Totten is an opinion editor and producer at The San Diego Union-Tribune. If you want to geek out about RadioLab together, you can find her on Twitter at @kristy_tea. Email: kristy.totten@sduniontribune.com. She lives in North Park.

As a podcast producer at The San Diego Union-Tribune, I’m often asked how to start a podcast: What equipment do you need? How do you distribute it? Where does one even begin?

In this crowded podcast market, here’s what you should know.

Get to know the people reporting on some of the biggest stories in local journalism.

Podcasts are audio stories distributed over the internet. Like YouTube did for videos, audio podcasts represent the democratization of radio, making a medium once gatekept by professionals more widely available. You don’t need a recording studio or a fancy microphone to broadcast yourself.

All you really need is a smartphone and something to say. Audio blogs can be traced back to the 1980s, but podcasts really came about after the iPod was invented in 2001 because it allowed radio broadcasts to be downloaded and stored in an mp3 player. In fact, “podcast” is a portmanteau of “iPod” and “broadcast.” As of this year, there are more than 2 million podcasts and counting.

Here’s my advice for telling your own stories through audio.

1. Decide what your podcast is going to be about. This seems fairly simple, but it’s deceptively hard to come up with a good idea for a podcast. So you want to talk about food? Great. Are you and a friend going to rate new restaurants, interview celebrity chefs, highlight how climate change is affecting food systems or something else? Narrow down your topic and make sure you can explain your focus in a single, declarative sentence before moving on.

2. Settle on a format. Are you going to record straightforward conversations with a guest or two, or would you rather feature several voices and throw in some field recordings and ambient sound? The former is easier and more straightforward while the latter will take more time, writing, recording and editing. Think about the story you’re trying to tell and how it will best be told. How long will your podcast be? How many episodes do you want to make? I highly recommend NPR’s Project Blueprint exercise on its training website to help you solidify what you’re trying to do.

3. Schedule interviews and record. After settling on a topic and format, it’s time to collect audio. If you’re going to record Q&A-style interviews, you’ll just need a mic and a way to record. You can do both of these things using your smartphone with apps like Spotify Anchor, which has built-in recording, editing and uploading capability. You can also record on Zencastr or even Zoom, which has a record function and became commonly used by TV stations and podcasts during the pandemic. With the latter, you can use your computer mic, but I would suggest a USB mic, which starts at $49. If you want to go out and meet people in person or collect sound, you’ll want a kit with a recorder, headphones and microphone, which start in the low hundreds. You’ll also want to watch tutorials.

4. Time to edit. This is probably the most technically difficult part of the process because it requires software knowledge and skill. Audacity is free and the choice of many beginners. I’m also a fan of Audition because it’s intuitive if you already have experience with other Adobe products like PhotoShop. There’s no real shortcut here. Watch YouTube tutorials or sign up for podcast/audio classes through your local community college or organizations like the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas.

5. Get it out there for people to hear. Podcasts are made available through RSS feeds, but instead of making your own, the easiest thing to do is subscribe to a hosting platform like Simplecast and Art 21. There are many options, they’re typically affordable and they make distribution simple. You upload your file, title it, add a description and they do the rest to make your podcast appear on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher and other websites and apps.

6. Promote it. After all your hard work, it’s time to promote. Post it on social media, email your friends and end your episode asking listeners to rate, review and tell their friends. Word of mouth is a great way to build an audience.

7. Keep learning. The only way to improve is to keep making podcasts. Don’t get hung up on perfection. Give your episode your best shot and move on so that your next episode can be even better. And have fun! Listeners can tell if your heart is in it, and your enthusiasm will translate into theirs. Make it interesting and make it sound good, and that will make people listen. Happy podcasting!

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