We've been totally staggered by the number of podcasts that we've been able to share over the past 16 months. We've been even more staggered by the number of people who have contributed podcasts, many of whom have never recorded a podcast before. We truly thank each and every one of you.
There have been times, however, when we have had to decline a podcast or ask that it be redone. This is always difficult for us to do, as we know that time and effort has been put into the recording. So, to try and reduce the number of times when this is necessary, we have decided to create a basic list of guidelines and tips for people who are thinking of submitting a podcast to the site.
As we have a lot of very experienced podcasters in the community, along with a lot of people who from simply listening to podcasts will know what makes for a good one, we want to open this up to you all and invite your suggestions and feedback.
What follows are some basic guidelines and tips. Please let us know what you think of these and offer suggestions for anything else that you think should be added:
- Make a short test recording before starting on your actual podcast. Use this to check the audio levels are appropriate and background noise is low.
- Make sure that the volume level of VoiceOver is appropriate for the level of your own speech.
- If necessary, slow down the speech rate of VoiceOver so that it is comfortable for listeners used to a slower rate.
- Have a plan in advance for what you want to cover and say in the podcast.
- Make sure that your podcast does what you say it will in the introduction.
- If demonstrating an app, don't feel obliged to walk-through and describe each and every page, element and button.
- Clearly state what gestures or keystrokes you are using when interacting with an app.
- Try to keep to a minimum any discussion which is not relevant to the podcast.
- Try to avoid long pauses and too many 'ums' and 'ahs'.
- Content is far more important than recording quality, so don't be deterred from recording a podcast simply because you don't have specialist equipment or software. A good quality recording can be made directly onto an iDevice.
We would love to hear your feedback and suggestions.
Comments
A few tips
How We Edit Podcasts