IN THIS CHAPTER

Finding a voice for your podcast

Using an outline or script

Deciding how long your podcast should be

Understanding legal issues

Tune to a classical radio station (and when we refer to classics here, we mean Beethoven and Haydn, not The Beatles and Hendrix) and listen to the DJs — oh, sorry, the on-air personalities — featured there. You’ll notice that they’re all speaking slowly and articulately, mellowed and obviously relaxed by the melodic creations of greats such as Mozart, Wagner, and Joel. (Yes, Billy Joel has a classical album — a pretty good one, too!) Although the on-air personalities of your local classical music station all sound alike, they sound dramatically different from the wacky Morning Zoo guys on your contemporary hits radio station who sound as if they’re on their eighth cup of espresso.

When you hear people talk about finding your voice in broadcasting, that’s what they mean. You come to an understanding of what your average audience wants (and to some degree, expects), and then you meet that need. This chapter helps you develop the voice and personality you want to convey when podcasting.

After you discover your voice, you will want to get ready for the show. This chapter shows you what to do to prepare for smooth and easy podcasts that (one can hope) will be glitch-free during the recording process. Preshow prep is essential when making a feed worth catching. Even the most spontaneous podcasts follow a logical progression and general direction, and remain focused on the podcast’s intent.

Choosing a Unique Topic for Your Podcast

Before you can think about putting together a podcast, you need to decide what topic you want to cover. At the time of this writing, a sample of what people were podcasting (according to statista.com [http://statista.com/] at the end of 2015) — listed by the top ten categories — looked like this:

That’s a total of 143,600 podcasts — up from 36,540 from the second edition of this book published in 2008. That’s a lot of growth!

The first thing to understand about podcasts is that this activity isn’t all about being “number one” in your chosen podcast genre. Granted, some podcasts do vie for top honors on various polls, but instead of worrying about garnering ratings and awards, think about what will make your podcast uniquely worth your effort and your listeners’ time. The point in launching a podcast isn’t always “I want to do something totally new …” but more about “What do I have to say about this topic?”

Here are some ways you can create a unique podcast:

• Study other podcasts. Before you can figure out what will make your podcast unique, check out some other podcasts. The best way to find out what makes a podcast worthwhile is to subscribe to a few feeds that pique your curiosity.

  Listen to these feeds for a few weeks (provided they’re weekly) and jot down what you like and don’t like about them. From the notes you take, you might find your angle. Keep in mind that downloading and listening to other podcasts should be educational and constructive, not a raid for fodder for your own show.

  Don’t steal content, special effects, or unique segments (like “On This Day in Tech History” or “The Loot Crate Lookie-Loo”) from another podcast. Approach others’ podcasts as you would someone’s website. It’s okay to be inspired; just don’t make your podcast a carbon copy of your inspiration’s work. When you have your podcast up, avoid criticizing another podcast in your own. Criticizing someone else’s work is no way to better yours. It is better to show support for other podcasts and the podcasting community on a whole rather than insult or trash other people’s hard work.

  In other words, stay on the pod-sitive side. It’s better for you and the community.

• Pick a topic you know. Whether you’ve decided to take on the topic of music, religion, or technology, the best way to make your podcast unique is to find an angle you’re comfortable with (Polka: The Misunderstood Music, Great Travesties of Sports History, Forgotten Greats of Science Fiction). There’s also the possibility that your initial show may inspire an additional angle so unique that you’ll have to start another podcast specifically to address that audience.
• Speak confidently. Don’t apologize for being “yet another podcast on …” or point out what you are doing wrong compared to others. What makes a podcast fun is the passion and the confidence you exude when the mics are hot. Address your topic with authority and energy, and enjoy your time recording. If you have a blast making a podcast, your audience will enjoy it along with you. That confidence might even inspire others to podcast themselves. That was how it happened with podcaster Joe Hogan and his first podcast, Geektitude (shown in Figure 5-1 and found online at http://geektitude.com). His confidence and passion for the geek lifestyle inspired others like the Geek Wolfpack Podcast to launch their own podcasts.

