Title: Must-Have Equipment to Start an Association Podcast
Starting a podcast is like cooking a meal. You can have the best ingredients and a great recipe, but if you don’t have the proper tools... the food is not going to turn out that great.
Associations and other organizations catching onto the podcast bandwagon will be burned if there is not a commitment to the right equipment. While your organization doesn’t necessarily need to break the bank, substandard tools will prove costly in the final product. With so many podcasts available these days, listeners will immediately pick up on trouble spots and tune out.
When shopping, remember you are competing for your audience’s time and attention. If you don’t show a commitment to a high-quality product, it will be hard to sell the new show as worth the investment. Would you listen to a show that sounds amateurish?
While there are many bells and whistles AV companies use for podcasts, the basics will suffice while your association builds its following. Here are some of our recommended ingredients with which to start your podcast:
Do not—and we cannot emphasize this enough—rely on a laptop’s in-computer microphone. Consider how choppy the audio has been on your Zoom or Microsoft Teams calls the past few months. Even when it works, the sound is just good enough, and that is not the standard you are looking for. At a minimum, you’ll need a good mic for your host. But the reality is each guest needs to be speaking into a high-quality microphone to ensure the program reaches its potential.
Given most of your podcast’s work is going to be done on a computer, you don’t want to be worrying about a faulty battery, minimal storage, and a slow internet connection. Unfortunately, a number of associations and government entities are usually generations behind the current models. You can get by without the latest laptop, but have a technician evaluate if your computer has a few more years in it. If not, it may be time to make the leap to a Google Chromecast.
Podcasts are meant to be heard, aren’t they? Noise-cancelling headphones go a long-way toward blocking out background noise and ensuring the host and guest can have an uninterrupted conversation. They are also the first line of defense in guaranteeing the recording is working. Airpods will work in a pinch, but if you think hosts and/or guests may need to share the headphones, remember no one wants to share earwax. Especially in this day and age.
Once the initial content is recorded to your liking, it’s time for post-production. Enter the mixer that cleans up unwanted noise and allows podcasters to incorporate theme music and other special effects. This is what really allows a show to feel professional even if your association may be a novice.
Now that you have the individual ingredients for success, don’t forget to include a kitchen to cook up greatness. A studio removes distractions and provides an environment for participants to get into a “showtime” mindset. If there is not space in the office, consider renting from a radio station or other venue. You can knock out multiple episodes in one session to save time.
Put these together and you’ve got a recipe for success.