So you’ve listened to what’s out there and you’ve decided
you want to throw your hat in the Podcasting ring. Here are some of the things
you’ll need before you get started:
An idea for content. This can be practically anything:
a talk show, a one-act audio play, your own original musical compositions, a
political rant, a comedy routine, whatever you want to do. Just make sure to
steer clear of copyrighted material or you could potentially face legal
troubles down the road.
Microphone. You’ll need a way to capture your audio,
and a $20 microphone plugged into the line-in jack on your computer is a simple
way to do just that. Remember though that the quality of microphone you use
will directly affect the quality of your Podcast.
Audio recording software. If you don’t already have a
way to record sound that comes into your computer, a visit to www.versiontracker.com will help you
locate a free utility that you can use to capture audio.
Webspace to host your mp3s. Podcast updates point to
mp3s that are stored on a server somewhere, so you will need to have some
webspace of your own and be familiar with uploading files to that space in
order to get your Podcast off the ground. Most ISPs (internet service
providers) provide space for their paid clients, and chances are they also have
a web utility to help you with maintaining that space and uploading files.
Check with your ISP for details, but if you have other webspace and are
familiar with how to upload files, use that space instead.
It should be noted that this introduction to Podcasting
assumes you are already familiar with how to record audio as an mp3 using your
computer. Additionally, if you’re going to be making a Podcasting feed from
scratch, you’ll also need a degree of technical expertise in programming to
handle the HTML, XML and RSS coding required to make a Podcast function. Such
programming is outside the scope of this introduction, but if you just want to
try using the technology, here is a very simple way to do it that requires
minimal technical knowledge.