The content you bring — regardless of what genre it’s in — is unique because it is your podcast. It’s your voice, your angle, and your approach to whatever intent you pursue. Provided you maintain a high confidence level and genuinely enjoy what you’re doing, people will tune in and talk to other listeners about what you’re podcasting.

Finding Your Voice

The broadcasting industry might not want to admit to this, but podcasting and commercial radio share a lot in common. In the early days of what is now a major radio genre, talk shows were reserved for National Public Radio and news stations. In general, they were pretty dry and lackluster, bringing their listeners the news, weather, and daily topics that affected the world — but nothing particularly unusual or exciting.

Then a guy named Howard Stern came along and changed everything in this once-tiny niche. You can love him, you can hate him — you can claim to hate him when secretly you love him — but Stern completely turned around what was considered AM-only programming. Now talk radio is big business. Some personalities are just out to entertain, other hosts deep dive into lifestyles and subjects of interest, and others use it to voice their political viewpoints.

The majority of podcasting is just that: talk radio. Each podcast has a different personality and appeals to a different market. Finding your voice is one of the most challenging obstacles that you (as a once-and-future podcaster) must clear. Even if your podcast’s aim is entertainment, you have a message you want to convey. That message will influence the voice you adopt for your podcast. If you’re podcasting an audio blog about life, its challenges, and the ups and downs that you encounter, then maybe a soft tone — relaxed and somewhat pensive — would be appropriate. But if you decide to go political — say you’re the Angry Young Man who’s fed up with the current business on Capitol Hill — then it’s time to fine-tune the edge in your voice. That’s what you need for a podcast of this nature.

After you discover the passion your podcast is centered around (see the preceding section for tips on how to do that), here are some ways to find your voice:

• Record your voice and then listen to what it sounds like. It astounds us how many people hate listening to their recorded voice. It’s a fear akin to getting up in front of people and speaking. When finding your voice, though, you need to hear what your current voice sounds like. Write a paragraph on your show’s subject. Then read it aloud a few times and find a rhythm in your words. Expect the following:

  • Talking too fast
  • Swallowing small, one-syllable words like to, in
  • Ignoring commas, thereby creating one long, run-on thought
  • Lip-smacking, heavy breathing, and the unavoidable ahs and ums

  You can edit out some of these problems (see Chapter 8), but you should grow accustomed to hearing your own voice because you’ll hear yourself again and again … and again … during the editing process. The more familiar you are with how your voice sounds, the easier time you’ll have editing your podcasts before publishing them online.

• Play around with the rhythm of your speech. You don’t have to be an actor to podcast, but you can apply some basics of acting when you’re recording. One of these basics, as one of Tee’s acting professors told him, is to “make a meal of your words.” This means to play around with the rhythm of your speech. When you want to make a point, slow down. If you’re feeling a tad smarmy, pick up the pace. Above all, be relaxed and make sure you don’t sound too contrived or melodramatic.
• Speak clearly. Another simple trick from the acting world to add to your arsenal is to open your mouth wider. Many people talk with their mouths mostly closed, but by opening your mouth wider, you can gain clarity. So, when making a meal of your words, it is good manners to chew with your mouth open.
• Speak with confidence. Yes, we’re saying this again, because it bears repeating: Speak confidently about your topic. No one is going to believe in what you say if you don’t believe in yourself. It may take a few podcasts to find a groove, or you might hit the ground running and have a podcast that immediately takes off. Just speak with conviction and allow yourself to shine.
• Develop your podcasting personality. After you know what you sound like when you record, here’s where you develop your podcasting personality. Is your persona going to be light, fun, and informal, or something a little edgy, jaded? Is your message taking an angle of marketing, politics, or religion? Or are you podcasting a love of music, science, or your Macintosh? Your persona should generally match the theme of your show. If you’re doing a show on classical music, a persona of a morning radio DJ probably isn’t going to work. If you’re taking a light-hearted look at politics, you may want to have a little more levity in your tone and pace than a funeral director.

