WEBVTT - How to Make a Podcast 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:07.160 Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from how 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:13.840 stuff works dot com. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:17.079 I am your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer 0:00:17.079 --> 0:00:19.360 at how Stuff Works in I love all things tech, 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:24.000 and recently I did a live stream celebrating the tenth 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:26.360 anniversary of tech Stuff. I know I've been talking a 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:28.040 lot about that, but to me, it's a really big 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:30.240 deal to to be the host of a show that's 0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:34.640 lasted ten years. And we did some question answer stuff 0:00:34.920 --> 0:00:37.879 on that episode, and some people were asking me about 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:41.080 what it takes to start your own podcast, And so 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:43.839 I've talked a little bit about that in previous episodes 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:46.920 and kind of covered it in brief, but today I 0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:49.720 really want to dive into this concept. What does it 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:53.479 take to make your own podcast? Let's say that maybe 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:57.120 you are interested in launching your own show. What are 0:00:57.120 --> 0:00:59.240 the things that you need to think about? What are 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:01.400 the steps you have to take? How much work is 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:05.360 it to produce a show? And as it turns out, 0:01:05.400 --> 0:01:07.880 the answer to that question is variable on a lot 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:11.600 of different factors. But the first thing I would say, 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:15.119 you have to do the most important thing by far 0:01:15.760 --> 0:01:17.840 out of all the stuff you're gonna have to do 0:01:17.920 --> 0:01:21.440 to make a show is to pick a topic or 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:26.000 a subject something that your podcast is about. If you 0:01:26.000 --> 0:01:28.880 want to do the podcast about nothing, you're gonna find 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:33.560 it incredibly challenging to stick to a schedule time and 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:37.280 time again. It is just gonna be tough. Plus, you 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:41.760 want to have a good focus to give yourself direction 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:44.840 for producing the show. You want to make sure that 0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:48.200 you are able to have a goal in sight. Not 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:51.760 only that, but it also helps when you're categorizing your 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:55.560 podcast because a lot of people find podcasts by going 0:01:55.680 --> 0:02:01.880 into their podcatching application of choice to typically, Apple podcasts 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:04.800 is the grand daddy of them. That's the biggest one 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:07.320 out of all of the directories out there. But whether 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:12.680 you're doing that or Stitcher or Spotify or Google Play 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:15.360 or any of those things, chances are you're looking at 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:19.000 things like categories because you know what your interests are 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:21.280 and you want to look for podcasts that serve up 0:02:21.320 --> 0:02:25.640 your interests. That's true for audiences around the world. So 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:29.000 if you are able to focus on your show and 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:32.280 give it a subject that you are going to reliably 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:35.239 be able to talk about week after week, that will 0:02:35.280 --> 0:02:37.720 allow you to categorize your show and make it easier 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:40.120 for other people to find it, because ultimately, you want 0:02:40.160 --> 0:02:42.520 people to listen to your show. Otherwise, why are you 0:02:42.560 --> 0:02:44.920 going through the motions of doing it. You could just 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:48.680 talk to friends about stuff without ever having to go 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:51.919 through the trouble of recording and editing and publishing and 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:55.680 sending it to podcast directories if that were the case. 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:59.320 So presume presumably you want people to listen to it. 0:02:59.440 --> 0:03:03.720 So finding a focus something you're passionate about already is 0:03:04.440 --> 0:03:08.840 really important, and I think being passionate is is incredibly 0:03:09.919 --> 0:03:13.960 necessary so that you will not lose enthusiasm for the 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:17.000 subject of whatever your podcast is, and it doesn't have 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:20.160 to be a specific thing. Like there's some great shows 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:22.120 out there. My Brother, My Brother and Me, which I 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:26.360 mentioned in a previous episode, is a fantastic comedy show 0:03:26.400 --> 0:03:30.880 where three brothers give terrible advice from questions that are 0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:34.600 sent in from the audience or cold from Yahoo answers, 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:38.400 and it's hilarious. It does have some structure and it 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:41.000 does have a focus in that it is this kind 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:44.960 of advice show for the modern era, as they say, 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:48.680 tech stuff. We focus on technology and its intersection with culture. 