Podcasting For Dummies
3rd Edition
Published on 2. October 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
408 pages
978-1-119-41219-9 (ISBN)
Description
Produce a podcast like the pros
More people than ever are turning to podcasts for on-demand, mobile entertainment and information. Podcasting For Dummies offers a fast and easy way to get the know-how you need to produce and distribute one of your very own. Written by a pair of podcasting pioneers, this book shares insight on the technology behind recording, editing, and sharing podcasts, along with tips and tricks on how to produce a pro-level podcast.
Podcasting has enjoyed a recent boom thanks to a new crop of hit podcasts catching the ears of the public and media along with the continued growth of mobile and streaming devices as a source for entertainment. If you want to jump on the podcasting bandwagon, you've come to the right place! In this fully updated edition, would-be and experienced podcasters alike will get all the tech information, production insight, and promotional tips they need to either get a podcast off the ground or improve on an existing one.
* Get the gear you need
* Find your podcasting voice
* Find and build an audience
* Plan your podcast
New tools have made it easier than ever to create a podcast--and this book shows you how.
More people than ever are turning to podcasts for on-demand, mobile entertainment and information. Podcasting For Dummies offers a fast and easy way to get the know-how you need to produce and distribute one of your very own. Written by a pair of podcasting pioneers, this book shares insight on the technology behind recording, editing, and sharing podcasts, along with tips and tricks on how to produce a pro-level podcast.
Podcasting has enjoyed a recent boom thanks to a new crop of hit podcasts catching the ears of the public and media along with the continued growth of mobile and streaming devices as a source for entertainment. If you want to jump on the podcasting bandwagon, you've come to the right place! In this fully updated edition, would-be and experienced podcasters alike will get all the tech information, production insight, and promotional tips they need to either get a podcast off the ground or improve on an existing one.
* Get the gear you need
* Find your podcasting voice
* Find and build an audience
* Plan your podcast
New tools have made it easier than ever to create a podcast--and this book shows you how.
More details
Other editions
New editions
Tee Morris | Chuck Tomasi
Podcasting for Dummies
Book
10/2020
4th Edition
Wiley
€26.90
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Previous edition
Tee Morris | Chuck Tomasi | Evo Terra
Podcasting For Dummies
Book
07/2008
2nd Edition
Wiley
€18.90
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Persons
Tee Morris was an early podcaster whose first podcasts helped build audiences for his writing. Today he is a social media and communications professional who podcasts on topics ranging from original fiction to Internet security to video game reviews. Chuck Tomasi is an IT professional who began with one podcast in 2004 and quickly grew to several more. He has taken his podcast passion to his day-job to drive community and sales.
Content
Foreword xiii
Introduction 1
About This Book 1
How to Use This Book 2
Conventions Used in This Book 3
Bold Assumptions 4
How This Book Is Organized 5
Part 1: Podcasting on a Worldwide Frequency 5
Part 2: The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Podcasting 5
Part 3: So You've Got This Great Recording of Your Voice Now What? 5
Part 4: Start Spreadin' the News about Your Podcast 6
Part 5: Pod-sibilities to Consider for Your Show 6
Part 6: The Part of Tens 6
Icons Used in This Book 7
Beyond the Book 7
Where to Go from Here 8
Part 1: Podcasting on a Worldwide Frequency 9
