Amelia [00:00:04] [Twinkling, airy music begins to play, overlapping with the introduction] Welcome to The Softer Cast, a podcast for small business owners and creatives who want tender podcast advice without any tech bro bullshit.

Amelia [00:00:12] I'm Amelia Hruby and I'm the founder of Softer Sounds, a feminist podcast studio for women and non-binary entrepreneurs. On this show, I answer your questions about podcasting.

Amelia [00:00:23] Things like:

Amelia [00:00:23] Should I put my show on YouTube?

Amelia [00:00:25] Can I just record it on Zoom?

Amelia [00:00:27] How much do editors really cost?

Amelia [00:00:29] And how many downloads should my podcast be getting?

Amelia [00:00:32] Yeah, I'll even answer that question. Every episode of The Softer Cast is really practical, a little magical, and less than 10 minutes long. If you like what you hear, please subscribe to the show and share it with your podcast bestie. Then, head to the show notes to check out our free resources.

Amelia [00:00:51] [Intro music quiets but continues to play] No matter where you're at in your podcasting journey, we're here to support you. Join us on the softer side of podcasting.

Amelia [00:01:05] Hi, friends, and welcome to The Softer Cast [music fades out]. I'm your host, Amelia Hruby and I am the founder of Softer Sounds, a feminist podcast studio for entrepreneurs and creatives. At Softer Sounds, we love our small business owner friends, and I make this podcast for all of you to help answer your questions about podcasting. We bring a technical and tender approach to podcasting on this show and so, I'm really excited actually about today's question because I think it really understands what we're all about. So, today's question is from Andi, and she sent a voice message, so I'm just going to let you listen to it. Here's Andi in her own words.

Andi [00:01:45] Hi, Amelia, this is Andi. I absolutely love your podcast. I just binged the entire Softer Cast in, like, two days, I think. Anyways, I have a question. I heard your podcast episode that was talking about, you know, how— how to set up a podcast for free 99. I'm curious of— on a different version of that question, I'm curious about, like, the setup for the most is easeful version. So, even if it does require paying something, what's the most easeful podcast experience in terms of user interface, in terms of, like, the tech part of it, what do you find to be the most easeful? So, if somebody's thinking through each of those steps, how would— how would you— what— what tools or tech or things would you recommend to make that whole process more easeful?

Amelia [00:02:38] All right, loves. Let's get into the most easeful version of making a podcast. We love to let it be easy here is Softer Sounds. So, if I wanted to make a podcast that felt really easy to make while still sounding great, here's what I would do.

Amelia [00:02:52] First of all, I would spend some time getting really clear on the concept and the content. What is your show about? What is your show not about? Who is it for? How will you make it stand out for those folks so they're super excited to listen? What is everything you want to have in a typical episode structure? This may seem really basic, but I think it's, like, the fundamental starting place of the podcast process.

Amelia [00:03:16] And too often I see folks have the idea of like, “I should start a podcast,” and then they buy a mic and maybe they, like, try to set up set it up once [laughs lightly] and then it just sits in their closet forever because they haven't really thought about what they're going to say and how they're going to say it.

Amelia [00:03:31] So, the first step is concept and content.

Amelia [00:03:35] Your second step is to go deeper into the content and spend time really planning the outline or script for each episode. You're going to hear in a moment that for the easiest podcast workflow, I'm actually going to recommend we skip the editing process. And that means you're going to want your recordings to shine— and shiny, beautiful, one-take recordings require prep and practice.

Amelia [00:03:59] Something I tell Softer Sounds clients that generally really surprises them is that you should plan to record your first episode two to three times. Normally, when it's your first episode and you're just getting started, it takes a while to feel comfortable on the mic. I know you may hear me say that I record things one-take and don't edit them. And in fact, you're going to hear me say that a little later in this episode [chuckles quickly].

Amelia [00:04:22] But I have been podcasting for years. Like, podcasting is a skill. It requires practice, and I actually think you're really well-served by practicing that before you get started. So, like, do some practice recordings, have fun with yourself. Don't be afraid to laugh at yourself.

Amelia [00:04:37] Somebody recently pointed out to me that I laugh on all my solo episodes, and I was like, "Yeah, because I'm having a good time alone." That's fine. [Laughs] See, insert laughter there. But I think that really this is, like, a crucial part of it.

Amelia [00:04:50] If you want to have the most useful podcast process, the more work you do earlier in the process, the less work you're going to need to do later on, because the better your recordings are, the less work they're going to need to sound great for your listeners.

