PP017 Being Interviewed

I talk with Fred Castaneda from the Struggling Entrepreneur podcast. But I didn't interview Fred. Instead, Fred interviewed me for his podcast.

In this episode, I take a look at things to consider if someone wants to interview you. Specifically, if you are a podcaster and another podcaster asks to interview you, what should you know? What should you do or not do? Using clips from the raw recording with Fred to illustrate many of the points, I cover these topics:

Why you might want to be interviewed

Why you might not want to accept the invitation to be interviewed

How you get yourself interviewed

What do you do before saying, "yes"

Vetting your interviewerFred Castaneda

Using a release

Setting the topic and scope

Pre-interview questions

Setting up the call

Recording double enders

Approval of edited recording

Graphics and logos for the blog post

My interview at Struggling Entrepreneur is Episode 178, which you can find at http://strugglingentrepreneur.com. I think just about every dedicated podcaster is at least a little bit of an entrepreneur, so check out Fred's other episodes as well.

PP016 What Bitrate to Use for MP3 Compression

This episode deviates from the usual format. Instead of speaking with a guest podcaster, I talk about sampling rate, bit depth (or sample resolution), and bit rate. It's a little technical, but this topic keeps coming up in forums and in podcasts about podcasting, usually in the context of "what bit rate should I use to make my mp3 files?" Online, you can listen to and read a variety of answers to that question, but in this episode you'll hear my opinion.

PP015 Ed Ovett - Music and Variety

Ed Ovett produces and hosts the Ed's Mixed Bag podcast, a labor of love that is centered around indie music. Ed is always doing new things and the links to them are usually posted on both Facebook and Twitter. 

We talk about how Ed selects the music for the show and where he gets it, how other show segments to break things up and add interest, and things to consider if you are thinking about contests on your podcast.

Ed comments on being a little over ambitious when it comes to episode frequency and what that means for how much of your time the podcast will consume. Also, Ed has some recommendations for podcatchers other than iTunes:

• Media Monkey
• Double Twist
• Ziepod

Ed has some experience with live streaming and we talk about The Pod 5 show that was on Mevio. That was first produced on Talkshoe and then on Ustream.

Note that Ed has a deal with CallBurner that can get you a discount.

Mentions:

• Mike Tech Show Podcast
• Zack "The Mothman" Daggy
• PodProducer
• Cast Blaster
• Audacity

PP014 Carl Valeri & Len Costa - Podcasting from a Suitcase

In his episode we concentrate on podcasting when you're away from the studio. Not field recordings like sound-seeing tours, but podcasting when you are away from home, traveling, maybe staying with friends or in a hotel. In other words, podcasting from a suitcase.

Guests Carl Valeri and Len Costa are two of the four hosts from the Stuck Mic AvCast. With a cast of pilots, this podcast often sees several of them away from home, usually in a hotel. We cover a wide range of topics, including:

The challange of coordinating recording sessions with the travel schedules of the hosts.

Recording episodes and having lots of backup using Screenflow on the Mac and also Call Recorder.

Microphones for travel, including using a dynamic mic (like a Shure SM58) and a USB audio interface (like the Blue Microphones Icicle or the Shure X2u) for the combination of ruggedness and noise rejection.

Impediments to podcasting on the road, such as getting psyched when you are out of your normal environment and the unpredictability of hotel Internet connections. Also, dealing with noisy hotel rooms and just plain bad acoustics with mic selection and placement, creating an in-room sound booth, and disconnecting the telephone.

Getting through airport security and the need for backup copies of your on-the-road recordings.

Using a sharing service like Dropbox or Google Docs to communicate schedules and episode plans.

Finally, the guys also have some thoughts on publishing podcast episodes using the enhanced (m4a) audio format.

PP013 Marc Edelheit - Telling a Story

Marc Edelheit tells stories in his 2 Cent History podcast, interesting historical stories. We talk about how Marc prepares for and produces effective stories that communicate an engaging message. Marc's keys include extensive research and preparation, and capturing story elements that have an emotional impact on the listener. Marc records himself telling the story and checks for effectiveness before he steps into the studio. Once in the studio, he leaves the technical aspects of the podcast production to a professional so he can concentrate on content.

In some ways, podcasters are often telling a story of one sort or another. In that regard, we might all benefit from an examination of the methods Marc employs.