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| Dan Lyons |
As part of its campaign to reinvigorate its 60-year-old newsletter, Wilbur-Ellis Company—with help from Peppercom—led readers of the revamped publication the WilCon Trader to an intranet page where podcasts that illuminate the stories could be accessed. Doing a podcast requires some content planning and technical know-how, says radio DJ and podcast veteran Dan Lyons, but a good podcast will make a strong, more personal connection with an audience. Here are five podcast production tips from Lyons:
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Vary the content delivery: Podcasters make the simple mistake of falling into one method of delivering content and doing it over and over. “Consider an interview, debate, incorporating snippets of audio from TV, movies, a radio style documentary, comedy sketch, etc.,” says Lyons.
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Record it right: Almost every beginner podcaster has “bad levels,” says Lyons. This scenario causes distortion and effectively degrades the audio beyond repair. To prevent distortion, do a level test prior to recording. Then play back your test recording to make sure it sounds OK before you record the entire episode.
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Edit your audio: To get a professional sound, always edit your podcast after you’ve recorded it. In the same way you can cut, copy and paste words in MS Word, you can edit audio using an editor such as Audacity (free for PC and Mac).
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Upload your audio to a host: Always upload your finished audio file to an external host. Some of the great online podcast hosts include libsyn or even a simple solution like Buzzsprout. The best thing about a good host is that most will have an analytics fea- ture, meaning you’ll know where your listeners are from and what episodes are getting the most traction.
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Submitting your podcast to iTunes is an art: Millions of people use the iTunes store everyday, and if you want your podcast to get in front of a big audience then you must submit your podcast to the store. Before you do, make sure you have good podcast artwork—a digital front cover of your podcast. “Even though your podcast is audio, many people decide whether to listen to your pod- cast based on your cover,” says Lyons. “So make it eye-catching.”
PR News subscribers can read about how a podcast helped transform internal communications at Wilbur-Ellis Company in the case study: "Evolutionary—Not Revolutionary—Changes to Internal Company Newsletter Update a 60-Year-Old Tradition."
Follow Scott Van Camp: @Svancamp01