Amelia [00:05:06] So, first step is get really clear on your concept and your content.

Amelia [00:05:11] Second step is spend time prepping your episodes and practicing podcasting. And of course, if you want support with either of those steps, this would be a great time to book a podcast planning session with me. Just to toot my own horn, helping you find the podcast that you're meant to make, and that's really aligned with your goals for your business or your creative practice, like, that's one of my superpowers and podcast planning sessions are where we can really dive into that together.

Amelia [00:05:42] So, you know, if you haven't already gotten clear on your concept of content, if you haven't already prepped and scripted some episodes, like, there's a link in the show notes to learn more information. Okay, so after concept, content, prepping, practicing, then let's get into tech.

Amelia [00:05:55] So, what's the most easeful tech for making a podcast? The first thing you're going to need is a microphone. I say this in the, "How to Make a Podcast for Free," episode. You're going to need a microphone and headphones. And I'm also assuming that you have a computer that will have a USB input, just for the record.

Amelia [00:06:11] So, for your microphone, I would recommend the Samson Q2U podcast mic. You can get the podcast pack version, they call it, with, like, a mic, and a stand, and a cord— normally you can find it for like 50 to $70 online. I'll link a couple places to get it in the show notes. This mic sounds great and it's easy to use. You just turn it on, plug it into a USB port on your computer, and go.

Amelia [00:06:34] And at this stage, it's definitely my preference over a Blue Yeti mic, which is also a very commonly recommended beginner microphone— I mean I recommend some Blue microphones on the Softer Sounds website. But I've just found that a lot of my clients have trouble with the Blue Yeti. It's not entirely clear which way it should face or what part you should talk into, and so the audio quality can really vary. But on the Samsung Q2U, it looks like a microphone that, like, a musician would use on stage. It's very intuitive to use. So, that's my mic recommendation.

Amelia [00:07:04] The next tech you need is headphones. So, you can use Apple EarPods— the corded Apple headphones. Many of us have those just lying around our house and that's great for podcasting. While the EarPods are great, please, for the love of the Goddess, do not record with AirPods [laughs].

Amelia [00:07:22] The mic on your AirPods is not high-quality sound. It often sounds very echoey. It's often very hollow. You will get reverb and even if you have your AirPods in, but you're recording with a different mic, I've found that sometimes computers will— like the Bluetooth will pick up the AirPods and switch your mic midway through the recording. And then, even if you didn't intend to be recording through that mic, now you suddenly are.

Amelia [00:07:46] So, I do not recommend [laughs] recording a podcast with AirPods. Get a pair of Apple EarPods. Not AirPods. I had to look up what those things are called but apparently, Apple calls them EarPods [laughs]— the plug-in headphones or any other, just, like, simple kind of earbuds that you plug in.

Amelia [00:08:04] If you want something slightly upgraded from that. I also love the Sony MDR- Zx110s. They're, like, I think normally $20 often on sale for 10, like a really basic, very portable over-ear headphone or if you want to get fancy, the ones I use are also pretty affordable— the Audio-Technica ATH-M20xs. I don't know why these are all named such, like, things [laughs], such letters and numbers. But anyway, these only cost around $40 and they are a great setup over-ear headphones.

Amelia [00:08:32] And I will say upfront that over-ear is going to give you a better sound than in the ear or Bluetooth of any variety. I know it's not the cutest look if you're recording video, but it is what I'm going to recommend for great sound.

Amelia [00:08:47] Okay. Now that you got your mic and your headphones and your computer, you're ready to record onto the next step of the process. So, there are a lot of ways to record audio. There are a lot of ways to record a podcast. And I find that it really varies from person to person what feels easiest for them, and that's really going to vary a lot also, just based on your general tech savviness.

Amelia [00:09:10] So, I think the option that feels easiest to most people at this point is to record in Zoom. Whether you're recording solo or with a guest, you open up a Zoom room, you hit record and you're off. Now, Zoom audio is not the highest quality, but it is easy, which was the question I was asked here [chuckles]— like what is the easiest? I think recording in Zoom is the easiest. Your audio might sound a little muddy. It's going to be compressed. It's not going to— again, it's not the highest quality, but it's easy.

Amelia [00:09:38] After Zoom, I'd say the next, like, step up or level up for easy recording would be an online recording platform like Riverside or Zencastr. These are similar to Zoom, but they're built for recording rather than just having a live call. So, they record higher quality audio and video. Like, if you're just on a call with somebody, you don't need that high quality. It really slows it down. And since Zoom is about live calls, they don't emphasize it.

