Zheqin’s Podcast Production Process
Zheqin Li
There are many different types of podcasts, so there can be many different ways of creating one. This is just a write up of the procedures of making a podcast and an episode based on my own experience. It serves more as a guide that intends to help or inspire you at one point than a format to be followed strictly, so keep in mind that you can always be creative!
Creating a Podcast
1. Podcast Concept
What are the big concepts of your podcast? What’s the theme? Who are your audiences? What are some possible sections or content? What do you hope to express or bring to your listeners?
Tips: Coming up with a title for your podcast helps grabbing the main idea (sometimes it’s the other way around too). Try writing down what you hope the podcast will offer and search for keywords or phrases that stand out to you. They might become the backbone of your podcast!
2. Tentative Structure of an Episode
(Highlight)
The highlight section is a sound collage that includes the best snippets of your episode and gives your audience a taste of the feast. It is similar to a trailer of a film or the beginning section that is sometimes seen in vlogs. It’s totally based on your personal preference or collected materials to decide if you want to include it or not.
Intro
The intro section is like the watermark of your podcast. It can be the same for all episodes, including a concise summary of the concepts you thought about in the previous step. I find that it would be the best if it’s between 30 seconds and 1 minute in length.
Also think about the intro music if you’re using any. Sometimes people use the same piece like a theme song while others choose different sounds that vibe best with the specific episode.
Body
The body section is a piece of blank paper for you to draw on. Though you can set a specific format with certain parts of the body, it might be easier to be flexible and leave more space. Like the process in anthropology research, consider to start with collecting the materials and then build your ethnography from your fieldnotes.
(Transitions)
Here are a few ideas for the transitions between different sections of an episode. You can add a narration that summarizes what was talked about before and what’s coming up in the next section. You can fade into a music piece and fade out to the next section. Or, you can create sound effects as markers between the sections.
Outro
The outro section is where you give credits to people who contributed to the podcast and express your gratitude to people who got involved or helped. It is somewhat similar to the references at the end of a paper.
The following part is just one way of making an episode. The procedures can be totally different based on the theme, format, materials, objectives and more of a particular episode.
Making an episode
1. Brainstorm and Plan
Just like the process of designing the podcast concept, now think about it on an episode level. You can write down an outline or draw a mindmap of the points that are on your mind. Some preliminary research can also be helpful for choosing the topic or concepts.
2. Collect Materials (Record Conversations/Interviews/Scripts/Narrations, etc.)
Based on your loose outline, the materials you collect for the body of your episode can be in many different forms. It can be a formal interview or an informal conversation with your guest; it can be scripted or unscripted; it can be your narration telling a story or sharing some thoughts.
Tech Related:
When recording your audio materials, you can get the best quality if you record with a microphone. Here are a few things to pay attention to when working with microphones that are connected to your laptop in an audio software or DAW (Digital Audio Workstation):
- DAW that are commonly used:
GarageBand, Logic Pro X, etc. - There are microphones of different types. Some condenser microphones (that are commonly used) usually need 48V phantom power
- Select the correct input and output in your DAW
- adjust the gain of a microphone to get the right levels. The levels should always be below 0dB in your DAW
3. Sort Out and Organize the Structure
If your materials in the previous step are not scripted, such as an informal conversation, it would be helpful to take notes of the themes discussed in your conversations. You can include the timecodes of your audio recording and note down the main topic of the section. Cutting/sorting out the good parts that are likely to be included in your episode would benefit the upcoming editing process. Based on the outlined notes that code your materials, it’s easier to work with the structure of your episode.
4. Edit and Add Transitions (in DAW)
To follow your tentative structure, you need to edit your current materials in the DAW to put them in the right order. You might also need to add transitions by recording the narrations or adding music/sound effects.
Tech Related:
To start using the DAW, here are a few things that might be helpful (links to GarageBand included, but look for similar things if you use other softwares):
- Put different sections of your materials on different audio tracks: this can help you navigate more easily in your project file
- Automation of volume: instead of adjusting the volume for the whole track, you can mark specific points that you want to make changes; don’t forget to fade in and fade out for the beginning and the ending of your audio clips (start with negative infinity or and end with negative infinity)
- Pitch changes: you can make the sounds lower or higher in pitches
- Add EQ to recorded voice and choose a preset
- Export: export to an audio file (format of your choice: MP3/WAV/AIFF)
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