Chapter 1: Getting the Scoop on Podcasting 11
Deciding Whether Podcasting Is for You 12
You want to deliver media content on a regular basis 13
You want to reach beyond the boundaries of broadcast media 13
You have something to say 14
You want to hear from your listeners 14
Creating a Podcast 15
Looking for the bare necessities 15
Recording your first podcast 17
Compressing your audio files 18
Uploading your audio to the web 19
Grabbing listeners 20
Catching a Cast with Your Podcatching Client 22
The catcher that started it all: Juice 23
The turning of a corner: iTunes 24
Podcatching on the go: Stitcher 26
Podcasting with the G-man: Google Play 28
Quest for Podcasts 29
Other Podcast Resources 32
Chapter 2: Getting the Gadgets That Make a Podcast Go 33
Finding the Right Mic 34
Mics on the cheap 35
Investing in a high-end mic 38
Podcasts Well with Others: The Mixing Board 43
The anatomy of a mixing board 44
Hooking up a mixer to your computer 46
Accessorize! Accessorize! Accessorize! 49
Chapter 3: Building Your Podcast's Digital Workstation 53
Budget-Friendly Software 54
Audacity: The risk-free option for all 54
Cakewalk's SONAR Home Studio for Windows: A first step in running with the pros 55
GarageBand: Moby in your Mac! 56
WireTap Studio: Recording and editing made easier 59
The Sky's the Limit: Big-Budget Software 60
Adobe Audition 60
Apple Logic Pro X 62
Gluing It Together with RSS 63
Keep it simple and get a blog! 65
Doing it by hand 66
Podcast Management 101 67
Size does matter 68
Bandwidth demystified 68
Chapter 4: Go, Go, Power Podcasters! 71
Podcasting with Your Laptop 72
Mackie Onyx Blackjack 72
Shure MVi 73
Podcasting with Your Mobile Devices 74
A Shure Thing: The MV5 and MV51 75
Two for the Rode: The VideoMic Me and smartLav+ 77
Podcasting with Portable Recorders 79
Zoom-Zoom-Zoom: The Handy Recorder Line 79
From Cloud to Computer: Portable Audio Workflow 83
Getting audio from your portable recorder 83
Getting audio from your portable device 84
Part 2: The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Podcasting 87
Chapter 5: Before You Hit the Record Button 89
Choosing a Unique Topic for Your Podcast 90
Finding Your Voice 92
What If I Hear More than One Voice? 94
Deciding Whether You Need an Outline or Script 96
Determining a Length for Your Show 98
The hidden value of the short podcast 99
A little length won't kill you 100
Finding that happy medium 102
Mark Your Calendar: Posting Schedule 102
Posting daily 103
Posting weekly 103
Posting biweekly (or "fortnightly" for our friends in the Commonwealth) 104
Posting monthly 105
I Hear Music (And It Sounds like Police Sirens!) 105
The powers that be 106
I can name that tune I wrote it! 110
I'll take the First: Free speech versus slander 111
Chapter 6: Interview-Fu: Talk to Me, Grasshopper 113
I'll Have My People Call Your People: Interview Requests 114
Preparing for Interviews 115
Asking really great questions 116
Avoiding really bad questions 117
Feelin' the synergy 119
Recording Interviews with Skype 120
Recording using software 120
Recording using hardware 124
Prepping Your Green Room for Guests 125
Welcoming in-studio guests 126
Meeting guests on their own turf 126
Ensuring Trouble-Free Recordings 127
Chapter 7: So What Are You Waiting For? Record, Already! 129
Did Your Sound Check Clear the Bank? 130
Understanding dB levels 130
Setting your levels 132
Noises Off: Capturing Ambient Noise 135
Identifying ambient noise 135
Minimizing ambient noise 136
Now Take Your Time and Hurry Up: Pacing and Clock Management 138
Take the potato out of your mouth and enunciate 139
And now let's take a break for station identification 140
Concerning Tangents and Their Val - Oh, Look, a Butterfly! 141
"Say, that reminds me of something . . ." 142
"But getting back to what I was saying earlier . . ." 142
Recording! 144
