From recording, to editing, to content strategy, we have tips on tips we want to share with you. Check back every Tip Top Tuesday for new podcast tips!
Recording
- Have water readily available for your host and guests to avoid recording lip smacks and other unwanted mouth noises. Very simple, VERY important.
- Pick a quiet room with minimal background noise and echo.
- Small rooms with carpeting and lots of textiles, like bedrooms, sitting rooms, or walk-in closets, make for ideal recording environments.
- Rooms with few or no windows are better for dampening sound and preventing exterior noises from leaking into your recordings.
- Always book more time with a guest than you think you need. We book at least 60 min for a 30 min podcast episode. You need the first 15 – 20 min for you and your guest to warm up to each other, especially if you’re meeting for the first time!
- Not only is a pop filter useful in reducing plosives and other unwanted mouth noise, but it can be strategically placed several inches from the microphone capsule to inhibit the recording subject from positioning themselves too close to the mic, and further act as a marker for ideal recording distance.
- Remember to shut off A/C, heaters, fans, or anything that may produce background noise during your recording session.
- Check out our Podcast Equipment guide.
Post-Production
- Apply noise reduction from Izotope RX before applying compression to the vocal in order to avoid inflating artifacts, lip smacks, room tone, and other types of unwanted audio.
- When dealing with remote audio recorded with a phone mic in a reflective room, try applying a small amount of Izotope RX de-reverb to shorten the reflection and focus the vocal.
- In place of a traditional vocal de-esser, sometimes it’s more accurate, more effective, and has less of a global impact on the audio to use a dynamic EQ to sweep the spectrum and find the exact frequency of the “S.” Reduce a few dB to where it is subtle but no longer fatiguing you the ear.
Strategy
- Learn the likes and dislikes of your listeners. See what you can discover by reading your podcast’s listener reviews and the reviews of like-minded shows in the same genre.
- Define the ideal listener of your podcast as if you were describing one person’s personality, preferences, and lifestyle. Knowing exactly who you’re speaking to gives you a much likelier chance of building an orbit of loyal subscribers.
FRQNCY Media is the audio production company for Jane Goodall, Diane von Furstenburg, Coca-Cola, and small businesses alike. FRQNCY is a one-in-a-million blend of innovation, passion, and joy. We offer tailored audio production support including integrated services that take (super-skilled) care of content strategy, market research, production, editing, and marketing.