It seems like everyone has a podcast now. It’s great, don’t get me wrong. But often, most of us who begin don’t even realize some of the ins and outs of making a show. I’m still learning as I go. But, I want to share some advice for starting your own podcast; 7 things that I wish I had known before I started Speaking Tongues.
How much of my time it would take
Before I even pressed record on my first episode, I was already dreaming. I knew I’d be able to make this podcast and then go on to my other creative endeavors.
Boy was I wrong!
Between scouting for guests, creating questions and talking points for each episode, scheduling, recording, editing, uploading, writing show notes, etc, I need more hours added to the day! Making this podcast is a lot of work.
My advice is to be realistic about the amount of time you have to dedicate to your podcast. Consider some of the other places in your life that need your attention while you are planning your episodes.
How important it is to screen potential guests
Ok, I’m not about to name names on this one. Let’s just say that I quickly understood the importance of finding guests who can help keep the right tone. People with the right energy, friendly, talkative and interesting – all the elements of a great conversation!
Everyone has a story and most of us have something to say. I found that screening potential guests is so helpful and keeps me from wasting time. Unfortunately, I encountered a few people who didn’t seem to respect the quality of work I wanted to produce. That is, they were in noisy areas, they were live streaming themselves while we recorded etc.. This forced me to scrap these episodes from my schedule. Screening helps me figure out that I’ve got the right conversation partner for each episode.
Take my advice, if your podcast features guests, make sure you screen to snag the right people for the assignment!
How important the right audio equipment is
I didn’t start with expensive equipment and I’m a big believer in starting where you are. But once I realized how much I love making this show, I started paying attention to my audio equipment. If you go back and listen to my first few episodes, the audio was all over the place. I didn’t really get a consistent audio quality until about 10 months after I published my first episode. I even had a friend with his own podcast give me audio advice when I was at my wits end. If I had to start all over again, I would start with a dedicated microphone and better headphones earlier on.
How important the right audio equipment is for my guest.
And that brings me to guest audio equipment! Now, I know that a lot of people don’t have mics that are optimal for recording audio and that’s totally fine. But, I wish that I’d taken steps to check in with my potential guests earlier on to make sure that they had good internet and audio connections. If you’re starting a show that relies of guest contribution, you should definitely consider this as you go forward with producing your podcast.
How small the “language learning” community really is!
We are a tiny niche community and it’s so much fun getting to know people who know people who know people. But I have found that it’s hard to find people who love languages that are not necessarily #langtwt, hyperpolyglots or have multiple flags in their bios.
I wanted to make a podcast that also offered advice as well as of wisdom and encouragement for language learners. Also for people, like me, who have struggled to learn languages for fluency. I also wanted to share vocabulary across languages. I quickly realized how many other people in this community share advice through their podcast, and a lot of them are doing it well. Which left me pivoting and reassessing pretty quickly! So, for this one, I guess that I wish that I had researched the language community a little better and tried to figure out how I can carve out a place for myself in this community from the start!
How much money it costs
When I first conceptualized this podcast, I was daunted by the idea of having to edit episodes myself. I know nothing about audio recording or editing and mastering and I wanted my show to sound just as professional as the podcasts I spent years devouring. With my first few episodes recorded, I decided to go and look for an audio editor and was shocked at the prices! I was doubly shocked at how studio fees add up in NYC ( I touched on this briefly in the last post). Quality mics, headphones and cameras also add up quickly. I had no money saved to put toward this creative venture. I highly recommend that you put some money aside to invest in your podcast!
How many amazing people I would meet
Like I said earlier, this language community is really small. I just barged my way into it one day with a dream and a podcast. I never would have imagined that I would have become friends with so many fantastic people from all over the world. Sometimes I stop and pinch myself because all I ever wanted in life was to talk to people all over the world. I never could have imagined that some of them would become friends, too !
That I didn’t really need to have it all planned out before I hit record on my first episode
As a bonus, I just want to say that even though these are a list of things that I wish I knew and advice for your podcast, the truth is, there’s no way to know how good or bad things are going to go until you take the first step. I could have had the best mic and the best editors and a fantastic recording space and every other thing in place and it all could have gone south. So I hope that whoever is reading this and thinking about the thing they want to do that isn’t quite perfect yet, that you decide to just take the first step and build the bridge as you’re crossing it.
