So you wanna start a podcast?
Hey By Kayleigh Community!
Let's dive into the world of podcasts— since starting mine, I had a bunch of you reach out and say you would love to start your own, but you don’t have the confidence. I want to share today, my 10 biggest tips for starting your own podcasting journey, so maybe it will give you confidence to start your own. My own podcast was the best thing I ever did, I wish I had done it sooner! It’s a huge learning curve, I won’t lie, but like anything you get better each time. There are a few things I wish I had known, so consider this your pocket guide to things that may help you!
Define your Format: Will it be solo shows or guest appearances? Really try and flesh out what you want your podcast to look like. For me it helped envisioning what I wanted it to look like in 2/3 years, and reverse engineer that. Establish how often you want to post and show long the episodes will be. Get it all on paper first!
When? So many artists in this community are already time poor and struggling to do the tasks they already have. Having a podcast is a lot of work, and work I perhaps didn’t have the capacity to take on initially. Really establish in your routine how long it’s going to take to record, edit and promote this new style of content. I won’t lie, it will take a while at first, but you DO get quicker. Establish whether you have that time commitment to do it and do it properly in those early stages.
Invest in Equipment: A Podcast By Kayleigh was actually a new years resolution. I started in January purchasing all the equipment. I really invested in a great quality mic, and the various cables and tools I would need. I use RiversideFM to record guests, which costs about £120 a year, and Adobe Audition to edit, which costs £15 a month. I also made a significant £3K investment into a new computer, which wasn’t just for podcasting, but came at the same time. Budget out the equipment you might need and start to purchase it.
Record 3-5 episodes first: Wanna know something? I heard some great advice that you should record some episodes before you release them. These episodes don’t go anywhere, in fact you don’t even edit them. I did this, perhaps the middle of last year, around 6 months before launching. I just sat and recorded some waffle. This got me used to talking, it made me less embarrassed and meant, the first time I hit record, I felt more comfortable and at ease!
Launch: Launch your podcast with a bang! Have a handful of episodes ready to go and scheduled, so you can start on a great foot. Remember those first 2-3 can be introductory episodes, and they tend to be shorter so you can ease in gently! Also choose a host! Spotify hosts mine and it’s free. The only technical bit is submitting your RSS feed to other channels, such as Apple Podcast, Amazon music - but this is very easy to do!
Batch Recording: Trust us, batch recording is a sanity and time saver. Dedicate a day to record multiple episodes and witness the time-saving magic. Your team will thank you! I usually record around 4 solo episodes in one go, so I have some to pop in between guests. Not only are solo ones easier to edit, but they are easier and less time consuming in general. I’d start with batching some solo episodes, especially if you’re looking to host some guests! These take longer especially if you are editing yourself!
The Edit: For me, I only just started outsourcing my own editing. At first I learnt it completely myself and I won’t lie, it’s hard. It’s definitely learnable, but it can be hairpulling-ly frustrating to begin with. Be easy with yourself if you are learning it yourself, and don’t beat yourself up if it takes you ages. I started out taking 2 days to edit a 40min podcast, but now I can do that in less than hour. It gets easier, but remember, you can outsource this straight off the bat!
Hosting is a Skill: A skill I didn’t realise you needed. You’re gonna HATE your voice, the questions you ask, you will absolutely pick yourself apart. But generally you will get better. Be easy on yourself and again, understand you will get better!
Outline Your Episodes: Every episode should sparkle with your personality. Craft solid outlines, especially for solo shows, to keep your listeners captivated and craving more. I usually bullet point the topics I want to speak about and definitely, it takes a few takes sometimes. That’s why editing is king! For guests, we have less flexibility to mess up - so I like to write a list of questions and pivot topics that I can always refer to. I actually hang them up at eye level, so I can refer to them easily!
Celebrate Imperfections: Your show doesn't have to be flawless—it just needs to resonate. Embrace the learning curve, be consistent, and remember, by simply showing up, you're changing the world! I learnt I don’t need to edit every breath, every mistake, every um. You guys generally don’t care!
Go out there, rock the podcasting world, and remember—every moment is a stroke of perfection!