How To Create A Podcast
Steps to creating a podcasts:
Create your recording using your favourite audio/video recording tools. Links to detailed instructions on how to achieve this with different software/tools can be found at the bottom of this page.
The recording can be as simple as you talking into a microphone, or as advanced as including cameras, background music, sound effects, having guests over for interviews, editing, etc. The shows might consist of you humming your favourite tune (even tho that might be a tad too monotone), of a talk show with invited guests, educational videos, news, parenting tips, tour guides of your city, interviews with interesting people, a video with instructions on how to make the VCR stop blinking 12:00, a recording of your baby cooing, a seminar, a lecture, a sermon, a song your band created, the sound of the sea waves as they move back and forth on the sand, crickets chirping at noon, a video of your little brother smashing pots and pans together, of your CEO giving a speech in a meeting. Think creative. There are no limitations. There is no shortage of sounds and sights; life all around us is sizzling with them. Use them to create a show which your visitors will enjoy listening and/or watching.
A recommended length for a show would be at around 10-20 minutes, which would give you more than enough time to cover one or two different topics.
Remember that podcasts are often downloaded via RSS newsfeeds, and as such, a visitor might be listening to quite a few different podcasts per session. Thus, a short introduction for every show would be recommended; nothing too complicated, just who you are, what the topic of the cast is going to be, etc.
Make sure that the filetypes are either MP3, M4A or WAV, if it is an audio recording, and Quicktime or AVI if it is a video.
Upload the podcast to your Personal Filespace, by logging in to your Administration interface, clicking on the Settings menu tab, and then on Filespace(18) icon.
Create the blog entry for your podcast by using, as usual, the Compose tab. Here you should put an introduction to the podcast, a synopsis of the show, and other similar related information. Once you have written everything out, added tags and selected the category, if you are using those (as you should be!), go ahead and click on Publish(1) and then Save(2) on the right within the Control Panel.
Under the Settings(1) tab on the control panel click the Podcast(2) icon.
Click on Browse and select the file you want to use by clicking on it. The rest of the fields should then be completed automatically for you, but double-checking won't hurt.
Check the checkbox confirming that you are the legal copyright owner of everything that appears in your show on the next tab, be it music, speeches, clips, etc. You are the sole responsible about the content of your podcasts. Play it safe, and make sure it's all legal.
All done? Click on Ok to save and then hit save entry again on the main page. Now treat yourself to a nice hot cup of English-toffee flavoured cappuccino; you just created your first podcast.
LINKS:
For more information on how to produce a professional sounding show:
Interactive Voices's "How To Create A Podcast" - General tips and guidelines on creating a podcast show.
O'Reilly's WindowsDevCenter "Create Podcasts Using Your PC" - Instructions for MS-Windows users.
Apple's "Creating Podcasts With GarageBand" - Instructions for Mac users.
Engadget: How-To: Podcasting - Instructions for Mac users.
Linux.com's "Podcasting From Linux" - Instructions for Linux users
Software to create your podcasts:
Audacity - Free Audio Editor and Recorder (Highly recommended)