How to Make Your Podcast "Listenable" | PSS 3

Hey y’all!

I’m glad you’re back!

It’s always reassuring to know that I didn’t scare anyone away.

Although we’re only three issues in, so we’ll see how we do today.

That rhymed. I didn’t mean it to.

Anyways… let’s jump right in.

Last week’s edition was really about making sure your conversation has a great flow and that your host and guest sound professional.

Today’s edition is actually about making sure that your audio sounds good and is actually “listenable.”

Because there are plenty of podcasts to choose from, so if your show is not listenable, they’ll find someone’s that is.?

I was once listening to a show in my car and the volume of the two speakers were so different that I had to keep turning my own speakers up and down just to hear them correctly.

Another time I felt like my ears were being scratched by background noise. It was so bad that it made it impossible for me to listen to it in my headphones.

The worst part about these issues is that they’re pretty correctable. Even for someone like me who doesn’t have a background in audio editing.

So what are the most important things when it comes to making your podcast “listenable?”

Well I’ll tell you the basics that we focus on.

1. Having level volume for all speakers and music.
2. Removing as much background noise as possible.
3. Adding more audio and musical elements

Let’s get into each of them!

1. Having Level Volume for All Speakers and Music

I mentioned this earlier, but I’ve seen even some of the biggest shows and networks forget about this one.?

YOUR VOLUME IS SO IMPORTANT!

The reason that volume is so important is because people listen to podcasts in a variety of ways. Some will listen to it in their headphones while they’re walking their dog, others will have it on in their car while they’re commuting to work, and some might even be playing it on the smart device in their kitchen. So your show has to be able to be heard EASILY in all these different environments.

A big cause of this problem is using different mics when recording. Since most interviews are recorded virtually, the hosts and guests are often using different mics with different settings. This can cause a big difference in how loud or soft a person is on the recordings.

The good news is that this problem can also easily be fixed in “post” (aka the editing process).

Pro Tip: Get separate tracks for each person on your show. This means that each host/guest will have their own separate recording that doesn’t include the other speakers. Most virtual recording platforms can give these to you.?

The even better news is that Descript does this part automatically for you. When you export your file, you can choose how loud you want to level everything out at. This will save you lots of time and make your listeners love listening to you! ??

2. Removing As Much Background Noise As Possible

Okay let’s get into the second part!

Background noise! ??????

Background noise can ruin a great podcast episode and turn must-listen content into something that’s unlistenable! Podcasts are held to a higher standard of audio quality than YouTubers, Livestreamers, and Tik Tok influencers; and that’s mostly because the vast majority of their audience isn’t consuming their content with headphones, but our listeners are.

So we’ve gotta be nice to their ears.

But before we do. Quick story about microphones.

And specifically the Blue Yeti…?

Because I had a Blue Yeti once. In fact it was the first microphone I bought myself when I became a “creator” back in 2015.

I walked into a Guitar Center (because online shopping wasn’t what it is now), and asked the guy what the best microphone was for recording a podcast. He was pumped to show this shiny silver one called the “Yeti.”

He seemed excited enough and the price seemed about what I felt was right for a high quality mic. Plus it was shiny!

The microphone worked well for Zoom chats, livestreams, and even YouTube videos.

But when I was listening to a podcast episode there was this WHOOSHING sound in the background of all my episodes.

I was sitting there thinking like “WTF is this sound.”

So I took off my headphones and tried to listen to what the sound could possibly be. I didn’t have a fan. My laptop was quiet. There was no A/C or anything in the house that was making the noise.

But I did hear the freeway about a quarter of a mile down the road making that same WHOOSHING sound.

The Blue Yeti was picking up the sounds of the freeway ? mile away!

I tried to adjust all the settings on the mic, but nothing worked. This is when I learned the difference between mics and why the Blue Yeti was actually designed to pick up EVERYTHING around it. Which may be good for some situations, but not necessarily for a podcast.

The moral of the story is that having a good mic can save you a TON of time editing.

We’ll cover more about microphones in a future edition, but for now you can know that I recommend the Rode Pod Mic. The sound is really great for the price ????. The only thing is it doesn’t plug directly into your computer so you’ll need an “interface” that can plug into your computer or laptop.

The great news is that no matter what mic you’re using, you can probably get a lot of that background noise out in post. There are a lot of great tools and plugins that make it easy to automatically remove background noise.

If you’re using Descript, you can just click the “Studio Sound” button and it’ll automatically remove the background noise. I love it because it gives someone like me who has no background in audio engineering a shot at making my audio sound like it was recorded in a studio – by just clicking a button.

Here’s a short sample using my webcam

And here’s what it sounds like after clicking a couple buttons.

I don’t think it’s perfect, but I used as bad of a mic as I had and the the audio came out pretty decent after only a minute or two of editing.

So if you’re doing everything on your own, this is a good way to quickly edit all the noise out of the background.

3. Adding More Audio and Musical Elements

The last thing that you can do to easily create a better audio experience is adding more musical elements into your show. Most podcasts have at least a musical intro and outro. But you might also consider adding music under your monologues, sound effects during exciting moments, or transitions between segments of your show.

Having these different audio elements creates some novelty for your listener and a more exciting experience. It also makes your show look and seem a bit more professional because you’re evolving and elevating the quality of your show.

I really like Soundstripe for finding music for our shows, and YouTube has a vast audio library of sound effects that creators can use for free. There’s lots of great music that you can use, but don’t feel like you have to add in a bunch of music or turn your show into a Wondery audiodrama right away…

Take it slow and add a few elements at time and see how you and your listeners respond.

If you or your listeners don’t like it, you can always try something new. And if you really don’t like something then you can always just reupload a new audio for the episode. So nothing is ever permanent. ??

Anyways.. That’s enough rambling for today.

I hope that you’ve gotten some value out of today - and if you did, please consider sharing this on LinkedIn or Twitter. We’re approaching 1000 subscribers of the newsletter and I’d love your help to grow this amazing community of podcasters.?

If you have any questions, please send me a message or tweet me at @hector_podcast. And if you want to go deeper on some of these topics, here’s the link to my podcast! I’d love to know if an episode is relevant for you!

See you next week!

Hector