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:53.120 The Soundtracks show is all about soundtracks, movie music, and 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:56.440 television music and how that's changed and involved in the 0:03:56.480 --> 0:03:59.880 influences that have gone into it. So picking your sub 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:04.080 act is uh is great, and being passionate about it 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:07.400 is even better. You don't have to know everything about 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:10.080 your subject. In fact, I would argue that for some 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:14.120 podcasts that makes the show even better, whether it's a 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:17.440 serious show or a comedy show. If it's a comedy show, 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:21.080 then the comedy can be in you not knowing about 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:24.119 a lot about whatever the subject is and learning about it. 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:27.960 But in a nonfiction or non comedy show, it could 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:32.440 be you learning things and then expressing that to your audience. 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:36.120 That's very much what tech stuff is. I frequently, if 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:38.719 I'm going into a subject, I might know a little 0:04:38.720 --> 0:04:41.760 bit about it, but I never know enough to do 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:45.880 a forty five minute show about it. So tech stuff 0:04:45.960 --> 0:04:50.680 is really ultimately the documentation of me learning about something 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:53.000 and then expressing what I've learned to you guys. I 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:55.640 think that's where a lot of the value of tech 0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:58.440 stuff comes in. It's it's the excitement I get from 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:01.920 getting to learn something. So you don't have to have 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:06.720 encyclopedic knowledge about your subject. I'm not suggesting that if 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:09.840 you do happen to have encyclopedic knowledge about something and 0:05:09.880 --> 0:05:12.240 not that very many people are talking about it, you 0:05:12.320 --> 0:05:16.400 might be ideal for a brand new podcast. But yes, 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:21.040 step one pick your subject. Step two is kind of 0:05:21.160 --> 0:05:24.920 deciding how you want to talk about this right, how 0:05:25.000 --> 0:05:27.680 you want to treat your subject, not just what it's 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:30.440 going to be about, but what sort of format is 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:34.160 your podcast going to be? How many hosts are going 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:37.120 to be involved. Is it going to be a solo 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:40.120 host show like tech stuff? Is it going to have 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:43.360 multiple hosts and and it will be conversational in nature. 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:45.600 Is it going to be an interview show where you're 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:49.280 going to be recording interviews with various people, And if so, 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:51.400 how are you going to do that? Because that's going 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:55.680 to come into planning. Leader on also figuring out is 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:57.520 it going to be a nonfiction show? Is it a 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:01.839 fiction show? Maybe you want to talk about horror, for example, 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:04.240 and maybe you want to do a fiction show where 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:08.680 you actually create either a fictional horror story or maybe 0:06:08.680 --> 0:06:12.800 you're talking about fictional horror movies. That is a very 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:16.360 different thing than a nonfiction show where you're really taking 0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:22.200 a more a more methodical approach to discussing the topic. 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:26.080 Is it scripted? If it's scripted, that's going to add 0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:28.880 more time. You're gonna have to write everything before you 0:06:28.920 --> 0:06:33.520 actually record. But scripted ones can keep things nice and 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:37.280 tight and really again focused on whatever the subject is. 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:41.880 Or is it improvised? Is it something where you only 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:43.720 have a vague idea of what you want to talk 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:46.680 about and everything else just comes out during the recording process. 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:48.720 That could be a lot of fun. It could also 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:50.520 mean that you might have a lot of editing to 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:55.000 do once you're done recording. You could do the interview approach, 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:59.080 which again puts a lot of the pressure on the 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:00.800 other person. You have to learn how to be a 0:07:00.800 --> 0:07:04.320 good interview or something that I'm still learning. Honestly, I 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:07.440 would not call myself a good interviewer at all. It's 0:07:07.480 --> 0:07:10.920 something that I'm working on, but it's still something that 0:07:10.960 --> 0:07:13.800 I'm new to. Or is it conversational? Do you have 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:16.280 someone else sit down with you and you just break 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:19.360 down a topic. That's the way tech stuff started. Chris 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:22.440 Palette and I would do our research independently and sit 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:25.600 down and have a conversation. All of these are are 0:07:25.680 --> 0:07:28.720 different ways of treating your subject matter, but it is 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:31.160 good to figure out which one you want to do 0:07:31.280 --> 0:07:34.680 before you get started. You might also want to give 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:38.040 consideration to things like how long should an episode be? 