3 Game Changing Podcast Tips
Part of the magic of focusing on these three things is that it means that you're bringing really high quality ingredients to the table. Welcome to The Message Connection, a podcast dedicated to exploring all the angles that it takes to get your message to the masses. I'm your host, Azurae Phelps, and with over 20 years of experience in the world of production, I've seen behind the scenes of everything from recording studios to the Super Bowl halftime show, and everything in between. Week after week, we will dig in to the medium of podcasting, as well as host conversations with entrepreneurs, business owners, coaches, artists, creatives, educators, and more, to see how they got to the heart of their message and what it took to get them to the place where they were ready to share it. Let's get into it.
Azurae:Welcome back to The Message Connection. I'm Azurae. So happy you're here. Today, I wanna get into a couple of practical tips to help you figure out the best way to get your show rolling and out the door with consistency every week. The first thing I want you to do is to make sure that you have a really great microphone.
Azurae:You might say, like, why? That doesn't doesn't matter. Everybody's on the phone. And listen. These new phones out here in these streets are legit.
Azurae:Like, really legit. I'm not gonna lie. The cameras are excellent. The audio capture is truly crazy. Like, it's really good.
Azurae:But I want you to use the best microphone that you can afford in the season that you're in. If the podcast is something that you know is a strategy in your business, then you need to order this Shure MV 7 microphone. Most of them now, they just plug straight into your laptop. Of course, if you're doing an interview in person and maybe you're in a studio with other folks, that's great. And likely if you're working in that way, then that crew will have you totally set up to sound awesome.
Azurae:But if you're home or even if you're booking and doing interviews remotely, having a high quality microphone is step 1 because intimacy happens in the ears. And I think that makes me uncomfortable when I say that. But if you really think about it, especially if folks are just listening to you, the really important thing is that your your voice sounds really warm and inviting in their ears. And what we know to be true, even as we build relationships with people in our real lives, is that listening is a huge component of that. Yes.
Azurae:We need to communicate well, but, really, like, we're building bridges when we're listening well. So as folks are listening to you, share your message or the things that you wanna encourage them in, what you're inviting them into, we don't want the sound in the background and the sound of the capture of your voice to be a distraction. In fact, we wanna eliminate as many distractions as possible. So my first tip is to invest in a high quality microphone. Of course, there are others on the market at a lot of different price points.
Azurae:The reason I like the m v 7 is because of the quality and the compatibility with most of the tech that folks are using for podcast recording. This gets me into my next recommendation for you, which is to use a high quality recording back end. Now a lot of folks have gotten so used to being on Zoom and watching things that have been recorded in Zoom. We've been trained to to Zoom. In fact, Zooming is a verb.
Azurae:Like, I mean, it used to mean something different. Zoom Zoom. But now it's like, can you could you get in can you get on a Zoom? Can you Zoom? It's like a verb and a noun all at the same time.
Azurae:Like, we'd be out here zooming, and that's okay. The but the quality of the capture is not as high quality as using a recording platform. Why does this matter, Azurae? Well, the reason this matters is because, especially if you're wanting your podcast expand into YouTube, then you really wanna capture high quality video as well. Now today, I'm using my laptop, a light, and I'm using Riverside.
Azurae:Riverside has been one of the easiest and greatest tools. It's literally like being in a recording studio on your computer. The great thing about Riverside is that they are recording really high quality on your machine that is getting then uploaded. So it's not just what's getting streamed in a Zoom room. And, listen, shout out Zoom.
Azurae:Thank you, Zoom, for keeping me connected to my community, keeping me connected to my mentors and coaches. Like, I'm here for Zoom. But when it comes to the podcast, I would love for you to use Riverside or Zencastr as an option for your recording universe. One of the advantages to using a recording platform like Riverside is that it's essentially like a recording studio in that when you invite your guest to come and join you on a call, your producer, engineer, editor, your virtual assistant can also all be in the room. They can be in the studio, but hidden, which means that then they can send messages to you as the host or to one another if something's getting missed or there's a reminder that you need to ask about something or something research that you all had done together that you wanna bring to light that maybe almost got missed.
Azurae:You can highlight that and kinda have a a conversation on the side that isn't affected in the Zoom chat or even on the screen. You still just see yourself and your guest. It's very clean. It's also uploaded on the guest side as well, which means that the the visual is really sharp even on their end. And this brings me to the third thing that I always like to suggest for folks when they're doing interviews, which is respectfully and within reason to try to reach out ahead of time and ask your guests to consider a few things that might make your interview go really, really well, which would, again, be if they have a great microphone, amazing.
Azurae:If they have some headphones or earbuds that they can keep the sound contained to the conversation, also great. Because what that does is it also keeps the external sound minimized. When we're speaking into a microphone, we're not also picking up the computer sound and the sounds of the room or the garbage truck or those things as best as we can. Right? We at least we do the best we can.
Azurae:And then also if you're gonna be on video, to potentially even have a preproduction call with them, A quick hello to see where their setup is, to see if they have good light, if they're sitting by a window, if they don't have a small ring light or additional light, that they have some natural light from the window so that your viewers can see them well and, again, hear them really clearly. Often when we end up on the call for the recording and some of these things haven't been talked about ahead of time, it's a little clunky and awkward to have to talk about tech before you get into the meat of the conversation that you're there to have. And how many of you know when you hear somebody talking about tech or you're getting, like, it feels clunky, it really kinda takes you out of the head space. And as the the host, you wanna be able to jump right in fully prepared, ready to draw out this person's expertise and connect them to your community in a way that really honors their time and your time, frankly, and positions you as an authority as well, as an authority who is prepared and ready to dive in to the meaty part of what matters, which is their message and what they bring to the table.
Azurae:These three things, a good microphone, a great recording platform, and then being prepared for your interviews with some of the tech ahead of time are are gonna set you up so beautifully to have excellent conversations to be truly in the moment with the folks that you are talking to. And even if you're doing a solo episode, part of the magic of focusing on these three things is that it means that you're bringing really high quality ingredients to the table when it's time for editing. You'll have a much easier time creating a really great experience for your listeners or viewers. This gives them an opportunity to focus on the content and to not be distracted by external factors. Environment matters.
Azurae:When you create an environment even with a podcast where folks enjoy listening to you and the sound is really great and they enjoy hearing what you have to say, they'll wanna lean in and listen more, and they'll keep coming back week after week. That's my hope for you with your show, that you get these things dialed in so that your message is what draws them in and keeps them in your world. I'm so glad you're here in mine, and I'm looking forward to talking to you next week. See you then. Bye.
Azurae:Thanks so much for listening to The Message Connection with Azurae Phelps. If you found this episode valuable, I'd love to hear from you. Check out the show notes for details on how to stay in touch, and please leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. These reviews help us reach more people who will enjoy and benefit from the show. Don't forget to subscribe to The Message Connection wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode.
