Podcasts
You don’t have to be the next Ira Glass to create a meaningful and thoughtful podcast. Starting a church podcast can help expand your reach and bring a more casual, closeness with your existing parishioners. You may choose to start a church podcast to publish sermons, reflections on seasonal liturgy, or for many other reasons. Podcasts have quickly become a primary communication tool, with an estimated 88 million podcast listeners in the United States in 2019. Read below for tips to get started.
TO GET STARTED, YOU’LL NEED:
MICROPHONE
Simple USB microphones make it easy to record on the fly, and from your smartphone. Check out these options for some of the top-rated USB microphones: Best USB Microphones for Podcasters
RECORDING AND EDITING SOFTWARE
Audacity- this easy-to-use and free software helps you edit your podcast’s audio. Available for use on Windows and macOS. Users can easily cut, copy, splice, or mix sounds together. You can also utilize numerous effects, including changing the speed, pitch, or tempo of a recording.
Adobe Audition- At a higher level and $21 a month, Adobe Audition allows you to mix, edit, and record audio for your podcast. You can also add in background music easily and reduce or remove reverb and background noise from audio recordings.
COVER ART
You can easily make your cover art using Canva, Crello or Photoshop. Think of the project like a logo design, since the icon will be much smaller on mobile devices. Check out these examples of podcast art:
PODCAST HOSTING PROGRAM
These will help you submit your podcast to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and other places where podcasts can be found.
Libsyn- With plans starting at $5, Libsyn is one of the most popular podcast hosting sites. Libsyn makes it easy to distribute your podcast to your audience's favorite apps and platforms everywhere.
Buzzsprout- With Buzzsprout, your church can upload the sermon one time, and then that sermon is automatically updated everywhere, including iTunes, your free Buzzsprout page, and your church website. Free for the first 90 days.
Captivate- Created for independent podcasters and $17 a month after a free 7-day trial, Captivate has built-in marketing tools to spread the reach of your podcast.
WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN MAKING YOUR PODCAST:
NAME
Keep the name of your podcast short and sweet. Not only will it help when you’re designing the cover art, it’s more likely to stick in people’s heads. Think about how easy it will be to search the podcast out (i.e., if you name your podcast “St. Mark’s Podcast,” it will likely be harder to find). Focus on crafting a name that is 29 characters or less, and a fun play on words or a pun never hurts!
LENGTH
Before COVID-19, experts said that the length should be roughly the average commute (20-30 minutes). Now, with commutes being largely missing, feel free to open up the structure and length of your podcast. Also, not every episode needs to be the same length; with different topics, there will be different levels of conversation, and not every podcast will need to adhere to the same style.
VOICE
Not everyone who has a podcast has the perfect radio voice, so don’t feel intimidated if you don’t love the sound of your own voice. However, pay attention to your speaking tone and speed when you are recording podcasts. It may be helpful to rehearse a few times and listen to yourself to decide whether it’s best to slow down. Using the editing software mentioned above, you can easily edit out any awkward silences or mistakes.