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:40.680 How how what are you shooting for a lot of 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:43.480 people like to aim for that thirty to fifty minute window. 0:07:43.560 --> 0:07:45.040 That's the way tech stuff used to be. Now it's 0:07:45.040 --> 0:07:48.800 closer to thirty five minutes, but that tends to be 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:51.400 pretty good for people who are on commutes, so it's 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:57.120 a very popular length that people aim for. And this 0:07:57.320 --> 0:08:01.160 also it's important for two reasons why. And you need 0:08:01.200 --> 0:08:02.880 to figure out how long is it going to take 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:06.720 you to give your subject matter the treatment it deserves 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:10.600 per episode. Uh, because you want episodes to be long 0:08:10.720 --> 0:08:15.640 enough to really tackle something, whether it's comedy or nonfiction, 0:08:15.680 --> 0:08:18.320 whatever it may be. But also it determines how much 0:08:18.320 --> 0:08:21.000 work you're going to have to do, both in pre 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:25.960 production and in post production. Not only that, but also recording. 0:08:26.000 --> 0:08:27.960 I mean, obviously the longer the episode is, the more 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:30.800 time you're going to be spending speaking into a microphone. 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:36.040 So unless you're just uploading as you record, in other words, 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:40.360 you're doing no post production editing at all. Your shows 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:43.559 are going to take some time to edit and publish, 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:47.080 and the longer the show, obviously, the longer that process becomes. 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:51.120 And it can be more than just linear. Right, recording 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:53.280 a half hour show and then editing it and then 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:58.720 publishing it does not necessarily take uh half the time 0:08:59.120 --> 0:09:02.920 of recording, writing, recording, and editing and publishing an hour 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:06.160 long show. That can actually take longer, especially depending if 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:09.440 you're if you're not proficient in editing yet, if you're 0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:12.600 just starting out, longer shows are going to take you 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:16.560 much longer to edit. So let's say like typically for me, 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:18.280 I would say that it would take me about one 0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:21.600 and a half times as long to edit a show 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:25.320 as it took to record the show. So for a 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:28.480 half hour show, it would take three quarters of an 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:30.960 hour to edit it, but if it were an hour 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:32.760 long show, then it would take an hour and a 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:37.959 half to edit it. Um maybe maybe up to two hours, 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:41.720 depending upon how complicated the show is, and of course 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:44.319 the more people you add to it, the more editing 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:47.439 you may have to do. So the more complicated the show, 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:50.480 the longer it's going to take you to produce an 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:53.760 individual episode. And this is very important for you to 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:56.520 think about early on. And the reason for that is 0:09:57.360 --> 0:09:59.880 every time you make a show a little more complicated 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:04.240 or it's a little harder to prepare and then to 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:08.720 do the editing and publishing on, you have created a 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:12.880 barrier between you and doing it again, because the harder 0:10:12.960 --> 0:10:16.840 it is, the more you're going to feel disinclined to 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:19.520 record and edit and publish the next one, even if 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:22.640 you're really excited about the subject. So you want to 0:10:22.679 --> 0:10:25.280 be careful. You want to know your limitations, and you 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:27.560 don't want to jump in saying, all right, it's gonna 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:30.000 be a four host show. Episodes are going to be 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:32.040 an hour and a half long, and we're gonna have 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:35.120 a whole lot of soundscaping. We're gonna have sound effects, 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:38.000 we're gonna music, we're gonna have transitions, we're gonna have 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:39.760 all this stuff. I'm gonna add it all in post. 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:42.560 Because you're talking about a process where by the end 0:10:42.600 --> 0:10:45.040 of it, you may be spending three or four hours 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:48.360 per episode editing it before you ever publish it, and 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:50.080 by the time it goes out, you're sick of it 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:52.319 and you don't ever want to touch it again. So 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:54.680 you want to be careful about this sort of stuff. 