Podcast Production Tips – Loud and Clear

I admit it. In the world of $300 camcorders and YouTube videos produced for less than the cost of a Starbucks latte, my view of online audio/video standards may seem prehistoric. I was university educated in radio and television production and have spent twenty years producing big budget, prime time shows, agonizing over every last creative and technical detail.

I not only support, I fully embrace, the DIY spirit of the internet. Chris Anderson’s, “The Long Tail,” redefined my career and was in some ways, the impetus for Magnify Digital. The democratization of content production and distribution is the most exciting evolution in “broadcasting” since cable television.

At the same time, it has resulted in a lot of crap on the internet. That’s why I’m proud to be a dinosaur.

When it comes to using audio and/or video to communicate your company’s, or your client’s, message, professional technical standards need to be observed. It doesn’t matter how clever or compelling your podcast is if your audience can’t hear it, see it clearly, or if it takes too long to load.

In this post, I’ll address the simplest form — the audio podcast. Here are a few tips to help make sure your message is heard.

1. Get Focused. It is important to have a clear focus for your podcast. What are going to talk about? Tell your audience what they are going to get out of the podcast and then deliver. Sure, the most interesting clips sometimes surface when an interview meanders into unchartered territory. If that’s your approach, edit the good stuff together in an interview that makes sense.
2. Prepare. Plan your questions before you go. After thirty-odd years in the business, Oprah still carefully prepares or approves questions before going into an interview. Don’t wing it unless you have lots of time to edit later.
3. Recording. While recording a conversation or interview in a bar or cafe may be fun for the interviewer, it’s not much fun for the audience to listen to if the background noise level is too high. If you must record audio in a loud room, be sure to “close mic” each participant, ideally with a uni-directional microphone (cheap and easy to source). Do a test, ideally before your interview subject arrives. If you are using one microphone with a “figure 8″ or omni-directional pick up pattern (often the case when using a hand held recording device with built-in mic), it is likely you will record a lot of unwanted noise. Either way, if the ambient noise is too loud no matter how you mic, pick a new location.
4. Room Tone. Record one minute of “room tone,” that is the sound of the room without you or your guest talking. Use this material at edit points, overlapping the room tone for a few seconds before and after each edit, to mask the cut point. Sometimes this alone is the difference between an amateur and professional sounding podcast.
5. Audio Levels. I just deleted a podcast with a guy who I know has valuable content to share. But after three minutes of straining with my ear practically pressed against my laptop speaker, I gave up, completely frustrated. The music at the top of was the right level but the interview was so low, I couldn’t hear it. After adding music or sound effects, create the best mix you can using GarageBand, ProTools, or your software program of choice. Then output the file and listen to it on a couple of different computers. Go back and re-mix until it works.

You don’t have to be a technical wizard to produce a great podcast. There’s a lot to be said for bringing your authentic, inquisitive voice forward. However, a little planning and attention to detail will go along way to ensuring your message is heard … from one end of Jurassic Park to the other.

- Moyra

Tags: audio levels, get focused, prepare, recording, room tone