So today I took the big leap into podcast production. It was a secondary goal of mine when I first purchased my ZoomH4n – and now that most of my research interviews are done for my Masters degree (only a few more to go) it is time to start exploring the podcast angle.

I have been listening to a lot of podcasts recently – and have found a few that I really like the style of. I am really enjoying the informal interview style of the likes of Tim Ferriss’s new podcast “The Tim Ferriss Show“, as well as Pat Flynn’s “Smart Passive Income“. Whilst my topic is different… it is all about how to create and grow engagement on enterprise social networks like Yammer… I love the style and I wanted to replicate it.

Ironically – I was listening to a back episode of Smart Passive Income tonight – Episode 110 where Pat interviewed Tim – and Tim talked about how he uses the ZoomH4n as his “out and about” recording device. AWESOME I think I have made the right choice!!

So… here is a quick and dirty look at how I bootstrapped my first (just be published) podcast episode… “Welcome to The Yaminade”

Setting up for the podcast recording

In this case I was recording what I call “Episode 0” – basically a monologue which sets the context for the ongoing podcast series. That makes it a pretty simple process to capture the recording – one voice means only one microphone! To set up I simply:

  • plugged my Behringer XM8500 microphone into the ZoomH4n using the XLR cable;
  • placed the microphone into a little desk microphone stand that I have;
  • turned on the ZoomH4n

To make sure that there wasn’t too much background noise I closed the office door – then put my fluro yellow ear buds in. Hitting the record button once (as you will know by now) gives you a change to check the levels and ensure you are recording with the right microphone at the right level. In this case the recording level was way too high and I was capturing a lot of noise. I turned it down using the Rec Level button on the right hand side – down at about 60 percent it sounded good. Then…. I took the leap and hit record again

*NERVES KICK IN HERE*

Then I fumbled through talking about the target audience for my Yammer Podcast, the goals of the podcast, and the real reason why I wanted to start the podcast (basically to go deep into topics that matter to people who manage Yammer networks and communities for their organisation)

So… I will be honest… it took 14 takes to get my very first 5 minutes recorded at a standard I was somewhat happy with. And I am sure in 6 months’ time I will look back and thing “WHAT WAS I THINKING THAT IS RUBBISH”. But hey it is a start. I have shipped the first episode of my first podcast.

 

As for how to do all the other stuff with publishing a podcast – like setting up the platform to publish on (I prefer WordPress), Podcast file hosting (Libsyn), and editing (Audacity) – that can wait for another post at another time J