0:10:54.720 --> 0:10:58.400 That's not to say don't be ambitious. You certainly should 0:10:58.400 --> 0:11:01.679 try to be ambitious. And then, finally, one other thing 0:11:01.679 --> 0:11:04.040 I think you should think about before you really get 0:11:04.080 --> 0:11:07.000 going is how frequently do you want to publish this show? 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:10.720 Should it be a monthly show, should it be weekly, 0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:14.240 bi weekly? Maybe you published multiple times a week. Maybe 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:17.560 you're crazy and you're you're publishing four new episodes of 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:20.960 your show every week, plus a rerun on Friday's. If 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:24.800 you're insane, that might be what you're doing. I don't 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:28.600 recommend starting out that way. But again, the more frequently 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:31.000 you decide you want to publish, the more work you 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:34.559 have created for yourself. And unless you are podcasting as 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:37.839 a full time gig, then you're doing this on your 0:11:37.880 --> 0:11:40.960 off time, and the less free time you're gonna have 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:43.679 for other stuff if you're doing it more frequently. I 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:47.240 usually recommend to people to aim for maybe once a week, 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:50.200 but it is also important to try and stick to 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:53.679 a schedule once you've decided what it is. Uh So, 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:57.839 once you've decided what you can reasonably do within any 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:00.480 given amount of time, do your best to stick with 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:02.840 that as best you can, because it's a good way 0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:07.160 to gain an audience. If you are publishing haphazardly, then 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:09.960 people don't know when your episodes come out, and people 0:12:10.000 --> 0:12:14.079 are less inclined to to subscribe. So I highly recommend 0:12:14.520 --> 0:12:16.640 you figure out how frequently you want to publish, and 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:18.400 then you stick to that as best you can. If 0:12:18.400 --> 0:12:20.000 you start out and you find out that you were 0:12:20.040 --> 0:12:23.360 too ambitious, it's fine to scale back, especially early on, 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:26.800 because people will get used to it once you've established 0:12:26.840 --> 0:12:31.959 the routine. But it is good to have that timely, 0:12:32.800 --> 0:12:37.400 predictable approach. So if you publish, if people know, hey, 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:40.239 a new episode goes up by six pm every Wednesday, 0:12:40.320 --> 0:12:43.640 then people have something to look forward to. If you 0:12:43.800 --> 0:12:47.040 don't have that regular schedule, people never know when a 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:49.199 new episode is going to be out, and you'll start 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:52.959 losing listeners. All right, that's just the beginning of some 0:12:53.040 --> 0:12:56.600 tips and tricks to starting your own podcast. We're gonna 0:12:56.600 --> 0:12:58.920 talk more about this in just a second, but first, 0:12:59.440 --> 0:13:10.200 let's take quick break to thank our sponsor. Okay, so 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:12.960 let's assume you've picked out what you want to talk about, 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:16.480 you know, the subject of your podcast. Uh, let's say 0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:19.160 that you've you've picked a topic that a lot of 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:23.120 people haven't really dove into in great detail. Because if 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:24.880 you do pick something that has already got a lot 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:26.880 of podcasts about it, then you also have to figure 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:29.960 out how do you differentiate your show from all the 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:33.920 other shows that already exist. That's really complicated too. Like 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:37.400 with tech Stuff, there are a lot of technology podcasts 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:39.920 out there. There are a huge number. Some of them 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:44.240 are very very hyper focused on a specific topic like 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:49.720 Android or Apple or things like that, or video games. UH. 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:52.280 There are shows that are dedicated to news. So when 0:13:52.320 --> 0:13:54.960 we launched tech Stuff, we wanted to make sure we 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:57.800 were taking a different take on technology. We were really 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:01.040 looking at not just how tech works, but how it 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:05.560 interacts with us, how it shapes our culture and our society, 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:08.640 and how that changes over time. Because that's really fascinating 0:14:08.679 --> 0:14:12.040 to me, and it goes beyond telling news, which is 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:16.080 really useful. There's some great tech news podcasts out there, 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:20.800 and they're entertaining their informative and it really helps if 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:22.560 you want to stay up to date on what's happening 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:25.200 in the world of technology. But I knew that I 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:30.240 could not do that better than UH podcasts like This 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:33.440 Weekend Tech or at the time se nets buzz out loud. 