Getting started with GarageBand 144
Getting started with Audacity 145
Chapter 8: Cleanup, Podcast Aisle 7! 147
A Few Reasons to Consider Editing 148
The Art of Editing 149
Editing with GarageBand 150
Editing with Audacity 152
Making Your Musical Bed and Lying in It: Background Music 154
Finding the right balance 154
Applying bed music the right way 156
Setting volume levels for bed music 156
Making an Entrance: Intros 161
Theme music 162
Intro greeting 162
Exit, Stage Left: Outros 163
Leave the audience wanting more 163
Catch phrase sign-off 164
Credits roll 164
Coming soon to a media player near you 165
Chapter 9: Roll Camera: Video Podcasting 167
When to Go Video 168
The Price of Pretty Pictures 170
That file is how big?! 170
Burn, bandwidth, burn! 171
Lock and Load (Your Camera): Planning Your Shooting Schedule 171
iTarantino: Creating with iMovie 173
Capturing video with iMovie 174
Creating your episode with iMovie 176
DV on the PC: Podcasting with Adobe Premiere 180
Capturing video with Adobe Premiere Elements 180
And We're Live! - Video Podcasting in the Moment 182
Up Periscope! 183
YouTube Live 184
Facebook Live 186
Part 3: So You've Got This Great Recording of Your Voice: Now What? 191
Chapter 10: Shrink That Puppy and Slap a Label on It 193
A Kilobit of Me, and a Whole Lot of You: Understanding Kbps 194
Setting bitrates in Audacity 195
Changing bitrates in iTunes 197
Care for a Sample, Sir? (Audio Sample Rates) 198
Changing sample rates in Audacity 199
Changing sample rates in iTunes 200
ID3 Tags: The 411 of Podcasting 201
Tell me about yourself: All about ID3 tags 202
IDentity crisis: Making ID3 tags work for podcasting 203
Creating and editing ID3 tags in Audacity 205
Creating and editing ID3 tags in iTunes 206
Album Art: Getting Graphic with Your Podcast 207
Chapter 11: Move It on Up (To Your Web Server) 211
Adopting an Effective Filenaming Convention 212
Understanding How FTP Works 213
Making Your Connection with an FTP Application 215
Step by step (or quack by quack) setup for Cyberduck 216
Step by step setup for FileZilla 217
A place on your web server for your stuff 218
Uploading your files 219
Uploading to a Podcast-Specific Host 220
Chapter 12: Providing Show Notes 223
Show Note Etiquette 223
Planning the Post 225
It's all in the details 226
A picture is worth a thousand words 227
Posting Your Show Notes 228
Posting in WordPress 228
Posting on LibSyn 231
Using a wiki for your show notes 233
Boosting Search Engine Rankings with Good Show Notes 236
Loading up your titles 237
Soliciting backlinks 238
Part 4: Start Spreadin' the News about Your Podcast 241
Chapter 13: Speaking Directly to Your Peeps 243
Gathering Listener Feedback 244
Fostering Comments on Your Blog 245
Focusing on Online Forums 247
Finding free, hosted forums 247
Gaining more control of your forum 249
Social Media 251
Facebook 252
Twitter 252
Pinterest 253
YouTube? For audio?! 254
Instagram 255
Using Voicemail 258
Seeking Out the Comments of Others 261
Trying a general search 261
Searching within a site, blog, or social media platform 262
When the Comments Are Less than Good 263
Chapter 14: Fishing for Listeners 267
Getting Your Podcast Ready for Promotion 267
Polishing your presentation 268
Checking your bandwidth 268
Figuring out your USP 269
Exploring Various Advertising Options 270
Give me a boost, Facebook 270
Insta-traffic with Instagram 274
Writing press releases 277
Promoting Your Podcast 279
Optimizing your site for search engines 280
Submitting promos to other podcasts 280
Recording your promo 281
Giving interviews 282
Generating buzz 283
Part 5: Pod-Sibilities to Consider for Your Show 285
Chapter 15: Show Me the Money 287
How Much Money Can You Make? 288
Convincing Advertisers to Give You Money 290
Developing a media kit 291
Establishing a rate sheet 294
Getting a Sponsor 295
Asking Your Listeners for Money 297
