Ten Tips for Improving Your Podcasts
Pages: 1, 2, 3, 4

3. Prepare, But Don't Script

Preparation is the key to a great podcast. All of the podcasters I interviewed prepared some level of notes for the show in advance to remind them of the topics they wanted to cover and specific information about each topic. Let's face it, putting on a pair of headphones and listening to your own voice as you record a podcast is not something that comes naturally to most people. The more you can do to eliminate the uncertainty and stress, the better.

I recommend against completely scripting your podcast. A personal podcast having a script that you follow completely will end up sounding stiff. The one exception is audio theatre, where a script is essential because it's an on-air play that requires choreography between the players.

4. Reduce The Noise

The world is a lot noisier than you realize. Your brain filters out a lot of the noise to allow you to concentrate on the more important sounds. Microphones have no such filter, and you will find that your recordings will have a very accurate rendering (and annoying) of the noise in your environment. There are two types of noise that you need to address.

Environmental noise is the most common form of noise in recordings. This noise usually comes from air conditioners, fans, fluorescent lighting, and refrigerators. Power off as much as you can. If that doesn't do it, you can try recording in a closet with lots of clothes. The clothes will act as a sound barrier. Another trick used by field reporters is to pull a blanket over themselves on the hotel bed. A trick used by musicians is to record at night when traffic is usually lighter and there are fewer planes and helicopters.

Another source of this type of environmental noise is your computer. Both desktop and laptop computers have fans that are readily picked up by microphones. If your computer is doing the recording, then one option is to use a hardware device, like an MP3 player/recorder or a solid state recorder like the Edirol R-1, to do the recording work. These devices have no moving parts and are thus devoid of audible noise.

The other type of noise is signal noise. This is noise between the microphone and the recording device. With simple setups, this can be caused by the use of an unshielded microphone cable. This is yet another reason to use XLR cables, which have an extra lead to avoid noise from interference. Always use the shortest possible microphone cables. In more complex audio setups, you may be also running into ground loop problems, which present themselves as a 50Hz or 60Hz hum.

Podcasting Hacks covers noise and noise reduction in detail. The book covers both reducing noise during the recording, and using filters to reduce the noise in post-production.

5. Come Up with a Format

Whether a podcast should have a structure is a topic of hot debate in the podcasting community. Some podcasters produce their shows with no structure or editing, while others go the other extreme of producing the show to the same level as professional radio shows. The structure of a podcast is called a format, and is composed of a set of elements with some form, topic, and duration. Often, these elements recur over several shows and advocates of formats argue that this keeps people coming back. They may hate your show, but they will come back for one goofy segment you always do.

In Podcasting Hacks, I dedicated Chapter 4, "Format," to formatting. The chapter starts with the basics of formats and then I talk with podcasters who represent some of the best of the different types of shows bring you into their production process. For example, Michael Geohegan talks about how he puts together his Reel Reviews movie review show, Stacy Bond covers how to build a news show from her years of experience producing public radio's California Report, and Tony Kahn talks about his process in developing his excellent Morning Stories show.