Podcast Freq

A Canadian survey showed that the vast majority of listeners are in the 25-44 age range. I wondered whether this was because this is probably the profile of the most time challenged individuals - often young families, and developing career. Under 18’s were the lowest and even 18-24 were lower than the 45-54!

This is probably a little older than we imagined?

Bleary eyed at attending the on-line exhibition - picked up some great tips that I will share during this next week. The seminars have been in general very good. Thought I would first share some stats that I got
1) 60m IPOD’s and MP3 players in 2006.
2) This is expected to double to 132m by 2009.
3) 70% of vehicles models will be iPod compatible in 2007.
4) 75% of portable player owners will download podcast.
5) Soon the market will rise by another 1billion as cellphones become podcatchers.

Wow, now they are spectacular figures for us to consider but the main message from the exhibition would be forget the global market and make sure you target a niche…more on that later.

One way to drive comments is to have a voice recorder on your blog. I use MyChingo as a tool on my blog (Look on the right hand side half way down)

As long as your listeners have a microphone it is incredibly easy to leave a comment - and cheap/free! Try mine and see how easy it is…..if you want comments then you need to think about giving the audience as many ways of entering the dialogue as possible…

Email
Comment Line - (could be va Skype)
Audio System - like MyChingo
Skype
Blog

Here is a link to how IDEO hold brainstorming sessions. I often get asked how I come up with ideas when podcasting can be quite lonely. My secret - a wipeboard!

I have it on my wall and every time I hear, read or experience something that I think would be good to share with the listeners I write it on my board. I put the word in the middle and then build a mind map out from it, just putting words up there and building a story around the orginal idea.

Wipeboards or a notebook are fantastic tools for a podcaster!

I have mentioned a few times the need to listen to other podcasts to learn. Learn about production, formats, ideas etc

I thought I would share what is on my listening list and why….

1) For Immediate Release - the ultimate show for format, great cotent and production
2) Wiggly Wigglers - the passion on this show is just fantastic and how people share their love of working with each other.
3) School of Podcasting Give tips on podcasting

Not meant in anyway to be exhaustive more 3 very different styles, different formats for you to listen to and learn.

Oh and of course mine The Engaging Brand - to show you how NOT to do it!

This weekend I am going to a 40th birthday party, I have just downloaded a map to get there….I wouldn’t dream of getting in the car without knowing where I was going. Sensible? I think so. A lot of people “podfade” because they have not planned out their podcasting journey…here are my tips on how to build that ROUTE.

R = Realise early doors that it is hard to keep the content fresh, the only way that you can do that is if you are passionate about your subject. Choose a subject that is you feel passionate about, no matter what the subject.

E = Explore different formats to ensure that the show stays fresh for you, and the listeners. For example, interviews, competitions, forums, music. This means that you continue to learn more about the technology and keeps your interest high

Anyone got anything to add?

Worth a check out is the International Podcast Expo Online which is running October 20-22 this month. THere looks to be some good content and worth a check out.

Podcasting is a relatively new media and I firmly believe that it has enormous power. Here are some areas that I feel will be explored in the future for podcasting
1) Learning on the move. People are time starved and podcasting allows you to multi task and still learn eg learn spanish at the gym.
2) If you think about podcasting as an audio file - it is a great way to communicate to geograpically spread people - via PC or mobile phone.
3) Advertising for companies, not from obvious product promotions but subconsciously via storytelling on their consumers concerns.
4) Employee communications - putting a voice to the corporate message.
5) Employee feedback - great way of feeding back to the Board.

Anyone doing anything else with the podcasting concept….we need to stretch those boundaries.

The best podcasts are completely natural, and most people say don’t read from a script. I wouldn’t disagree but early doors it does help. If you listen to my early episodes I am reading because podcasting felt unnatural to me. The script helped me and I think early days it increases your confidence.
After the first few I then went to a mind map so that I knew the structure of what I was saying - and even now that helps me stay on track. In fact I even use mind maps for interviewing.
If you feel confident to keep a structure and have a natural style then feel free to go without a script, often people who have this style use Castblaster as their recording program. It has sound effects built into the program and is a great program. If you are not going to do much editing Castblaster is a good, for me I tend to have to edit my uhm’s and ah’s out and therefore Audacity is better for that….

