Podcasting 101: How to Start a Podcast & Take Your New Podcast from Idea to Distribution

Over the past decade, it seems like everyone has been getting into the podcast game. And whilelearning about how to start a podcast may seem daunting, it may not be as hard as you think.

We’ve helped a lot of our customers get set up to start recording and releasing their podcasts, so we thought we’d share some insights that we’ve learned along the way. 

For an in-depth look at every step from idea to distribution, check out our Youtube series onhow to start a podcast. We’ve gotten down to the nitty-gritty in past blog posts. 

But in thisPodcasting 101 article, we’ll cover5 tips on how to start a podcast for beginners, from start to finish.

Step 1: To Start, Find A Great Podcast Idea

Ask yourself: what is something that you could talk about for hours, and more importantly that you want to talk about for hours. Podcasts take a lot of work and you want to pick a subject that will keep you excited. 

If you have a concept for a show, consider the podcast market to figure out how you could refine your idea to make your podcast concept stand out. Is anyone else covering this topic, or using this format? If so, how could your show stand out? 

Finally, you’ll need a good name. There isn’t much more to say about this part of the process; when it comes topodcast names, it’s one of those “when you know it’s good, you know it’s good” type of situations.If you want to learn more about the podcast ideation process, check out our post here.

Step 2: Choose And Customize Your Recording Studio

Before you can dive into the technical side of recording and microphones, you’ll want to make sure that you have a good environment in which to record. 

To successfully set up a podcast studio, you want to avoid spaces with a lot of echoes, or reverb, because this will come through on your recordings. You want your voice to sound close and intimate to your listeners, not as though they are talking to you from the other end of a basketball gym. 

Hard surfaces like tile floors and windows reflect sound and create reverberation, but some of this can be solved by the addition of carpeting, especially high pile carpets, and curtains. Moving blankets are excellent for beginner DIY sound-treating, and if you’re setting up a more permanentpodcastingstudio, you can install somesoundproofing material to upgrade your sound. 

Step 3: Buy The Best USB Microphone

Understandingpodcasting microphones can be confusing. Ask the best audio producers in the world, and they’ll probably tell you they’ve barely scratched the surface when it comes to understanding how sound interacts with microphones. 

You might be wondering what equipment do you need to start a podcast, and when it comes to microphones, there is a clear winner. Taking the intersection of budget, quality, and ease-of-use into consideration, the answer is a USB condenser microphone.

USB condensers capture studio-quality audio, giving you detailed reproduction of the voice. They also can be plugged directly into your computer or smartphone, and don’t need any additional hardware or software.  

Movo offers USB microphones with features for anyone’s skill level or budget. 

Step 4: Record And Edit Your Audio

One of the most crucial podcasting 101 advice concerning setting up recording vocals is to pay attention to gain level and proximity to the microphone. The gain control sets the sensitivity of the mic: too low and you’ll have a weak signal, too high and your audio will have distortion.

Experiment with how close you are to the mic while recording. Too far away, you’ll sound like a distant voice in a noisy room. Too close and your voice will sound very bass-heavy, and you might get distortion and pops from vocal plosives, aka the P and T mini-explosions of air our voices produce. 

Consider buying a pop filter, which will allow your voice to come through with clarity, but block some of the air that might distort your microphone. You might also want to check our podcasting bundles where you will find all the equipment necessary to create a perfect 

When it comes to picking a software program for recording a podcast, and especially when starting a podcast, no one is necessarily better than another. Most, like Garageband and Audacity, will give you all the flexibility you need to record and edit your podcast. Anchor is designed for podcasts and will even allow you to upload your podcast to streaming platforms. Quicktime is great for easy and quick recording but doesn’t have editing flexibility like other programs. 

Once you’ve picked a program, check out the limitless resources online, especially on Youtube, where producers share instructions and insights on how to get started recording. 

Step 5: Promote And Distribute Your Podcast

Once you’ve finalized your podcast, it's time to put it out in the world. In order to get your podcast up and streaming on popular platforms like Apple and Spotify, you’ll need to use a distribution platform. 

There are different platforms for podcast distribution, including Podbean, Buzzsprout, and Spreaker. They offer similar services, but each have their own free vs. paid tier options, so the best thing to do is to do a little research on different platforms and see which one will best suit your budget and needs as a podcast producer.

There’s no question that to take a podcast from an idea to a finished recording that is live on streaming platforms is a lot of work, particularly for a beginner podcaster. The good news is that there are so many resources out there, including us here at Movo, to help you learn and make creating your own podcast a totally achievable goal.

We hope this has provided some insight intohow to record a podcast. It may be a long road, especially at the beginning, but trust us, once your friends start sending you screenshots while listening to your brand new pod, it will all be worth it. 

If you want to continue your deep-dive onpodcasting for beginners, check out our entire How-to series on podcasting. Happy podcasting!