What If I Hear More than One Voice?

One of our favorite ways to podcast is with guests in-studio or co-hosts where more than one podcaster gets on mic. While there’s something to be said for the single voice doing a monologue or perhaps doing interviews, the show dynamics change quite a bit when you get multiple people gathered together over your favorite topic. For one thing, it’s a lot easier to carry on a conversation! Another bonus is with the right dynamic between hosts, an energy is created that subscribers see and hear in every episode. Along with the guidelines described in this and other chapters, there are some specific things to be aware of when doing a show with multiple guests.

• Have a mixer with enough channels. In Chapter 2, we talk about gear. Remember the mixer? The mixer becomes a crucial piece of equipment when co-hosts become part of the production. You can try the one mic, two voices approach, but the end result is hard to control and mix in post-production. For the best sound and optimal control, all participants need their own microphones. This means XLR connections, not USB, for microphones. Two hosts and you’ll need two channels. Four hosts, four channels. And don’t forget, you may want a few extra inputs for music, sound effects, and more. So make sure the mixer can handle the in-studio demands.
• Make sure everyone can hear. You’re wearing headphones when you record. So should your guests, especially if drop-ins are included in your recording. It’s not only fair, it’s practical that everyone hears the same thing. Each guest needs his or her own set of headphones. Before you run out and get a cheap “Y” cable to split the signal, realize that with each split, the audio signal degrades. To keep the investment economical, invest in a stereo headphone amplifier for about $25 that takes the headphone signal and splits (while boosting) it in to four separate channels. Then pick up from BSW a 5-pack of Sennheiser headphones (http://bit.ly/5packphones) for you and your co-hosts or guests. You’ll find this investment will serve you and your podcast well.
• Always do your prep work. Even after a decade of podcasting, there are still gremlins in our audio systems. We can record on Saturday afternoon and come back Sunday night only to find audio levels have been adjusted. Okay, it could be the cats playing with the mixer settings in the middle of the night, but it never hurts to check your audio (and video) settings before each recording.
• Have one director. This is the person in charge of your show’s flow, timing, and in some cases coming up with clever segues to jump from one topic to the next. Usually this is the person at the mixer, but not always. It may even be someone off mic (or camera) giving hand signals. In some cases, this may be a baton passed from person to person in the cast. You’ll find what works best for your group. The podcaster calling the plays serves as a moderator. It is your job to keep the energy up, the conversation going, and keep the episode on track.
• Give everyone some air time. As with the previous item, the director may need to make sure everyone gives everyone else a chance to talk. Different people bring different things to your show. Some people may be passionate and outspoken (and some may be considered an unstoppable train), while others don’t want to interrupt and wait their turn. Encourage your guests to play fair and give everyone a share the air time. We recommend discussing this among your co-hosts before it becomes a problem.
• When guests are in-studio or on the line, give them the majority of air time on that episode. Both Chuck and Tee have seen and heard their fair share of interviews gone bad. It can be something as horrific as the host or hosts not knowing (or caring) to do any research on the guest. Tee recalls one podcast where the co-hosts broke on a tangent between themselves for ten minutes while the guest remained silent on the line, waiting to be asked another question. When guests are on the docket, remember that the episode is no longer yours. It’s theirs. For more on interview techniques, take a look at Chapter 6, coming soon.
• Make sure everyone can see everyone else. It’s been said that as much as 93 percent of our communications is nonverbal. Even if you are doing an audio podcast, you want to be able to see each other during the conversation. Configure your studio to make sure everyone can see everyone else in order to have eye contact, see silent signals to pick up the pace or slow down, and let the director know all have something to say (see Figure 5-2). Being able to read each other’s nonverbal cues is made easier when sightlines are clear and unobstructed — well, most of the time.

Be aware that your show will be longer as you include more guests in the conversation. If you want to keep your show length consistent — a good recommendation in our book — then include fewer topics than you expect. Part of Chuck’s Saturday ritual for building out the Sunday night episode is to find out how many people are coming over so he can add or remove topics accordingly. For Tee, it’s coordinating with his co-hosts who wants to take the lead on a specific topic. Breaks offer a moment for anyone to say, “Mind if I take the lead in the second half?” If you really don’t care about length, then just realize that more guests will make for a longer show and plan accordingly. Communication is essential with co-hosts and in-studio guests.

