to make sure you have a unique angle.
“It’s such a saturated marketplace and because anyone can record and upload a podcast there’s a lot of competition,” Levine, Cooper and Morton told WIRED. “Therefore, it’s really important to trust your instincts, or in other words, make a show you would want to listen to.”
Making sure you market it well is also key. "Make the podcast easy to share and pick small clips or features that will trail to your podcast," Pearson told WIRED. "Send links to people you think might be interested and might retweet or share."
However, the most important piece of advice the trio can give is to actually sit down and do it.
“It’s no use talking about how you one day you’re going to make a podcast about your dad’s awful erotica,” Levine, Cooper and Morton said. “Actually sit down and do it. Then you can bask in the horror of the world knowing your dad finds pomegranate-shaped breasts sexy.”
For more listening, check out our list of the best podcasts
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