Amelia [00:10:02] But Riverside and Zencastr do emphasize that high-quality audio and video and— and capturing that in the recording. So, I think they're both great tools. They have both done major upgrades this spring. I'm recording this in spring of 2023. And at this stage, I think they're pretty comparable in what they offer. They've also got a little trickier and buggier to use, so if you'd like to use one of those, I recommend making an account in each one and just seeing what feels most intuitive to you. But again, for the easiest, I would recommend Zoom.

Amelia [00:10:36] After recording, we're on to editing, so this is where the options multiply even further. I would say at this stage there are two types of editing softwares. You've got traditional editing software and text-based editing software.

Amelia [00:10:49] So, a traditional editing software is where you download a program to your computer, you import the audio, and you edit the waveform while you listen to it. Of the traditional editing softwares, I always recommend Audacity. It's free. It's what I use. It's much easier than something like Pro Tools or Audition, but lots of folks I know who have Macs also do basic editing in GarageBand. So, if you want to edit then I might recommend Audacity.

Amelia [00:11:14] The second newer editing software is text-based editing software, so this would be a tool like Descript— or Riverside and Zencastr are also introducing text-based edits right into their recording platforms. And folks love text-based editing because you make changes to the audio by editing a transcript of it.

Amelia [00:11:34] So, you import your recording, the software transcribes it, and then you just cut, paste, and delete text to create your episode. So, if this is appealing to you, I do think Descript is a great tool, but there's definitely a learning curve [laughs].

Amelia [00:11:47] Like, it takes time to kind of figure out how to use it, especially if you want to do more nuanced things like add in music or transitions or do fades, things like that. It's a little finicky, but I will say, like, I have plenty of clients and actually even my partner has a podcast and they use Descript to produce great sounding audio.

Amelia [00:12:06] So, I think the two types of editing softwares, again, are these traditional editing softwares you're listening and editing a waveform or a text-based editing software where you're making changes to a transcript. If you want to edit, those are your choices.

Amelia [00:12:19] Maybe to back up for a moment. I think editing has three purposes— kind of three different elements of editing. There's dialog editing where you are adding or removing things from the conversation. There's sound engineering where you're making the sound sound great and there's sound design where you're adding in music, sound effects, and other things.

Amelia [00:12:37] So, each of these is time intensive in their own way. I would say dialog editing is especially time intensive, which is why folks love the transcript software— so the text-based editing softwares. For sound design— you can do that a little bit in some of those text-based ones, but I think traditional editing software is where you're really going to go to be adding in music and other things.

Amelia [00:12:58] But if you don't want or need to do dialog editing or sound design, you can actually get away with not editing your podcast at all because you can do some basic sound engineering really easily. I'm going to tell you how.

Amelia [00:13:12] So, [laughs softly] in the spirit of the easiest way to create a podcast, I'm gonna say your best bet, again, is to focus on making those recordings great and then just not edit them. Like, who needs editing?

Amelia [00:13:24] [Laughs] I mean, I run an entire business where, like, I think, 85% of our revenue is people paying for podcast editing services. So, lots of folks need and want editing. But to be able to tell any particular person, like, the easiest way for them to edit, I definitely need to know more about your specific goals and, like, what type of editing you desire to do.

Amelia [00:13:46] So, if you want to talk to me about editing your own project, definitely suggest booking a podcast planning session. We can figure out what's the best software, what's a good workflow, all of that. But I would say on the whole, if the question again is— what is the easiest way to make a podcast?

Amelia [00:14:00] Record something stellar and then don't edit it. That's what I got [laughs].

Amelia [00:14:05] So, instead of editing, here's what I would do after recording. I would sign up for the podcast-hosting platform Buzzsprout. No matter whether you edit or not, you're going to need a podcast hosting platform. Buzzsprout is my favorite. It's got a really nice suite of additional services instead of just hosting your podcast, they've got a whole bunch of other bonus stuff that I find really useful for small business owners. And one of those things is Magic Mastering.

Amelia [00:14:30] So, I would sign up for Buzzsprout, I would add Magic Mastering to your plan. I think it's six bucks a month to add it. And what that's going to do is it's going to apply some really great audio algorithms to your— what you upload, so that you sound great. Those algorithms are going to do things like pull out the background noise, filter out sounds that are too low or too high, you know, level the loudness so it's all the same amount of loudness that are being super, super quiet and then really, really loud. It'll all be the same.

