Four Tips for Making Your Own Podcast

You only need a voice, a microphone, a computer, and simple audio editing software to create a podcast, according to Dana Freker Doody, vice president of communications and communities for The Expo Group.

As co-host of the company’s Exposure Podcast, a monthly events industry program that currently features 35 episodes, she has learned a thing or two about what can make or break a podcast. “When you’re in someone’s ears, you have their attention in a very different way than if you’re working with them visually,” she said in her Convening Leaders Media Studio session, Podcast 101. “It really is a portable way to communicate with people.” Here are our top four takeaways from her session:

1. Be true to your brand. What is your organization’s voice? “Is it formal? Is it fun? Is it playful?” Freker Doody asks. “This is something your communications team probably has [outlined] for your organization overall.” Your organization’s voice should carry over into your podcast, according to Freker Doody. This includes the types of segments you feature — bantering co-hosts versus straight news pieces, for example.

2. Music matters. Any music featured in your podcast should also match your organization’s tone. It can be as lively as a guitar solo or as mellow as elevator music, but it must be obtained legally. “Just like with photos, there is music now that you can get royalty-free,” Freker Doody says. Royalty-free music websites include Digital Juice, Magnatune, and Shutterstock.

3. Get personal when possible. When interviewing podcasts guests, it is important to add a human element to your questions, Freker Doody suggests. “Get that content out of them, get those good bits of learning, but also get to know them as people and make them more accessible.” If the podcast features a host, listeners should also have a sense of the host’s personality. “People know where I am, they know what I’m interested in,” Freker Doody says. “Personal interactions are important.”

4. Subject matters. Podcasts aren’t just interviews or informative news stories. They can also feature product reviews related to your association or event, important membership updates, and more. Podcast hosts can use certain subjects as a way to interact with the industry community. “Depending on what space you’re in, you may have people sending you things because they want to be featured on your podcast,” Freker Doody says. “You may have people sending you press releases.”