This Is Everything You Need to Know About Starting a Podcast

Podcasts have exploded in popularity over the past ten years, with popular celebrities flocking to the medium alongside thousands of amateur podcasters and hundreds of millions of listeners. 

It is little wonder why because podcasts represent a fantastic opportunity for creators looking to produce quality long-form content without having to spend enormous amounts of money or requiring much effort. 

Indeed, podcasting has become as influential as radio or television in recent years, with celebrities such as Joe Rogan (host of the Joe Rogan Experience) and Ricky Gervais (host of the Ricky Gervais Show and more recently Absolutely Mental) adding considerable weight to the cultural relevance of podcasting.

This acceptance by popular culture has led to countless amounts of podcasts being created every day, but you might be wondering how hard it is to make one yourself and how feasible it is to grow it into a successful show. 

Here is everything you need to know about starting a podcast:

Start with a clear concept or content idea

The best place to start when working out How To Start a Podcast is to come up with a clear theme or concept for your podcast show. 

A common mistake people make when deciding to create a podcast is to skip this stage and start recording random chats with their friends or try to come up with content off the top of their heads. This might sound exciting, especially if you trust in your talents as a broadcaster, but the reality is that without a clear theme, you give no one a reason to listen. 

Although celebrities can get away with simply ‘being themselves’ on podcasts, if you are unknown, then it is best to devise a clear niche to fill.

This could be anything that interests you enough to create show after show without becoming boring or repetitive. It is, therefore, best to follow your passions and create a show based around your specialist interests – whether soccer, business, or cake-making.

Make sure you have the right equipment

Once you have found a clear and compelling niche for your podcast, the next stage is to ensure you have the right equipment. 

One of the reasons why podcasting is growing in popularity is because shows are so easy to create. At its most basic, all you need is a computer mic, recording software, and an audio editing tool, all of which are standard on most computers. If you want to invest in a higher production quality, buy a directional microphone, and specialist podcast editing software. 

Plan your content in advance

Remember to plan your content in advance. There is nothing less interesting than listening to someone who is sputtering their way through an hour of unplanned conversation, so make sure you at least have an outline for each episode. 

It is also a good idea to devise a theme on which to base each episode around. The specificity of this is up to you, so long as you know what you are going to talk about before you start recording. 

Prior planning has the additional benefit of keeping you on schedule during the course of each season. 

You won’t have to suddenly think of a theme each week because the rough outline would have been created weeks or months before. This will prevent you from becoming overwhelmed with work or becoming bogged down by a lack of creativity. Check out Libsyn’s podcast guide for more info on how to get started.

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