{"id":2943,"date":"2018-06-28T14:05:27","date_gmt":"2018-06-28T18:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/?p=2943"},"modified":"2018-06-28T14:05:27","modified_gmt":"2018-06-28T18:05:27","slug":"explain-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/explain-this\/","title":{"rendered":"Explain This"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For thousands of years, humans have used storytelling as a way to entertain and educate the next generation about cultural values, morals, and history. So it\u2019s no surprise that podcasting, or the uploading of a series of digital audio files to the internet for storytelling and listening purposes, has become such a successful medium.<\/p>\n<aside>\n<header><span style=\"color: #a34f8d\">Should I Pre-Record Or Live Stream?<\/span><\/header>\n<p>Though it may lack that sense of spontaneity, Reisher suggests new podcasters pre-record since it gives them the option to go back and edit the recording, while also relieving feelings of trepidation that some may feel when recording for the first time.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s growing exponentially at this point,\u201d says Eric Reisher, professor and director of broadcast engineering. (According to a recent story published by <em>Fast Company<\/em>, the number of podcasts downloaded on iTunes has jumped from 7 billion in 2014 to 50 billion in 2018.)<\/p>\n<p>Reisher says creating your own podcast is easier today than ever before, and virtually anyone can get started with a few simple steps. To start, pick a topic that you are passionate about and knowledgeable in, he suggests. \u201cIf you have to do a week\u2019s worth of preparation to do a podcast, maybe that\u2019s not the right topic for you,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>Once you\u2019ve picked your topic\u2014the more niche, the better\u2014 it\u2019s important to learn to market yourself. Reisher suggests creating a brand name, logo, and social accounts that can be used to promote your content.<\/p>\n<p>Next, invest in simple, low-cost technology. Reisher says it\u2019s not necessary to sound-proof a room in your home or office as long as you have a relatively quiet space in which to record. Provided you have a decent computer, it\u2019s possible to get started for under $200. Purchase a microphone for between $50 to $100, grab a set of headphones, and download Audacity, an easy-to-use free-ware audio editing program where you can record and edit sound clips. Mac users can also use GarageBand.<\/p>\n<p>When recording, Reisher says, stay focused and don\u2019t ramble off topic with guests or co-hosts. Once recorded, edit your podcast via Audacity or GarageBand and upload it via Libsyn, a podcast hosting and publishing service. Libsyn, which has plans starting as low as $5 per month, is easy to use, automatically imprints to iTunes, and sets up your RSS feed. He suggests keeping the finished product to less than an hour\u201425 to 30 minutes is the sweet spot when growing a following.<\/p>\n<p>Besides posting content on a consistent basis, Reisher says it\u2019s important to continually market yourself\u2014whether it\u2019s by sharing new content via social accounts or by offering merchandise like t-shirts or mugs with your brand name and logo on them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPodcasting is a lot of fun in that you can really build yourself,\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019re not just a broadcaster, you\u2019re a marketer, a merchandiser, a designer.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How can I start podcasting quickly and cheaply? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":3319,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"image_focus":"","hide_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-currents"],"thumbnail":"<img width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/iStock-microphone-podcast-300x200.jpg\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-3319 wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" role=\"presentation\" style=\"object-position:50% 50%;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/iStock-microphone-podcast-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/iStock-microphone-podcast-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/iStock-microphone-podcast-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/iStock-microphone-podcast-1120x746.jpg 1120w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/iStock-microphone-podcast-560x373.jpg 560w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/iStock-microphone-podcast-280x187.jpg 280w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/iStock-microphone-podcast-320x213.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/iStock-microphone-podcast-640x426.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/iStock-microphone-podcast-2800x1866.jpg 2800w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/iStock-microphone-podcast-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/iStock-microphone-podcast-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/iStock-microphone-podcast-1400x933.jpg 1400w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/iStock-microphone-podcast-828x552.jpg 828w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/iStock-microphone-podcast-360x240.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/iStock-microphone-podcast-9x6.jpg 9w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/iStock-microphone-podcast.jpg 3000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>","catString":"Currents","issue":"Summer 2018","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2943"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3818,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2943\/revisions\/3818"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}