As an avid podcast listener I’m fascinated at how the industry is growing.

For me the fact that I can listen anywhere – on the train or bus, in the car, or in the kitchen while cooking – is a huge plus.

Plus there’s the fact that so much information can be delivered in an easy way to the listener – and this is especially useful for those working in education, or consultancy, or trying to reach a large membership group.

Not to mention the comedy, drama, politics and great true crime podcasts out there….

No wonder the sector is growing at the rate of knots.

It is not that difficult to actually produce a podcast – all you need is a voice and a recorder. Even the Voice Memos on your phone can record your podcast quite well – depending on conditions – and there are apps that now enable you to record and publish directly from your phone.

As I plan and help people make podcasts, I have realised that the ones that have a decent shelf life and get to the audience need to do their detailed planning first. Like any campaign the more planning and thought that goes into it, the better it will be when produced.

So there are three stages to preparing a podcast.

  1. PLAN – think about what it is you want to do with this podcast, what it’s title is, and what the content will be, and who’s your target audience. Think about frequency and duration.
  2. PRODUCE – plan how you are going to produce it – in a studio? Pop up space? On your phone in your kitchen or on a USB-connected microphone on your desktop? And how are you going to edit it?
  3. PROMOTE – how are you going to get it to your listeners so they can find it? Where to place it? How does it fit in with your brand? And who is going to do the promotion?

A lot of questions there, yes.

I have devised a one page questionnaire for people seriously thinking of a podcast. If you can answer all the questions in this you have made a good start on the first part of the process.

If you would like a free copy of this questionnaire, please email me at [email protected] and we’ll send it out to you. And let others who might benefit from this know as well.

Aileen O’Meara is an award-winning former RTE radio producer, and independent radio producer. She offers podcast consultancy, as well as practical training and podcast presenting services, with her team of current and former RTE radio producers and presenters. Find out more here.