Gathering listener donations with PayPal 298
Building patrons with Patreon 301
Selling stuff 304
Handling Fee-Based Subscriptions 305
Securing your feed 305
The path less traveled 307
Chapter 16: Podcasting for Publicity 309
Podcasting and Politics 310
Telling the World a Story, One Podcast at a Time 312
Keeping Good Company: Community Podcasts 316
Creating a podcast to encourage testimony 316
Podcasting for fun while promoting in the process 317
Chapter 17: Podcasting for Passion 321
The Philosophical Question for All Podcasters: Why Do We Do It? 322
Gaining perspective on passion 322
Podcasting passion with a purpose 324
Sharing your passion with friends 325
A passionate love for the podcast 327
Holding Interest: Keeping a Podcast's Passion Alive 329
Podcasting on puree: Mixing it up 329
Starting a second (or third) podcast 331
Moving forward with a plan 334
When Podcasting, Be like Bruce Lee 336
Part 6: The Part of Tens 339
Chapter 18: Ten Types of Podcasts to Check Out 341
Tech Podcasts 342
Independent Media Podcasts 344
Science Podcasts 346
Self-Development Podcasts 347
Comedy Podcasts 349
Slice-of-Life Podcasts 351
Gaming Podcasts 352
Podcasts of the Pen 353
Geek Podcasts 355
Podcasts about Podcasting 357
Chapter 19: Top Ten Reasons Why to Podcast 359
You Are Considered a Subject Matter Expert 360
You Are Passionate about the Subject 361
You've Got a Creative Itch to Scratch 362
You Like Playing with Tech Toys 364
Bring Your Friends Together 365
All the Cool Kids Are Doing It 366
I Can Do More 366
Bring Out the Best in You 367
Talk to Interesting People 368
The Ultimate Thrill Ride 369
Index 371
Introduction 1
About This Book 1
How to Use This Book 2
Conventions Used in This Book 3
Bold Assumptions 4
How This Book Is Organized 5
Part 1: Podcasting on a Worldwide Frequency 5
Part 2: The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Podcasting 5
Part 3: So You've Got This Great Recording of Your Voice Now What? 5
Part 4: Start Spreadin' the News about Your Podcast 6
Part 5: Pod-sibilities to Consider for Your Show 6
Part 6: The Part of Tens 6
Icons Used in This Book 7
Beyond the Book 7
Where to Go from Here 8
Part 1: Podcasting on a Worldwide Frequency 9
Chapter 1: Getting the Scoop on Podcasting 11
Deciding Whether Podcasting Is for You 12
You want to deliver media content on a regular basis 13
You want to reach beyond the boundaries of broadcast media 13
You have something to say 14
You want to hear from your listeners 14
Creating a Podcast 15
Looking for the bare necessities 15
Recording your first podcast 17
Compressing your audio files 18
Uploading your audio to the web 19
Grabbing listeners 20
Catching a Cast with Your Podcatching Client 22
The catcher that started it all: Juice 23
The turning of a corner: iTunes 24
Podcatching on the go: Stitcher 26
Podcasting with the G-man: Google Play 28
Quest for Podcasts 29
Other Podcast Resources 32
Chapter 2: Getting the Gadgets That Make a Podcast Go 33
Finding the Right Mic 34
Mics on the cheap 35
Investing in a high-end mic 38
Podcasts Well with Others: The Mixing Board 43
The anatomy of a mixing board 44
Hooking up a mixer to your computer 46
Accessorize! Accessorize! Accessorize! 49
Chapter 3: Building Your Podcast's Digital Workstation 53
Budget-Friendly Software 54
Audacity: The risk-free option for all 54
Cakewalk's SONAR Home Studio for Windows: A first step in running with the pros 55
GarageBand: Moby in your Mac! 56
WireTap Studio: Recording and editing made easier 59
The Sky's the Limit: Big-Budget Software 60
Adobe Audition 60
Apple Logic Pro X 62
Gluing It Together with RSS 63
Keep it simple and get a blog! 65
Doing it by hand 66
Podcast Management 101 67
Size does matter 68
Bandwidth demystified 68
Chapter 4: Go, Go, Power Podcasters! 71
Podcasting with Your Laptop 72
Mackie Onyx Blackjack 72