Deciding Whether You Need an Outline or Script

What method works best for you? A full script and hours of prep time, or a single note card and two clicks of the mouse — one for Record and another for Stop? Both approaches work, depending on the podcaster’s personality. It could be said that there’s little difference between a writer and a podcaster: Some writers prefer to use an outline when putting together a short story or novel; others merely take an idea, a few points, and a direction, and then let their fingers work across the keyboard.

If you decide to work with a script, it’s a good idea to invest some time into preshow prep, simple preparation for what you’re going to say and how you’re going to deliver it. Depending on your podcast, though, prep time may vary. Here are a couple of examples of how dramatically different prep time can be for different podcasting situations:

• For their podcast The Brit and Yankee Pubcast (http://thebritandyankee.com), Phil Clark and his crew do very little prep — usually just enough to get some basic facts about the drink of choice for that show and perhaps set up a location and interview with the brewmaster. After he does minimal orientation with the guest panel, he’s ready to record. You really need to know your subject and have good chemistry with your show participants to make a minimal plan like this turn in to a good show, but it can work.
• On the other side of the spectrum is The Radio Adventures of Doctor Floyd (http://doctorfloyd.com), a 10-minute show in the style of old-time radio with a modern, educational, comedic spin. Grant Baciocco and Doug Price (see Figure 5-3) have every show carefully scripted. Depending on the historical research required, Grant can spend anywhere from 1 to 3 hours doing preshow prep. The careful scripting comes in real handy when Doctor Floyd has celebrity actors playing a part in the show.

Preshow prep can range anywhere from jotting a few notes on a napkin to writing a complete scripted with full sound effects — regardless of show length. So how far should your prep go technically? That depends on what your podcast needs. Outlines and scripts will keep you on track with what you want to say, serving as roadmaps you use to keep moving smoothly from Point A to Point B.

Whether you’re a napkin scribbler, a script writer, or somewhere in between, if you’ve never done any kind of planning like this, the secret to efficient preshow prep can be boiled down to three disciplines:

• Habit: Many podcasters, especially podcasters emerging from corporate offices, prepare for podcasts in the same manner as business presentations. They jot down essential points on note cards to keep the podcast on track, but the points are the only material they write beforehand. You can easily apply your organizational skills from the workplace to the podosphere.
• Talent: Some podcasters are truly the Evel Knievels of the podosphere, firing up their mics and recording in one take. These podcasters tend to have backgrounds in live entertainment, deciding in a moment’s time when a change of delivery is required. This is a talent of quick thinking, and although it keeps material spontaneous and fresh, it’s a talent that must be developed with time.
• Passion: For most podcasters, passion is a driving force that keeps their podcasts spur-of-the-moment. With enough drive, inspiration, and confidence in their message, they keep their prep time to a minimum because podcasting isn’t a chore but a form of recreation.

Determining a Length for Your Show

If you’ve been using this chapter to develop your podcast, you’ve made serious progress by this point in getting your preshow prep done. Now you’re ready to podcast, right?

Well, no. First you must consider how long your show’s episode is going to run. The following sections give you the rundown on how best to determine your show’s length.

Mark Your Calendar: Posting Schedule

You’ve got a format for your show. You’ve got an idea about its running time. Now you have to figure out when your show is going to go live. What is the best pace to set for your podcast? What are the advantages to posting frequently versus posting on occasion? How often will you be dropping your podcast into your feed?

There are four different kinds of posting schedules, some easier to maintain than others. Your podcast, depending on the planning and running-time you set, will dictate how often you post. There is no sure schedule to podcasts. What matters is setting a schedule and maintaining it.

