Podcasting is becoming a trend for gaining audiences online. It's a platform where you can express your character and expertise, as well as lead people back to your website for further resources or services. In this presentation we look at how to get an idea for your podcast, examples, mistakes to avoid and what you need to get started.

1. Podcasting
Tips

2. How to Choose a
Topic For Your
Podcasts

3. Podcast Your Passion
Podcasting is very rewarding and you will have
the most fun if you're podcasting about
something you love. You could become a
celebrity on the internet or a recognized expert
on your chosen topic. Here are some questions
to help you choose a topic:
• What hobbies do you have?
• What do you love to talk about?
• What things would you do whether or not you
got paid?
• What are your areas of expertise?
• What do people ask you for help with on a
regular basis?

4. Podcasting to a Niche
• Podcasting is great for reaching
small, focused and underserved topics of
interest (niches).
• By choosing a specific area of interest to focus
on, your podcast can become a powerful
source of information and enjoyment for
others who share your interest.
• You'll find it easier to market your
podcast, maintain listeners and even make
money with a podcast that focuses on a niche
topic.

5. Examples of
Podcasts

6. The Infinite Monkey Cage
This British chat show is hosted by
physicist Brian Cox and comedian
Robin Ince and consists of a panel of
other scientists, comedians and
celebrities. Each show has a loose
topic of discussion like space
exploration.
The show is fast pace and very funny
if you like British humor. The negative
is the podcast only has a six week run
twice a year, and shows are only 29
minutes each. New episodes won’t be
out until June.

7. The Story Collider
This is a really neat podcast where
people tell stories about how science
has touched their lives. The focus here
is story telling.
Participants and stories range from
scientists falling in and out of
love, bartenders studying quantum
physics and people struggling with
disease and grief.
They are compelling tales that take a
human look at science and technology.
Podcasts are usually just shy of 15
minutes in length and come out .

8. The Dork Forest
The Dork Forest is a safe place where all
the Rangers of the Dork Forest can go as
deep into whatever dorkdom they have.
Comedian Jackie Kashian interviews
people one on one about whatever
obsesses them in life.
The topics can range from beekeeping to
comic books. Since Kashian is a
comedian many of her guests are also
standup comedians making for good
banter and funny off topic asides.
She also gets guests like comic book
author Bill Willingham and novelist Lois
Mcmaster Bujold. It is a grab bag of a
show, where you always learn about
something interesting.

9. Radiolab
Radiolab is a beautifully produced
podcast that weaves together science
and personal narratives into a thematic
whole.
Host Jad Abumrad’s background in music
composition and production adds a
lyrical and poetic feeling. Every month
the main show centers on a theme like
bliss or color and is composed of several
segments with interviews. The
interviews can be with experts or just
people with an interesting story to tell.
Shorter features about specific
stories, like ant invasions or the founder
of the Heimlich maneuver, are released to
fill in the gaps between the main shows.
The main shows are about an hour and
shorts between 15-20 minutes

10. 10 Common
Podcast Mistakes

11. Not Using a “Special”
Web Host
• Don’t use an online file
storage service Using a
special web host
allows you to reduce
your costs.
Not Identifying Your Target
Audience
• Before you start speaking into the
microphone, you need to know WHO you’re
going to be speaking to.
• Listeners don’t just listen to one
episode, they download and tune in for all
your stuff (assuming that it’s any good), so if
you’re talking to skinny guys looking to gain
weight and build muscle in one
episode, don’t start talking to fat dudes
looking to lose weight in the next.

12. Not Having a Professional
Podcast Cover Image
• Get a professional podcast
cover done if you want to
get attention from your
target audience.
Not Editing Your Recording
• People don’t want to hear noise, or
static, or really loud speaking (especially
when they have headphones on). I
recommend always speaking in the same
volume , and running your recording
through a Noise Reduction process while
editing.

13. Not Making It Long Enough
• The key is to get your point
across and teach your
audience something new
without sacrificing the time
and quality of your content.
Not Using ID3 Tags
• iTunes doesn’t read audio file names, you
have to do the naming and the describing
for iTunes in order for you listeners to
know what they’re downloading.
• There are free software programs that
allow you to do this. You can edit the
episode name, the author, the genre and
even the cover that appears when they
download it.

14. Not Submitting To Podcast
Directories
• A podcast becomes popular and gets
lots of downloads when more people
know about it.
• Don’t just keep it on your blog, that’s
like keeping it to yourself. Go out
there and submit it to all the podcast
directories and get found by
thousands of people.
Not Having A Call To Action
• Podcasting is a powerful channel to
distribute content and attract an audience.
But if you don’t tell your listeners to follow
you back to your blog, join your email
list, or take any kind of action, you’re not
using it as the powerful marketing machine
that it truly is.

15. Not Getting Specific About Your
Topic
• Pick on your topic and stick to it.
• Jumping from one topic to the next
without proper transition will
confuse your listeners
Not Using High Quality Equipment
• There’s no need to buy a $300 microphone, but
your listeners can tell the difference between a
crappy $12 headset and a $40 USB condenser
mic.
• Remember, a lot of them will be using
headphones and having them listen to a low
quality podcast with lots of static will damage
your credibility and authority.

16. How to Get Started

17. Before Recording
• Determine the nature of your podcast. What will the content be? Write it down
so you don't forget. Come up with an outline or some sort of organizer to keep
track of what you will discuss and/or promote.
• Choose the products you'll use to Podcast. Most podcasts include a microphone
(USB or analog), mixer (for analog mic) or even a new computer. There are
different podcast starter packages out there you can buy for around $100.
• Pick your software. If you have a Mac, you can record using Garageband (it comes
free with every Mac as part of the iLife suite). There are free software packages
(like Audacity) and expensive software (Adobe Audition). There are also tiered
versions of software, like Sony Acid (music studio is only $50 whereas Acid Pro is
$200). Some mixers and microphones come with free software to use.

18. Creating Your Podcast
• Prepare your content. You may want to put together scripts for what you will say at
the beginning of a show and when you transition from one story to another. Put your
content in order so you can read down the list.
• Record the audio for your podcast. This is probably the biggest step for without
your voice, your podcast doesn't exist. Talk in a consistent pace and show passion in
your subjects. Read the scripts and don't forget to thank people for being part of the
show.
• Save the audio file to your computer desktop. Make sure it's in MP3 format; a bit
rate of 128 kbps is probably sufficient for a talk-show podcast, but podcasts featuring
music will want bit rates of 192 kbps or better.
• Create your RSS podcast feed. The feed must meet all industry standards for a valid
2.0 feed with enclosures.

19. Uploading Your Podcast
• Put your RSS podcast feed on the Internet. Go to Feedburner and type in the
URL of your blog and click "I am a podcaster!" In the next screen, configure the
elements for your podcast. These are the elements that directly relate to the
podcast. Your feedburner feed is your podcast.
• Give it a second. In a few minutes, Feedburner should add this to your feed, and
now you have an episode! You can submit it to iTunes or a number of other podcast
directories to get it known. You may want to wait, however, until you have some
experience, so that your podcast will be compared as a fifth episode to another's
first.

20. Resources for Making Podcasting Simple
http://www.hipcast.com
http://www.libsyn.com
http://www.podbean.com

21. QUESTIONS?

22. THANK YOU!!!