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:36.960 But today I would say things like daily tech news show. Uh, 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:38.640 those kind of shows. I knew I couldn't do it 0:14:38.680 --> 0:14:41.920 as well as as those guys do it, So I 0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:45.240 chose a different route for tech stuff. Same thing should 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:47.160 be true for your show. If you're going into something 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:52.240 that has a lot of podcasts about that subject matter 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:54.560 out there already, you need to figure out something that 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:59.479 differentiates yours. Moving beyond those basics like the idea of 0:14:59.480 --> 0:15:02.600 of struck sure and subject matter and all that kind 0:15:02.600 --> 0:15:06.040 of stuff, let's talk about actual tech. What do you need? 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:10.200 What stuff do you need in order to record a show? Well, 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:14.600 you're gonna you're gonna need a microphone. That's a big one. 0:15:14.920 --> 0:15:17.320 Although I guess you could if you really wanted to 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:20.160 use something as simple as a phone to record stuff. 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:23.040 But the quality is going to be fairly low. Now, 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:26.480 sound recording quality, you actually have a lot of leniency 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:30.160 in this. There's you don't have to have the best 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:33.720 sounding quality audio out there in order to do well 0:15:33.800 --> 0:15:37.680 in podcasting, although it helps, um if it's if it's 0:15:37.720 --> 0:15:40.120 really bad, it's distracting. If you've got a lot of 0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:44.200 hiss or hum, If there's a lot of distortion in 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:47.400 the voice. Then that ends up being kind of a 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:52.360 a detractor from the quality of your show. So getting 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:55.640 a decent microphone is not a bad idea. And by 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:58.800 decent I don't necessarily mean super expensive. I mean you 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:01.000 can go crazy. If you've got the money and you 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:04.680 want to have a killer audio recording setup, you can 0:16:04.680 --> 0:16:07.920 go and do it. But I don't think it's absolutely 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:11.960 necessary to get a good sounding podcast out there. Uh, 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:14.800 it is important for you to educate yourself about microphones. 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:17.680 There are lots of different kinds. For example, you have 0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:22.520 dynamic versus condenser mikes. Dynamic microphones tend to be directional. 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:24.880 That means that you kind of have to speak into 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:27.920 them pretty much dead on to get really good sound. 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:31.000 They don't pick up sound from outside of a cone 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:33.160 that kind of extends out from where the end of 0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:35.680 the microphone is, so you have to have it positioned 0:16:35.680 --> 0:16:38.280 in such a way that you're talking into it. They 0:16:38.320 --> 0:16:40.920 also tend to present a more warm tone, which you 0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:44.640 could describe as being a little less crisp than condenser mikes. 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:48.480 Condensers do tend to be very crisp. They create bright tones, 0:16:48.600 --> 0:16:51.240 but they are also really good at picking up a 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:53.840 lot of ambient noise, and that could be a pain. 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:56.920 So if you've got a really good condenser microphone, it 0:16:57.040 --> 0:17:01.080 might pick up little sounds and and pick them up 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:03.080 right into the recording, and it can be a real 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:05.000 pain to to get rid of those. I remember I 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:08.480 used to use a condenser microphone for podcasts that I 0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:12.520 was doing back at my house, and those you could 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:15.760 hear the clicking of my dogs toe nails as he 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:18.880 ran across the floor and he was in the other room, 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:22.240 and that was you know, I barely noticed it in 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:24.400 the room while I was recording, but you could definitely 0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:27.400 hear it in the in the actual recorded audio. So 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:31.080 you can use either type. It all depends upon your preferences, 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:34.320 and it's not like it has to be a dynamic 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:39.000 over a condenser. You can check out reviews of both 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:41.919 and decide which which version meets your needs more. And 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:44.320 in fact, there are different reasons to use different ones. 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:47.840 If you're doing a solo host show and the audio 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:50.520 quality is really important to you, I would probably recommend 0:17:50.520 --> 0:17:54.400 a dynamic microphone over a condenser. But if you wanted 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:57.000 to do a group show and you didn't want to 0:17:57.040 --> 0:18:00.600 have a an audio track for each and every single 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:02.439 person that was on that group show, and you were 0:18:02.440 --> 0:18:05.560 all in the same physical place. When you're recording, one 0:18:05.640 --> 0:18:08.439 condenser mike that's located in the center of all of 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:12.640 you might be perfect because you'll pick up everyone's conversation. 