A good way to know what posting schedule works best for you is to sit down and brainstorm on show topics. If you rattle off several ideas, rapid-fire, you may be looking at a frequent schedule. If your ideas are reliant more on current events and their outcomes, you may space out your episodes. See how quickly you can come up with ideas, and from there, make a decision on a reasonable posting schedule.

Posting weekly

Perhaps the most common of schedules for podcasts is weekly posting, like you would with a popular television show. Perhaps not as demanding as the daily schedule, this schedule means a commitment to producing new content at least once a week. You will want to make certain the content is there before you launch, and find workflows that make your production schedule more efficient. You can do this by maintaining a buffer of content, seen often in gaming podcasts like Steam Rollers Adventure Podcast (http://riggstories.com/the-podcast) and So Many Levels (http://christianaellis.com/so-many-levels-a-dd-podcast) that record gaming sessions that can last for an hour (or longer) and then present them in a serialized format. Pick a day out of the week, and make that your day. That will be the time your listeners or viewers will be expecting your next episode.

Other podcasts like George Hrab’s The Geologic Podcast (www.geologicpodcast.com, shown in Figure 5-4) and Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips (www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl) seem to just happen spontaneously. There’s some planning that goes into these podcasts, but talent also comes to play. If you can get behind the mic and feel right at home, you can keep up with the weekly schedule.

I Hear Music (And It Sounds like Police Sirens!)

Adding the right kind of music to your podcast can give your show an extra punch or just a tiny zest. Although our skills and tastes range from classical to jazz to rock ’n’ roll, both Chuck and Tee appreciate and understand the power of music and what it can bring to a podcast.

Chuck and Tee also understand and appreciate the law. Although you may think it’s cool to “stick it to the man” and thumb your nose at Corporate America, the law is the law, and there are serious rules to follow when featuring that favorite song of yours as a theme to your podcast.

We want to make this clear as polished crystal: We are not lawyers. We’re podcasters. We’ve looked up the law on certain matters so we know and understand what we’re talking about, but we are not lawyers. We can tell you about the law and we can give a few simple definitions of it, but we are not giving out legal advice. If you need a legal call on a matter concerning your podcast — whether it concerns the First Amendment, copyright issues, or slander — please consult a lawyer.

The powers that be

The government regards the Internet even today as a digital Wild West, an unknown territory that’s avoided regulation for many years, granting those who use it a true, self-governed entity where ideas, cultures, and concepts can be expressed without any filtering or editing, unless it comes from the users themselves.

Does this mean we podcasters are free to do as we please? Well, no, not by a long shot. There are some rules and regulations that even podcasts must follow. There are also organizations that both broadcasters and podcasters must pay attention to.

The following organizations have influence on the destiny of podcasting, and it’s only going to benefit you as a podcaster to understand how their legislation, activities, and actions are going to affect you.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

The Federal Communications Commission, or FCC (www.fcc.gov), is the watchdog of anything and everything that gets out to the public via mass communications. The FCC keeps an eye on technology development, monopolies in the telecommunications industry, and regulating standards for telecommunications in the United States and its territories. It is most commonly known for enforcing decency laws on television and AM/FM radio.

For podcasters, the FCC can’t regulate what is said (yet) because it doesn’t consider the Internet a broadcasting medium. However, given existing legislation to reduce spam (junk email) and the growing popularity of podcasting among mainstream broadcasters (such as Clear Channel, Oprah Winfrey, and ESPN), it may not be long before the law catches up with technology.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)

Sean Fanning. Does that name ring a bell? Sadly, it was Fanning who lost his battle against the Recording Industry Association of America, also referred to by its more common acronym RIAA (www.riaa.com), when he contested that his file-sharing application, Napster, in no way infringed on copyright laws and was not promoting music piracy. The RIAA led the charge in shutting down the original Napster and continues to protect property rights of its members — as well as review new and pending laws, regulations, and policies at the state and federal level.

The RIAA will have a definite say as to why you cannot use a selected piece of music for your podcast. Simply put, it’s not your music. Sure, you own that CD or maybe you have downloaded that album from iTunes, but the music you listen to is under the condition that you use it for listening purposes only. This means you can’t use it as your own personal introduction that people will associate with you. And, no matter how appropriate your favorite song is, you cannot use it as background music. Unless you’re granted licenses and you pay fees to the record labels and artists, you’re in copyright violation when playing music without permission.