Shure MVi 73
Podcasting with Your Mobile Devices 74
A Shure Thing: The MV5 and MV51 75
Two for the Rode: The VideoMic Me and smartLav+ 77
Podcasting with Portable Recorders 79
Zoom-Zoom-Zoom: The Handy Recorder Line 79
From Cloud to Computer: Portable Audio Workflow 83
Getting audio from your portable recorder 83
Getting audio from your portable device 84
Part 2: The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Podcasting 87
Chapter 5: Before You Hit the Record Button 89
Choosing a Unique Topic for Your Podcast 90
Finding Your Voice 92
What If I Hear More than One Voice? 94
Deciding Whether You Need an Outline or Script 96
Determining a Length for Your Show 98
The hidden value of the short podcast 99
A little length won't kill you 100
Finding that happy medium 102
Mark Your Calendar: Posting Schedule 102
Posting daily 103
Posting weekly 103
Posting biweekly (or "fortnightly" for our friends in the Commonwealth) 104
Posting monthly 105
I Hear Music (And It Sounds like Police Sirens!) 105
The powers that be 106
I can name that tune I wrote it! 110
I'll take the First: Free speech versus slander 111
Chapter 6: Interview-Fu: Talk to Me, Grasshopper 113
I'll Have My People Call Your People: Interview Requests 114
Preparing for Interviews 115
Asking really great questions 116
Avoiding really bad questions 117
Feelin' the synergy 119
Recording Interviews with Skype 120
Recording using software 120
Recording using hardware 124
Prepping Your Green Room for Guests 125
Welcoming in-studio guests 126
Meeting guests on their own turf 126
Ensuring Trouble-Free Recordings 127
Chapter 7: So What Are You Waiting For? Record, Already! 129
Did Your Sound Check Clear the Bank? 130
Understanding dB levels 130
Setting your levels 132
Noises Off: Capturing Ambient Noise 135
Identifying ambient noise 135
Minimizing ambient noise 136
Now Take Your Time and Hurry Up: Pacing and Clock Management 138
Take the potato out of your mouth and enunciate 139
And now let's take a break for station identification 140
Concerning Tangents and Their Val - Oh, Look, a Butterfly! 141
"Say, that reminds me of something . . ." 142
"But getting back to what I was saying earlier . . ." 142
Recording! 144
Getting started with GarageBand 144
Getting started with Audacity 145
Chapter 8: Cleanup, Podcast Aisle 7! 147
A Few Reasons to Consider Editing 148
The Art of Editing 149
Editing with GarageBand 150
Editing with Audacity 152
Making Your Musical Bed and Lying in It: Background Music 154
Finding the right balance 154
Applying bed music the right way 156
Setting volume levels for bed music 156
Making an Entrance: Intros 161
Theme music 162
Intro greeting 162
Exit, Stage Left: Outros 163
Leave the audience wanting more 163
Catch phrase sign-off 164
Credits roll 164
Coming soon to a media player near you 165
Chapter 9: Roll Camera: Video Podcasting 167
When to Go Video 168
The Price of Pretty Pictures 170
That file is how big?! 170
Burn, bandwidth, burn! 171
Lock and Load (Your Camera): Planning Your Shooting Schedule 171
iTarantino: Creating with iMovie 173
Capturing video with iMovie 174
Creating your episode with iMovie 176
DV on the PC: Podcasting with Adobe Premiere 180
Capturing video with Adobe Premiere Elements 180
And We're Live! - Video Podcasting in the Moment 182
Up Periscope! 183
YouTube Live 184
Facebook Live 186
Part 3: So You've Got This Great Recording of Your Voice: Now What? 191
Chapter 10: Shrink That Puppy and Slap a Label on It 193
A Kilobit of Me, and a Whole Lot of You: Understanding Kbps 194
Setting bitrates in Audacity 195
Changing bitrates in iTunes 197
Care for a Sample, Sir? (Audio Sample Rates) 198
Changing sample rates in Audacity 199
Changing sample rates in iTunes 200
ID3 Tags: The 411 of Podcasting 201
Tell me about yourself: All about ID3 tags 202
IDentity crisis: Making ID3 tags work for podcasting 203