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:15.800 It will be much more like the listener was present 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:19.400 during that conversation. However, you have to also make sure 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:22.920 that everyone's speaking at a pretty typical level, like the 0:18:23.160 --> 0:18:26.000 similar level of volume, because you're not gonna be able 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:29.920 to adjust individual tracks of volume. Everyone will be recorded 0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:32.560 on a single track in that case, So if you've 0:18:32.600 --> 0:18:35.840 got one loud friend and one quiet friend, that ends 0:18:35.920 --> 0:18:39.280 up creating this weird dynamic within the audio recording, and 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:42.440 listeners might find it off putting because they may feel 0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:44.320 they have to turn the volume up whenever your quiet 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:46.840 friend is talking. But then when your loud friends starts talking, 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:49.480 they suddenly have their ear drums blasted out. So it's 0:18:49.480 --> 0:18:52.240 a delicate balance that's a lot more easy to handle. 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:55.120 If every single person has his or her own audio 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:58.159 track within a recording, which you would do with individual 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:02.119 microphones or orcorded tracks that are coming in, you can 0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:06.119 then adjust individual levels of volume in post if you 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:09.119 have to, so that's easier to do if everyone has 0:19:09.160 --> 0:19:11.320 their own. You also have to figure out do you 0:19:11.400 --> 0:19:15.240 use an XLR microphone or USB microphone and this this 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:18.359 involves the cable right the way the microphones plug into 0:19:18.400 --> 0:19:23.160 other other stuff. XLR mix typically require an additional power supply, 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:25.560 and they have a cable that plugs into stuff like 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:30.080 external audio interfaces rather than directly into computers. They did 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:32.960 make some sound cards that could accept XLR cables, but 0:19:34.040 --> 0:19:37.560 those technologies change pretty frequently. It's much better, i think, 0:19:37.600 --> 0:19:41.280 in my mind, to get an external audio interface. That's 0:19:41.320 --> 0:19:43.040 what we use here at how stuff works. We have 0:19:43.040 --> 0:19:46.320 an external audio interface. The microphones plug into that, and 0:19:46.359 --> 0:19:48.480 then that in turn plugs into the computers that we 0:19:48.560 --> 0:19:51.800 use to record the audio. Uh. These are the devices 0:19:51.800 --> 0:19:55.800 that will supply power to the microphone. You can also 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:58.880 find XL R T USB adapters, so you can find 0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:01.440 an adapter that plugs in to a computer's USB port 0:20:02.000 --> 0:20:04.360 and then on the other end it's the female end 0:20:04.480 --> 0:20:08.880 of an XLR connector However, computers. Depending upon the microphone, 0:20:08.920 --> 0:20:11.400 computers might not provide enough power to get a good 0:20:11.480 --> 0:20:14.480 quality signal out of the mic, so you can record, 0:20:14.880 --> 0:20:17.320 but the quality of audio is going to be maybe 0:20:17.359 --> 0:20:21.120 substandard compared to if you had plugged your microphone into 0:20:21.119 --> 0:20:24.360 an audio interface instead and then connected the audio interface 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:28.800 to a computer. USB microphones are way more simple because, 0:20:28.840 --> 0:20:32.120 as the name suggests, you just plug the USB microphone 0:20:32.160 --> 0:20:35.560 directly into a USB port using a standard USB cable. 0:20:36.240 --> 0:20:40.320 So uh, some microphones actually have both options. The mic 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:44.879 I have at home is an Audio Technica USB xl 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:48.640 R microphone. I bought that microphone with my own money. 0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:51.679 Audio Technica is not a sponsor. They have nothing to 0:20:51.720 --> 0:20:53.760 do with this show. I just wanted to give you 0:20:53.760 --> 0:20:57.080 the actual model I use. I like that microphone a lot. 0:20:57.200 --> 0:20:59.719 It's really versatile because I can use it as an 0:20:59.800 --> 0:21:01.879 x LUR mike if I want to, or I can 0:21:02.000 --> 0:21:05.760 use it as a USB mike. It's a pretty good 0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:08.520 budget microphone. It's not very expensive. It's less than a 0:21:08.600 --> 0:21:11.280 hundred dollars if you hunt around for it. It's an 0:21:11.280 --> 0:21:14.720 older microphone. It doesn't have all the features that newer 0:21:14.760 --> 0:21:17.280 mics have. But I find that it's a really useful 0:21:17.440 --> 0:21:21.560 dynamic microphone, and I think it sounds great in the 0:21:21.680 --> 0:21:25.359 USB mode. It it sounds better as an XLR microphone, 0:21:25.400 --> 0:21:28.879 but I think it sounds just fine as USB. Mike's 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:32.000 that tend to get really good reviews among podcasters include 0:21:32.000 --> 0:21:35.560 things like the Sure s M seven B Dynamic Mike. 0:21:35.760 --> 0:21:39.399 Sure is spelled s h U R E, the Hile 0:21:39.720 --> 0:21:43.560 PR forty Dynamic mic that's h E I L, the 0:21:43.720 --> 0:21:48.000 Keys Studio Series s L three USB condenser Mike if 0:21:48.000 --> 0:21:51.520 you prefer a condenser, or Blue Blue makes some really 0:21:51.520 --> 0:21:54.560 good USB microphones, including the Yeti. The Yeti has been 0:21:54.600 --> 0:21:59.000 like a standard for podcasters. It's also incredibly portable. You 0:21:59.080 --> 0:22:02.040 just have your computer and a Yetti microphone and a 0:22:02.160 --> 0:22:04.920 USB cable, you're good to go. Uh. The Blue Snowball 0:22:04.960 --> 0:22:09.040 microphones also incredibly portable and easy. We have one here 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:11.399 at the office. We use that whenever we're talking with 0:22:11.440 --> 0:22:14.080 someone over Skype or something like that. There are tons 0:22:14.080 --> 0:22:16.680 of other options out there, and there are no shortage 0:22:16.680 --> 0:22:19.359