The following is a list of podcast problems and fixes we hope you find useful. DeepRoar can help you start a podcast – so check out our Pricing and Packages.
This post is a follow-up to an earlier post A Podcast Surrounds You or How to Start a Podcast.
FIRST PROBLEM
Popping “P’s” – plosive sounds hit the microphone pickup with too much air and sound awful. Popping “P’s” may also hurt the microphone, too. And they require some labor-intensive editing, assuming the audio clips are useable. Sheesh – so easy to avoid but so difficult to fix.
FIX: Speak over the microphone NOT into it. Use a pop filter to avoid popping pees. I’d also give the podcast hosts a pair of headphones. The headphones allow everyone to hear how they sound and avoid sitting too far or too close to the microphone.
Help them understand it’s not necessary to shout into the microphone during a friendly, but heated exchange. Seriously. The result is a blur of audio noise that holds few similarities to human speech.
FIX: Maybe consider NOT shouting into the microphone?
Record your podcast in a quiet, acoustically treated space.
FIX: I relinquished my office to create a “studio” dedicated to the production of the podcast. We hung clean, unused moving blankets on every wall, top-to-bottom, with great results.
The podcasters and guests would sit back and turn their heads while talking to each other. The result was inconsistent audio quality known as “off-mic.” Off-mic audio sounds unprofessional and is impossible to fix in post.
FIX: Next time I would use headsets instead of stick microphones or make the hosts sit at a table – forcing them to sit up and lean into microphones mounted on the table.
Aside from the technical issues, I also saw a few other things that I might suggest if you plan to produce a podcast. In the beginning, one host did all the work while the other just showed up. It took time for the podcast newbies to figure out that just winging it doesn’t work. Every show required planning, research, and structure.
FIX: Develop a producer mindset – a thought process where you see the world as a producer. You’re always looking for ideas to talk about on the podcast. You never want to run out of ideas, or else you’ll have to “cough one up” as we used to say in television news. It’s stressful when you don’t have any ideas and you have to make one up at the last minute.
The podcast achieved every goal and then some. It became nationally recognized as an entertaining source of knowledge for the community it served. When listeners called to purchase products, they seemed in awe of talking to one of the hosts. And while I do not have specific numbers, I believe it’s safe to say the podcast helped drive sales.
FIX: We worked hard to avoid inside jokes or other references that would alienate the audience. However, listeners got to know the hosts and some behind-the-scene antics so that occasional comments would get a pretty good laugh. As the podcast editor, I also became the butt of a joke from time to time.