How To Discover Podcasts Or Even Make Your Own Podcast

What’s the best way to fix a broken iPod? – A podcast.

This pun is not too far away from how the word podcast came into existence. A compound of iPod and broadcast, the word was invented by The Guardian columnist and BBC journalist Ben Hammersley in 2004 to describe an episodic series of an audio blog you can stream and download to listen to anytime.

Nowadays, podcasts can be accessed through many ways and sources beyond the iPod, for example directly on your Pure Elan Connect or Pure Elan Connect+.

In celebration of #InternationalPodcastDay and a software update that will bring even more podcast choices to your radio devices, we are taking a deeper dive into all things podcast – a short trip to podcastland so to say, a magical place where podcasts frolic freely for listening pleasure.

First Stop: The Outskirts

Once an unknown form of spreading audio blogs, podcasting has evolved into a staple tool for the large-scale distribution of audio content, whether for business or private use. Although many characteristics (voice, equipment, production) overlap with radio (hence broadcasting), podcast content can be listened to anytime, independent of any programming schedule.

The freedom of use is also reflected in all the different flavours a podcast can come in. Some are funny, some are about news, some are like dramas, some are short, some long. Basically, there’s a podcast about every topic and for every taste.

If you’re a podcast lover, you should really follow us on social media because the first Thursday post of every month features three new podcasts for you to discover. #DiscoveryThursday

And if there is a topic missing, starting your own podcast is always an option 😉

Second Stop: The Buzzing Centre of Podcast Wonderland

All you need to create a podcast is a spoon full of sugar and…just kidding. There is indeed a list of recommended gear that will make producing a podcast easier. Setting aside the obvious need for a microphone and something to record on like a computer or smartphone, something you should not miss out on is a pair of headphones.

If your podcast co-host or interviewee is joining in via a remote platform like Skype or Zoom, headphones are a must anyways, but what if you are sitting in the same room?

Wearing headphones while recording a podcast is indeed the only way you can really hear how you sound. Did you ever think, “That is not how I sound!” after you heard yourself on a video or a recording? Well it is, but due to anatomical reasons, your ears are at the side of your head and you can’t hear how you sound from the front of your mouth.

Unless you wear headphones. Hearing yourself how your audience will hear you gives you a greater sense of control to adjust your voice and presentation style. Either with how you pronounce some words (cue microphone technique) or allowing you to be more sensitive to background and ambient noise, which can impact the sound quality of your show.

Ready to become a local in Podcastland?

The first rule of podcast club? Listen to podcasts and radio shows. Learning by listening is the cue here. What makes you keep listening? What bores you? Think about how your favourite podcast is structured. Is it more in an interview style, with a host or with a narrator telling a story?

The next step, if you have not yet gathered ideas for your content, is to take some time to think and note them down. We have some prompts here to get your creative juices flowing. Is there a story about your community/family or work you want to tell? Is there a moment in history you think more people should learn and hear about? Is there a current issue that is important to you and you have insights into both sides of a debate? What do you want to change about the world?

Before settling on an idea from the prompts and your brainstorming, you have to ask yourself if the podcast idea is realistic or maybe too challenging. For example, interviewing someone famous might be hard to achieve in the beginning for most.

Another thing to consider is how and in which order to record the sounds you need for your podcast, which already raises the next issue on the table – sound and scripting. It helps to plan out how you want to tell the story of the topic you picked as well as the order of recording. Sounds that set the scenery like a chef de cuisine barking orders will set a great ambience for talking with the same chef about his passion in cooking.

Applying for podcast citizenship

Are you ready to create your podcast? Our short trip through podcastland comes to an end with a lost stop worth mentioning: mixing.

Mixing will make your podcast sound natural, seamless and as if recorded in one go. This is achieved by editing and arranging your recorded audio clips. Sound-editing-software-wise, there are multiple offers on the internet from Adobe Audition to Audacity to Ocenaudio.

The last step after mixing is to make your great new podcast available and celebrate your personal podcast premiere by listening to your audioblog via a cool new radio device. To listen to your own podcast via an Elan Connect or Elan Connect+ via the newly available podcast update, you can have a look at the article on “How to add stations to the catalogue” and suggest your own podcast to be added to airable.

At Pure, we appreciate the audio content created by every single creator because our radios simply sound better with you! To get you started on your own journey to #Podcastland, you can win 1 of 3 Podcast Bundles worth approximately 240€ consisting of:

To enter, subscribe to our newsletter and message us the code word PODCAST (giveaway is already closed)