Creating and editing ID3 tags in Audacity 205
Creating and editing ID3 tags in iTunes 206
Album Art: Getting Graphic with Your Podcast 207
Chapter 11: Move It on Up (To Your Web Server) 211
Adopting an Effective Filenaming Convention 212
Understanding How FTP Works 213
Making Your Connection with an FTP Application 215
Step by step (or quack by quack) setup for Cyberduck 216
Step by step setup for FileZilla 217
A place on your web server for your stuff 218
Uploading your files 219
Uploading to a Podcast-Specific Host 220
Chapter 12: Providing Show Notes 223
Show Note Etiquette 223
Planning the Post 225
It's all in the details 226
A picture is worth a thousand words 227
Posting Your Show Notes 228
Posting in WordPress 228
Posting on LibSyn 231
Using a wiki for your show notes 233
Boosting Search Engine Rankings with Good Show Notes 236
Loading up your titles 237
Soliciting backlinks 238
Part 4: Start Spreadin' the News about Your Podcast 241
Chapter 13: Speaking Directly to Your Peeps 243
Gathering Listener Feedback 244
Fostering Comments on Your Blog 245
Focusing on Online Forums 247
Finding free, hosted forums 247
Gaining more control of your forum 249
Social Media 251
Facebook 252
Twitter 252
Pinterest 253
YouTube? For audio?! 254
Instagram 255
Using Voicemail 258
Seeking Out the Comments of Others 261
Trying a general search 261
Searching within a site, blog, or social media platform 262
When the Comments Are Less than Good 263
Chapter 14: Fishing for Listeners 267
Getting Your Podcast Ready for Promotion 267
Polishing your presentation 268
Checking your bandwidth 268
Figuring out your USP 269
Exploring Various Advertising Options 270
Give me a boost, Facebook 270
Insta-traffic with Instagram 274
Writing press releases 277
Promoting Your Podcast 279
Optimizing your site for search engines 280
Submitting promos to other podcasts 280
Recording your promo 281
Giving interviews 282
Generating buzz 283
Part 5: Pod-Sibilities to Consider for Your Show 285
Chapter 15: Show Me the Money 287
How Much Money Can You Make? 288
Convincing Advertisers to Give You Money 290
Developing a media kit 291
Establishing a rate sheet 294
Getting a Sponsor 295
Asking Your Listeners for Money 297
Gathering listener donations with PayPal 298
Building patrons with Patreon 301
Selling stuff 304
Handling Fee-Based Subscriptions 305
Securing your feed 305
The path less traveled 307
Chapter 16: Podcasting for Publicity 309
Podcasting and Politics 310
Telling the World a Story, One Podcast at a Time 312
Keeping Good Company: Community Podcasts 316
Creating a podcast to encourage testimony 316
Podcasting for fun while promoting in the process 317
Chapter 17: Podcasting for Passion 321
The Philosophical Question for All Podcasters: Why Do We Do It? 322
Gaining perspective on passion 322
Podcasting passion with a purpose 324
Sharing your passion with friends 325
A passionate love for the podcast 327
Holding Interest: Keeping a Podcast's Passion Alive 329
Podcasting on puree: Mixing it up 329
Starting a second (or third) podcast 331
Moving forward with a plan 334
When Podcasting, Be like Bruce Lee 336
Part 6: The Part of Tens 339
Chapter 18: Ten Types of Podcasts to Check Out 341
Tech Podcasts 342
Independent Media Podcasts 344
Science Podcasts 346
Self-Development Podcasts 347
Comedy Podcasts 349
Slice-of-Life Podcasts 351
Gaming Podcasts 352
Podcasts of the Pen 353
Geek Podcasts 355
Podcasts about Podcasting 357
Chapter 19: Top Ten Reasons Why to Podcast 359
You Are Considered a Subject Matter Expert 360
You Are Passionate about the Subject 361
You've Got a Creative Itch to Scratch 362
You Like Playing with Tech Toys 364
Bring Your Friends Together 365
All the Cool Kids Are Doing It 366
I Can Do More 366
Bring Out the Best in You 367
Talk to Interesting People 368
The Ultimate Thrill Ride 369
Index 371