Amelia [00:15:00] So, on my task to make the easiest podcast ever, I would just upload my recording file— my MP3 to Buzzsprout, apply Magic Mastering, write my episode title and description, and then schedule it to publish and that's it. That's the whole thing.

Amelia [00:15:14] So, let me recap. Here is my advice on the easiest way to make a podcast. I got eight steps. I love an eight-step process here at Softer Sounds. So, we've got eight.

Amelia [00:15:23] Step number one: Figure out your concept and content. Get really clear on those two things.

Amelia [00:15:28] Step two: Plan and practice your episodes.

Amelia [00:15:32] Step three: Get your mic and headphones. You can do that in whatever order you want, but get your equipment.

Amelia [00:15:37] Step four: Record in Zoom for the easiest option or Zencastr or Riverside if you want a little level up.

Amelia [00:15:44] Step five: Download your recording file and then—

Amelia [00:15:47] Step six: Uploaded it to Buzzsprout and apply Magic Mastering.

Amelia [00:15:50] After you do that, you just write your title and description in Buzzsprout and you publish or schedule your episode and that's it.

Amelia [00:15:58] And since this question came after the, you know, making a podcast for free 99 episode, I'll just give you a tally on the budget.

Amelia [00:16:04] So, I recommended a $50 mic, some $20 headphones, and then Buzzsprout with Magic Mastering is $18 a month for as long as you want your podcast to stay online.

Amelia [00:16:14] So, your start-up cost— mic, headphones, and one month of Buzzsprout would be $88. More eights. Love it. Magic number.

Amelia [00:16:21] Now, if you want to edit your episodes or add on an intro or an outro, then we'd have to add steps to your process. But honestly, lately, I'm really loving shows without the intro/outro bells and whistles, so I empower you to just record and share it, see what your audience thinks.

Amelia [00:16:39] And I will say again that in this easy workflow, I think you will want to do more practice and episode prep than if you were editing. It definitely takes practice to get good at one-take recording.

Amelia [00:16:51] Something I notice for myself is that, like, it also really takes, kind of, tuning into my energy and when I'm tired, I can't one-take record [laughs softly]. Like, I just can't do it. I can still record, but it's going to require me like pausing, thinking about my thoughts, doing some editing later. If I'm recording on, like, the best day of my cycle when everything is going, I can one-take all day long and not need to touch it and just upload it.

Amelia [00:17:16] So, I think, again, it takes practice. It really helps to have a good outline or a great script, but I still think that that is easier and less work than learning how to edit a podcast. Also, getting good at speaking in that way will serve you in a lot of other areas of your life that, like, taking the time to learn to edit audio might not unless you want to start a podcast editing business like I did, which welcome. I'd love to have you in the industry.

Amelia [00:17:42] I hope that this episode helped. Thank you so much, Andi, for your question. And to anyone out there who wants to figure out the most easeful way for you to make your own podcast, I think this will be helpful, but I'd really encourage you to go ahead and book a podcast planning session.

Amelia [00:17:59] When I'm recording this, they only cost $249. I can't promise if you're listening in the future, that's still what they cost, but I would love to bring everything I know about podcasting to you and your show and your needs, and we could figure out what's the easiest way for you to make a show if you want an intro and outro, what's an easiest way for you to make a show if you're always going to have guests, or you're never going to have guests, or you want to put an ad in the middle, we could talk through all of that with your specific needs in mind in a planning session.

Amelia [00:18:27] So again, that's linked below in the show notes. I've also linked all of the equipment and software that I talked about in this episode and the link to send me your own question. I'd love to hear from you. I'd love to help you with the tender and [outro music begins to play] technical support that you need to make the podcast of your dreams. And until next time, I'll see you on the softer side of podcasting.

Amelia [00:18:59] Thanks so much for listening to The Softer Cast. If you enjoyed this episode, please send it to your podcast bestie. And after you do that, go ahead and drop us five stars in Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Amelia [00:19:11] If you'd like to submit a question, head to speakpipe.com/softercast to record a message or email us at hi@softersounds.studio.

Amelia [00:19:20] And last but not least, we made some awesome free things for you. Head to the show notes to download our Free Podcast Launch Toolkit for our 3-step Podcast Audit. No matter where you're at in your podcasting journey, we're here to support you.

Amelia [00:19:36] Thanks again for tuning in and joining us on the softer side of podcasting [twinkling, airy music closes out the show].