Here is a list of questions that I regularly get asked
How do you ensure in Audacity that a stereo track plays in both ears on iPod?
Separate the stereo track, then change each to mono, then choose QuickMix from the menu.
What headphones do you use?
Plantronics DSP500
What do you use to record telephone interviews?
Skype and Hot Recorder
How is the best way to record an interview?
The best way is for both people to record their voice via say Audacity, then for that person to send you the file. Then align the tracks.
Which directory do you get the most listeners from?
iTunes remians the strongest but Blubrry is catching up for me personally.

If you have any questions let me know….

The best learning that I advise anyone who is thinking about podcasting, is to listen to as many podcasts as possible. Not just in your chosen area but also listen to popular shows on other subjects. What are you looking for well….

• How people construct their shows….find what you like from all the differents formats that people offer.
• What kind of equipment do people use - if you like their sound, e-mail them to find out.
• Contribute comments to peoples shows, it gets over the embarassment of hearing your voice!
• Tips for getting people to contribute to the discussion.
• Ideas that you can expand on…helping create a store of ideas that prevents podfading.
• Timing is important - what are the lengths of the popular shows in your subject area.

Listening to others really helps you know how you want your podcast to develop, how you want your podcast to feel, how you can make your podcast stand out, what you skip over as a listener etc

Who do you listen to out there?

Oh this is an area that I am definately still learning about….but today I have just published an interview with Seth Godin who speaks on The Engaging Brand podcast about branding. I thought I would share my learnings on interview preparation.

1. The interview should be about the interviewee not about you. Don’t hog the conversation, let the interviewee talk. If you have views than publish at the end or as a separate podcast.
2. Be prepared. Ask the person if they want to see questions in advance.
3. Research the work - sounds obvious but the amount of people who ask bland questions is huge. Make sure you know their work and ask specific questions.
4. Don’t be afraid of e-mailing people. People love to be asked to be interviewed, it shows that people value them.
5. Make sure you edit the recording well - take out the gaps, the um’s and ah’s, and ensure that the sound levels are equal.

An interview is hard work if done properly, but it is a great way of creating dialogue on your subject. Try it, you will love it.

For anyone who struggles to get the volumes correct between files try this new product - The Levelator by Gigavox. Again it is free, which is great but it also solves the issue of having files at different volume levels. One thing to watch out for is that if you have a file that has a high degree of background noise then watch out as the levelator will amplify that as well.

This product is great for interviews when it is difficult to get the sound levels correct, this little magic tool helps sorts it out for you! Great idea….

I use Audacity to record my shows…why it is simple to learn, it is free, and it has a great support function. If you are looking for a good tutorial on how to get started then try the help page but if you google the term audacity tutorials there are lots of great ones out there. The one that got me started was by Franklin McMahon and is an excellent introduction.

What I love about audacity is that it uses a very user friendly interface with buttons just like you are used to but here some other terms that may help you

• Project > Import Audio - allows you to bring in interviews or other MP3 files to your show.
• Edit>Silence - allows you to highlight a part of the audio and remove it. This is great for interviews if the other person is a heavy breather!
• Effects - this has a multitude of options such as amplifying when your recording is on the low side, noise removal to get rid of background noise.

For anyone starting out it is an intuitive product that you can set up in about 10 minutes and play with, and launch a podcast.

I often get asked what software I use for recording interviews.

I use Skype to phone people. You can use this to ring landlines but also if you ring another Skype user it is absolutely free! Wow, now that is fantastic.

While on Skype I use Hot Recorder as the recording tool - again you can try this for free. I also use audacity as a back up recording facility. More about audacity tomorrow but audacity is free and a great way to start podcasting. Audacity will only record your part of the conversation but it does give your voice a much richer sound.