How to make a podcast
About the author
Dr Anna Ploszajski is an award-winning materials scientist, writer, presenter, podcaster, performer, trainer and storyteller based in London. She has produced and presented her podcast, Handmade, for five years, in which she interviews crafters, makers, movers and shakers about the world of materials and making. These conversations were the inspiration for her first book, Handmade: A Scientist’s Search for Meaning Through Making, published by Bloomsbury.
Anna is an industry specialist in helping scientists and researchers translate their technical content for the audio medium; she has sat on the panel for the British Podcast Awards’ Pulse Award and trains academics and students in planning and producing podcasts for science communication and public engagement. In her spare time, Anna plays the trumpet in a funk and soul covers band and is an ultra-endurance open water swimmer. Oh, and it’s pronounced “Por-shy-ski”.
Twitter: @AnnaPloszajski
Instagram: @annaploszajski
Website: www.annaploszajski.com.
Introduction
Definition: a podcast is an episodic series of spoken word audio files that a user can download to a personal device for easy listening. Most podcasts are free to access, and are funded by advertising, sponsorship or the sales of merchandise or spin-off products. They can be fiction or non-fiction, scripted or non-scripted, and on virtually any topic you can think of; there are more than half a million active podcasts on Apple Podcasts in over 100 languages. (Wikipedia 2021)
This guide is intended for university members of staff, researchers, technicians, support staff and students. In it, I’ll be taking you through how to produce your own podcast to inspire, entertain and disseminate your work at the University of Warwick. By the end you’ll have all the skills, tools and information you need to get started… and keep going!
Contents
The guide is divided into four sections which you can navigate through using the buttons at the bottom of each page or using the hyperlinks at the side of the page.
Part 1: Planning
- Why start a podcast?
- Generating your idea
- What are your aims?
- Who are your audience?
- Decide the details
- Setting it up
- Artwork
- Social media and contact
- Sounds and music
- Finding and booking guests
Part 2: Doing
- Recording – Hardware
- Solo
- Multiple speaker recordings
- Setting up the room
- Recording software
- Recording online
- Zoom
- Microsoft teams
- Record smart
- Guests
- Editing
- Exporting
- Distribution
- Marketing
- Growing your audience
- Accessibility
Part 3: Maintaining
- Engage with your audience
- Data storage and archiving
- How to not stop podcasting
- Final words of wisdom
Part 4: Resources
- Downloadable summary checklist
- Further resources and reading
Other ways to access
- Download this guide as a PDF
- Listen to an audio version of this guide instead
Download