Like thousands of others, I’ve thought about setting up a podcast and earlier this year I went on a day’s course to pick up some technical know-how. The course was excellent but it soon became apparent I was going to need to work out the process part myself. What James drilled into us is to ask yourself the following:

• Why are you starting a podcast
• What will it be about?
• Who is hosting the show?
• What will make it fun and enjoyable?
• What is its USP?

Finally James warned us not to see this as a way of making money – it’s not a quick rich scheme – but assuming you can answer the above questions, then move on to ask:

• Who will listen to your podcast?
• What are they interested in?
• What challenges do they face?
• What can you offer them of value?
• What problem are you solving?

With podcasting, understanding your audience is key.

However, what distinguishes a podcast from radio is the intimacy. This is because we often listen through headphones when walking or running and the sound is literally in your ears.

Over the last few weeks I’ve listened to a range of podcasts where the people hosting have had to turn their living room into a makeshift studio. One of these is Estate Gazette’s We’re Still Here hosted by the magazine’s tech editor, Emily Wright.

Emily says: “We are using Microsoft Teams to record although Zoom would be just as good if not better. And we have all ordered mics that can be plugged into USB ports for better sound quality. Mine has only just arrived so last two podcasts were a bit dodgy sound wise”.

She’s right – the sound quality of the first two episodes wasn’t perfect, but it’s like listening to friends having an animated discussion – which felt strangely comforting as it’s something we’re all missing right now.

One of Archiboo’s favourite podcasts is Material Matters hosted by Grant Gibson.

Grant had the idea of doing a podcast as he used to run a book club at the Crafts Council when he was editor of Crafts.

He records each episode in the interviewee’s studio – he sees that as part of the distinctive feature of Material Matters. The biggest technical challenges are echo and background noise.

His advice is to take into account how time-consuming it is, stick to a format, and to commit to releasing each episode and series with regularity. This is echoed by other podcasters including James, who led the course I went on.

James says, “Although thousands of podcasts launch each month, 93% of podcasters quit  after just seven episodes normally due to lack of traction, complex process and the time it all takes”

Technology

There is a lot of advice on the kit you’ll need – but given it is an audio medium the best place to start is the microphone. Don’t be tempted to use an in-built smartphone/laptop microphone or similar, which tend to result in tinny audio. It’s better to invest in a standalone mic, as this will capture more depth and feel more professional to the listener. Yeti is one that comes recommended. Depending on which mic you choose, you may also need a ‘pop filter’ – which ensures a more consistent sound level.

It’s also vital that you can hear the audio clearly as you are recording live, so also invest in a decent pair of on-ear headphones.

Most agree that for remote podcasting, Zoom has become the go-to online interview platforms primarily because of its ease of use.

The main drawback as an all-in-one platform is that the audio quality is only above average. Zoom compresses the audio files to make the video streaming experience seamless, so you’ll notice a drop in quality compared to recording locally on your computer.

Once you’ve recorded the interviews you’ll need to edit the show using free software such as Audacity or Auphonic and decide on a media host, such as SoundCloud, Libsyn or Audio Boom. The next big step comes in promoting the podcast to your audience and we will come to that in a later post on newsletters.

Best Architecture Podcast is one of the new categories in this year’s Archiboo Awards. The Awards will launch in May.

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