How To Record Your Podcast: Podcasting 101

While listening to a TED Talk, the speaker, Shonda Rhimes, shared something that I feel connects well with our focus on podcasting happiness...her “hum.” And no, I'm not referring to the little annoying floor noise we sometimes get in our audio recording.

I feel that what she is describing is exactly what podcasting happiness is all about, getting in our zone and keeping our hum alive. In this episode I'll be sharing 3 ways to help you with recording your podcast, for "hum" sake.

Jump To What Was Discussed:

00:04 - Shonda Rhimes on “The Hum.”
02:26 - Why recording on a time crunch is a bad idea.
02:46 - How to time block for recording.
03:11 - Benefits of a pre-recording checklist.
03:55 - Activating your creative hum.
05:10 - Ira Glass’s pleasure and mission.
06:30 - Episode 4 teaser!

Recording on a time crunch is a bad idea and can be the habit that drives you to podfading. You'll eventually leave out important things that you really wanted to discuss and then recording will begin to feel like a chore.

Let's not make podcasting a chore. It's filled with many possibilities for it to become a "chore." You already have time blocked out for your planning, now you can do the same for recording.

Be intentional about your recording time by

Time blocking it in your calendar.
Choosing a time that you'll be less distracted.

I also highly recommend that you don't combine your planning and recording time together. Get fresh on the microphone and keep that hum alive.

The second thing you can do to help you record with happiness is a checklist!

This will help prevent breaking your flow, having to stop recording because you forgot something or even forgot to press record.

What you have on this list is unique to your setup, but here are a few common checkpoints:

Phone/devices on mute.
Drinking water (to avoid dry mouth or smacking noises).
Do a quick microphone check for levels.
If you're interviewing, do a quick sound check on the guest.
Make sure your guest has their devices muted.
Episode template (that you created in your planning stage).
Record button is engaged and the red light is on! Don’t want to forget that!

The third thing I wanted to share with you is the hum. Once you've pressed record it's time to get in YOUR zone and embrace the hum.

Here are a few things that can help you with that:

Share your personal experience with the topic/guest
Share what you've found when researching the topic
Share your curiosity
Tell a relevant story
If you're interviewing a guest, listen and engage with what they're saying. Questions will naturally come to surface.
Have fun!

It's very important to have fun, activate the hum and have a checklist when recording.

This is why I have put these elements into The Podcast Planner. We all have different recording times and checklists, therefore inside the planner you will find standard templates that you can easily modify and make your own!

Ira Glass, host and producer of This American Life, describes what I believe is his version of the hum. (You’ll have to listen to the episode). I like that Ira expresses his pleasure and mission in creating the content he publishes on radio and the world.

Now, what has kept you from recording at a level of 100%? Do you experience the hum? I dare you to participate by sending me an email.

Until next time, plan, create and share your voice with the world!