Thinking About Starting a Podcast? Start With Your Audience
Chances are, it won’t be long before you find yourself looking at microphones.
Which one do I need? Do I need a mixer? What recording software should I use? Should I be recording in a studio?
They’re all perfectly reasonable questions. And we’ll get to them.
But they’re not where I’d start.
Before you spend a penny on equipment, choose your intro music or start planning your first episode, there’s a much more important question to answer:
Who is your podcast actually for?
You can’t make a podcast for everyone
It’s tempting to keep your audience as broad as possible.
If you run a business, you might think your podcast is for “business owners”. If you work in health and wellbeing, perhaps it’s for “people who want to be healthier”.
But that doesn’t really tell you very much.
Think about the person you actually want listening.
What are they interested in? What problems do they have? What do they already know about your subject? And, crucially, why would they choose to spend 30 minutes listening to you talk about it?
You don’t need to invent an elaborate fictional customer with a name, age and favourite breakfast cereal.
You just need to have a clear idea of who you’re talking to and what they’re going to get from listening.
Your audience shapes the podcast
Once you know who you're talking to, quite a few of the other decisions become easier.
Take the format.
Would your audience enjoy a relaxed conversation with interesting guests? Would they get more value from short episodes answering one specific question? Would interviews work? A panel discussion? Perhaps a mixture?
Then there's the length.
There isn't a magic number of minutes that makes a good podcast episode. A 15-minute episode can feel painfully long if it doesn't have anything to say. A genuinely interesting hour-long conversation can fly by.
The question isn't really “How long should my podcast be?”
It's “How long does this need to be to give my listener something worthwhile?”
The same applies to your tone, your guests and the subjects you choose to cover.
Start with the listener and a lot of those decisions begin to make more sense.
Think beyond episode one
This is another reason I like to spend time on the idea before worrying about the technical side.
You've got a brilliant idea for your first episode.
Great.
What are episodes two, three and ten about?
A podcast needs an idea with enough legs to keep going.
That doesn't mean you need to sit down and plan the next 50 episodes before you record anything. But you should be able to come up with a reasonable list of subjects, questions, conversations or guests that your audience would genuinely want to hear.
If you're struggling after three ideas, it's worth doing a little more thinking before hitting record.
Then we can talk about microphones
Once we know what we're making and who we're making it for, then we can start thinking about the fun stuff.
And no, you don't necessarily need to spend thousands of pounds on microphones and studio equipment.
The right setup depends on what you're actually trying to create, where you're recording, whether you'll have guests in the room or joining remotely and, of course, your budget.
Sometimes what you've already got is more than enough to get started.
I'd much rather help somebody create a great idea with sensible equipment than a poorly thought-out podcast recorded through an incredibly expensive microphone.
Good equipment can improve the sound of a podcast. It can't make the podcast interesting.
Start with the idea, not the kit
If there's one thing I'd encourage you to do before starting a podcast, it's this:
Forget the microphone for five minutes.
Think about the person who's going to put their headphones on, press play and give you some of their time.
Who are they?
Why are they listening?
And what are you going to give them that makes them want to come back for the next episode?
Get that bit right and you've got something to build on.
The microphones can come later.
Thinking about starting your own podcast?
You don't need to arrive with everything figured out.
Whether you've got a fully formed concept, a few ideas scribbled down somewhere or simply think “I'd quite like to start a podcast”, 1386 Audio can help you work out what comes next.
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