GRAND Spring 2021 Vol. IV Ed. I

surfaces (bare walls or floors), and/
or lots of soft materials like furnishings,
carpets, or clothes to absorb and
diffuse sound. Temporarily turn off
any background noise like heaters or
humming appliances. Use headphones
to hear yourself clearly as you record,
and experiment with different distances
from your microphone to find
the “sweet spot”—often about 2 to 4
inches from the mic. I invested in a
microphone pop filter (about $18) to
take some of the “hiss” out of my s’s.
Don’t worry about mistakes or interruptions
as you’re recording, since
you’ll be editing those out in the next
step. Just pause for a few seconds, then
repeat the botched sentence and carry
on.
8. Edit and optimize your episode.
This is by far the most technical
step of podcasting, but if you follow
the step-by-step tutorials mentioned
in Step 7 you’ll find your way—including
mixing in music or sound effects if
you choose. Most podcasts include an
intro, the body of the episode, and an
outro. Refer to other podcasts for examples.
For royalty-free theme music,
look to Audio Jungle or other similar
websites. Be sure the music is available
for commercial use, and credit
the artist as required. Once your episode
is edited, upload it to Auphonic.
com for optimization. (Free for the
first 2 hours of processed material per
month.)
9. Upload your episode to a podcast
host.
To “publish” your podcast, you’ll
need an RSS feed or podcast host like
Buzzsprout, Podbean or Libsyn—all
user-friendly and affordable (from
free versions, to $15 US a month).
Once you’ve uploaded your first episode,
a show description, and your
podcast artwork, you’ll use your
account to submit your podcast to
the most popular podcast apps. At a
minimum you’ll want to link to Apple
Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify,
and Stitcher. It may take from a day to
a few weeks for your podcast to be approved
and go live on individual apps.
10. Let the world know!
Once your new creation is out there,
it’s time to spread the word. Use email,
social media, or even press releases to
let your prospective audience know
your first podcast is live. Tap into all
your connections, especially those
with an interest in your podcast subject.
It’s a lot of work, but it does get easier
with each episode. And if nothing
else, it gives you bragging rights—this
grandparent is a podcaster!
10 GRAND grandmag.ca