One way of getting music for themes, background beds, and segues is to look into what musicians and podcasters refer to as podsafe music. This is professionally produced music from independent artists who are offering their works for podcasting use. The demand for podsafe music has been so high that several sites like the Free Music Archive (see Figure 5-5) have been launched (http://freemusicarchive.org), offering a wide array of genres, artists, and musical works. Today several other sources of podsafe music exist including Digital Juice (www.digitaljuice.com), Neosounds (www.neosounds.com), and Instant Music Now (www.instantmusicnow.com). Find out more about podsafe music, the conditions of using it, and how it can benefit your podcast.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)

In addition to the big dogs who are passing the laws and legislations to restrain your podcasting capabilities, a group is looking out for you, the podcaster, with Science Fiction author and tech guru Cory Doctorow stepping forward as one of its more outspoken members. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, or EFF (www.eff.org), is a donor-supported organization working to protect the digital rights of the individual; to educate the media, lawmakers, and the public on how technology affects their civil liberties; and uphold said civil liberties if they’re threatened.

A good example of EFF’s mission is its involvement in various legal cases concerning URL domain registration and cybersquatters (individuals who buy desired domains and then hold on to them, waiting for the highest bidder). The EFF stands for the rights of legitimate website owners who happen to own a domain that a larger corporation would desire to use.

The EFF, provided you have a strong case to contradict the findings of the RIAA and the FCC, will stand up for you and give your voice a bit of power when you’re standing up to a corporate legal machine.

Creative Commons (CC)

Founded in 2001, Creative Commons (CC) is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to helping the artist, the copyrighted material, and the individual who wants to use copyrighted material in a constructive manner but may not have the resources to buy rights from groups like the RIAA.

Copyright protection is a double-edged sword for many. On the positive side of a copyright, your work is protected so that others cannot steal it for their own personal profit, or if other people make the claim that you’re ripping off their work, your copyright is proof that your egg came before their chicken. That’s the whole point of the copyright — protection. The downside of this protection is that people now must go through channels for approval to feature your work in an educational or referential manner; and although you’re given credit for the property featured, there’s still a matter of approvals, fees for usage, and conditions that must be met. Also, many contributors just want to share their work with others on no other terms but to contribute and share with the world. Copyrights complicate this.

This complication of the digital copyright, protections, and desire to exchange original creations brought about Creative Commons (http://creativecommons.org), shown in Figure 5-6. It’s dedicated to drafting and implementing via the Internet licenses granting fair use of copyrighted material.

In the case of the podcaster, you want to offer your audio content to everyone, not caring whether listeners copy and distribute your MP3. As long as the listeners give you credit, that’s all fine and good for you. CC can provide you with licenses that aid you in letting people know your podcast is up for grabs as long as others give credit where credit is due. CC provides these same licenses for artists and musicians who would not mind at all if you used their music for your podcast.

CC licenses are made up of permission fields:

• Attribution: Grants permission for copying, distribution, display, and performance of the original work and derivative works inspired from it, provided credit to the artist(s) is given.
• Noncommercial: Grants permission for copying, distribution, display, and performance of the original work and derivative works inspired from it for noncommercial purposes only.
• No Derivative Works: Grants permission for copying, distribution, display, and performance of the original work only. No derivative works are covered in this license category.
• Share Alike: Grants reproduction of the original work and also allows derivative works if they are also released under a similar Creative Commons license.

These four fields can be used as stand-alone licenses or can be mixed and matched to fit the needs of the podcaster or the artist offering content for the podcast.

The CC and its website give details, examples, and an FAQ page that answers questions concerning the granting of licenses for use of protected content. Just on the off-chance you don’t find your answer on the website, it gives contact information for its representatives. CC is a good group to know and can open opportunities for you to present new and innovative ideas and works in your podcast.