How to Start a Podcast: a 10-Step Guide

2. Flesh out a schedule and some episodes

Once you know which topic your podcast is going to cover, think about how often you want to publish new episodes. Keep in mind that every episode needs some preparation, time for recording and time for editing. A weekly schedule might be daunting if you are just starting and have a full weekly schedule with work and daily life.

The good thing about developing your own podcast is that you are the boss: You set the pace. And don’t worry: Plenty of successful podcasters publish every other week or just once a month and have a loyal listener base. You can always decide to go from a biweekly to a weekly schedule later once you have some experience. Just be consistent: If you keep changing rhythms and publishing dates, listeners might grow frustrated and give up on your show.

4. Choose a name and a logo

While you are waiting for your recording gear to arrive, now is a good time to think of a name for your podcast. Everything is possible: It can have your name in it, it can be a play on words or just a good catch phrase that captures the essence of your podcasts’ content.

Just keep in mind: Like any good brand, your podcast’s name should be somewhat short and catchy. It will help your listeners remember your show and will make it easier for new listeners to find your podcast when they search for it. In some instances, longer titles also work well because they are self-evident.

Here are a few examples of good titles:

The Daily
How I Built This
You’re wrong about
Crimetown
The Michelle Obama Podcast

When you have settled on a name, take a minute to think about what you want your podcast to sound and look like: Intro and Outro music can ease your listeners into your episodes and make for a recognizable feature.

You don’t even necessarily have to pay for music:

Websites like Free Music Archive and Musopen provide music for free.
Or Websites like PremiumBeat and AudioHub offer music with creative commons license for a reasonable price.

Next up: Your podcast cover. Before your listeners hear you, they see your cover. By choosing a photo or illustration that fits your topic, you make the first look count. You can also choose to simply use the podcasts’ name as its cover.

Great pages to find photos with a creative commons license and free of charge are Flickr, Unsplash, Pixabay, Google Images.
If you don’t mind spending a little bit of money, try Adobe Stock or Shutterstock.

Now, how do you turn your fancy photo or illustration and your catchy name into a podcast cover?

Canva is a freemium service with lots of templates and designs to play around with. You can upload your photo or choose from a library of backgrounds, add features and text and then download the result in different formats to fit your needs.

5. Find a place to record

You don’t need to set up a professional home studio in order to achieve good sound quality. Almost every room can become your studio. Just avoid too many flat surfaces around you that the sound will bounce off of. Bare, empty rooms make for unpleasant echo chambers. Basically: please don’t record in the tub in your bathroom.

A room with a carpet and walls with pictures on them is a good start. Book shelfs around you are even better because they swallow sound. A lot of podcasters start out by recording in or into their closet surrounded by clothes.

Whatever works for you, just go for it: Nobody’s watching, but we’re all ears!

6. Hit record!

You have chosen the topic for your first episode, your recording gear has arrived, you found a place to record. Time to tell your story. Many podcasters record directly with their editing software.

Some hosts speak freely, others work with notes, some use scripts. Which way you will go might be influenced by your format: if you have guests or co-hosts the conversation will most likely be free-flowing. As a single host, notes or a script can help you stay on track with the thoughts you want to share or the story you want to tell.

Don’t forget to record a short introduction to tell your listeners who you are and what they can expect from your podcast.
At the end of your episode, a quick goodbye with ways to get in contact with you (e.g. your email or social media channels) might be a good idea.
You can also ask your listeners to rate and review your podcast on Apple Podcasts since it will help you become more visible.

7. Edit your episode

If you cringe at the sound of your voice, don’t worry: we’ve all been there. Luckily, your listeners will find your voice absolutely normal. As mentioned before, most podcasters record directly with their editing software. And a lot of them use free software.

Apple products already come with a free audio editing software: Garageband.
Audacity is a software that works for both Macs and PCs and is free as well.
Other options (that you will have to pay for and that work on both Macs and PCs) are Reaper and Hindenburg Journalist.

Editing has a bit of a learning curve, but it’s no rocket science, either. Almost every software has an introduction for new users and YouTube is full of helpful tutorials for the most common editing software. Connecting with other podcasters online can help to get support when you need it.

When editing, doing it in two rounds can be helpful:

First, go over the recording to edit for content clarity. Maybe you have diverged somewhere, maybe you had to go back and repeat a sentence. Cut out everything unnecessary.
Then, during a second round, you can edit for style and cut out expletives like “uh” or coughs and other noises. After that, you can run some filters or effects to polish the audio.

Once you are happy with your recording, all you have to do is export the file in a format like mp3 and you are ready to release your first episode!

It’s time to send your podcast into the world!

Your hosting provider will give you an RSS feed for your podcast. By submitting the RSS feed to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, Overcast etc., your listeners can enjoy your show via the platform of their choice. All of these platforms have a quick start-guide explaining how to submit your feed to them.

Podigee directly supports Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Deezer, Samsung Podcasts, Amazon Alexa and Amazon/Audible, Podimo, Youtube and Google Podcasts.

10. Promote your show

Congrats, you have released your first episode!

Now you want to reach listeners – so let them know you’re out there! You might want to set up a website for people to browse on (especially if you have bonus content to publish or if you are also blogging about your topic). And the best way to create a buzz about your show is to promote it on Social Media.

It allows you to post some additional information about your episodes, make your followers curious about your show with teasers and trailers, and get in touch with them directly.

With services like Headliner, you can easily turn audio snippets from your podcast into an audio teaser and then easily post it on social media.

Start your podcast in 10 easy steps: choose what is fun and doable for you. This way, nothing can stand in the way of your success as a podcaster.

Happy podcasting!

Start a podcast in 10 easy steps