Everything You Need to Know to Start a Podcast (The Education Edition)

 Everything You Need to Know to Start a Podcast (The Education Edition)

You want to start an education podcast but you're fairly tech savvy and you don't want to trawl through millions of online resources that start with "what is a podcast?" Am I right?

No problem. I am here to help.

This is your quick and dirty guide to starting a podcast. It just covers the actions you need to take to start podcasting with signposts to things like editing, submitting to iTunes and all that good stuff.

Before we start, I am assuming the following:

  • You know what you'd like to podcast about.
  • You've decided on a name for your podcast.
  • You have some techie skills.
  • You've listened to a podcast before.

How to Start a Podcast

Rough Out Your Podcast Plan By Answering These Questions:

  • What is your podcast about? (Try to come up with one sentence as this will be useful for marketing your podcast later on).

  • Roughly how long will episodes last?

  • How frequently will you release episodes?

Assemble Your Kit, This Probably Includes:

Outline Your First Couple Of Episodes

I don't recommend scripting podcasts - it just won't sound natural. However, a structure is important, particularly if you are planning to have recurring feature segments.

I outline my episodes in Google Docs. It's worth getting 3 episodes planned and recorded before you submit your podcast to various directories (more on that later).

Record Your Podcast

Record the episode/s. If you want to use music in your show, ensure there are no copyright issues. It must be podsafe music.

I tend to purchase music from Premium Beat - they have great intro and outro options. 

Edit The Episode

I don't recommend spending too much time editing otherwise your whole podcast production process will become too time-consuming.

However, do listen through to the episode (on headphones) and concentrate on the breaks between audio clips. Smooth those out and get rid of any unpleasant noises.  

I've mentioned audio editing software options above.

Upload To Your Host

Upload your episode/s to your host (Libsyn) and complete the necessary information. Libsyn has a great knowledge base if you get stuck.

With your Libsyn hosting package you get a free web page which you can include your show notes on if you like. 

Submit To Podcast Directories

Next, you need to get your show in various podcast directories. This article from The Podcasters' Studio features a great list.

The first place you should submit to is iTunes. The process has changed a bit since I published my first show a number of years ago (iMake).

This is the updated process:

  • Step 1: work out what your RSS feed address is. If you are with Libsyn, yours will be http://podcast_name.libsyn.com/rss.
  • Step 2: go to Podcasts Connect, sign in with your Apple ID and submit your show (details on how to do that here).
  • Step 3: submit your podcast. You will get an email telling you when it is approved. You then need to revisit Podcasts Connect and "unhide" your show.

After that, submit your podcast's RSS feed to as many directories as you like.

Spread The Word

You are now a podcaster.

The next stage is to start spreading the word about your show and establishing a community. Social media can be a really useful tool. You also need to start email marketing (great article here).

Good luck with your podcast.

 Everything You Need to Know to Start a Podcast (The Education Edition)
https://www.theteachingspace.com/blog/start-a-podcast
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