In today’s episode, I talk about NaPodPoMo, what it means to improve your voice as a podcast host, as well as industry and my own updates.
To start with, an inspiring tweet I came across on my feed, it’s in Spanish, so here is the translation.
“A podcast is more than a distribution format – it has to do with your narrative, with your business, and above all with the ability to communicate a message in an intimate and personal way.”
Partly, this is due to the fact that audio is a medium that doesn’t take lying very well, so listeners will hear if you are not being yourself, or at least, a true version of yourself.
What do you think? Do get in touch with your thoughts.
03.33mins
Have you heard of NaPodPoMo? It takes place at the same time of NaNoWriMo, which I often take part in. One year I did a kind of NaPodPoMo without realising it, as I was creating daily episodes after writing my words for NaNoWriMo. You can listen to them in the podcast Word Maze.
(These show notes will be a bit short, because my right shoulder is giving me pain. Both typing and handwriting is making it worse.)
When I first started podcasting, I’d get very excited just by hearing someone else say the word “podcast”. Now there are books (I’m reading Microphones and Murders, a cozy mystery) and even TV series with a group of podcasters as protagonists.
09.02mins
Check out this article if you are looking for a podcast media host: The Best Podcast Hosting Sites of 2021
Some new podcasters are getting confused between podcast hosts and directories, thinking you upload directly to the directories.
If you are looking for a new host and would like to support this show, I recommend Buzzsprout.
They have a free plan for you to give them a try and they’re very easy to use. I used them for the first time for the exercises of the Plan Your Podcast Challenge – which by the way, opens up again on 18 October.
I’m building on the pilot, and have made some changes.
For Gastronostalgia, our new show about food, in Spanish, we are using Anchor as a podcast host, which is owned by Spotify.
By the way, it’s so different to work on a new show than it is to do a show like 21st Century Work Life, which has run for over 5 years now. You need to be thinking a lot more consciously around it, discovering our relationship, the tone of the show, who we each are as hosts… Plus, quality is often subjective, and a matter of opinion. When you have your own show, your opinion is the one you follow, but when there’s two of you, it’s a matter of taste, mostly.
[By the way, in the episode I refer to an episode from Podcast Insider, (I couldn’t remember the name of the show…) it’s called Crutch Words in Podcasting, it’s episode 259.]
Gastronostalgia will start publishing at the end of October, with our full menu released on 30 October. This means listeners who first land on the show during October have a few episodes to listen to.
18.14mins
That was the first part of the show, which is all about mine own adventures, and industry updates.
The second part of the episode is a bit more technical and craft-related.
Today’s section is all about the voice of the podcast host. What is a “good voice” in podcasting?
Pilar worked with a client who’d been told she needed “voice training”.
First of, be specific about what that means.
Then consider:
– Your microphone and your recording environment.
It’s not just about audio quality, but about how you “play” with the microphone, how you use the microphone to connect with the audience
– Diction and breath
This is something you have to work on before you start recording, and in between recordings. Check out these videos to help you work on them.
– Listen to yourself
Even if you are planning to outsource the editing of your show, edit your speech yourself at the beginning, so that you can start listening to your own mannerisms, and changing anything you think is necessary.
I would love to hear from you – your adventures, your questions… get in touch.
If you find the blog useful, and are looking for media hosting and web hosting, consider using my affiliate links to Buzzsprout and Bluehost.