93: Glossary of Common Beginner Podcasting Terms
When you first start the process of creating a launch a new podcast of your own, it can be learning a foreign language. There are a lot of terms thrown around that don't mean anything to you yet and it can make it difficult to ask for help when you need it (and to understand the advice when you get it).
In this episode, I'm going some of the more common beginner podcasting terms. This isn't a comprehensive list by any means (although I explain in the episode where find one that is fairly comprehensive), but this will help you get started without feeling overwhelmed by technical jargon you don't need to know quite yet.
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Transcript
Welcome to podcasting for coaches. I'm Britany Felix and I'm a podcast launch consultant who specializes in helping coaches and consultants utilize the power of podcasting as a way to build brand awareness and generate new leads for their business. I realize not every new coach or consultant can afford to hire someone to help launch their show. So I created this podcast as a way to guide you through the process of launching and utilizing your very own podcast to help you grow your business and reach a new audience of adoring followers and potential clients. If you're ready to get your voice and podcast out into the world, head over to podcasting for coaches.com to learn more.
00:48
Welcome to Episode 93 of podcasting for coaches. As the title of this episode suggests, we are going to be going over some common podcasting terms. If you're just getting started on your podcast journey, a lot of this is going to seem like a foreign language to you. So hopefully this episode will help you get a little bit more clarity around the terms that we use in the podcasting industry. So you know what to ask for. And you understand advice when it's given. I do have a PDF with the breakdown of the terms. And you can find that by going to podcasting for coaches. com, click on the podcast tab in the main menu and go to episode number 93. You do not even need to enter your email address, you can just get this PDF and have it for future reference. But I am going to break down these terms right here right now. So starting alphabetically, the first term that we're going to cover is bumper. And that is BUMP er so like a bumper car. A bumper is another term that's given to your main show intro. Now the main show intro is what you hear at the beginning of most podcast episodes, that's the same every time. So it usually has some background music to it. And it's just kind of like a little introduction or welcome message to get the show started. And sometimes you will also hear this referred to as a bumper, it's not super common, but it does happen, especially when you also start talking about episode intros. So if you want to be super clear about which intro you're talking about, and it can get a little bit confusing between show and drone up as an intro, you can just say bumper for the segment at the beginning of every show. Okay, so the next term is condenser microphone. So there are two main types of microphones, I'm going to give you the other one in just a second when we get to the DS. But a condenser microphone is a microphone that's most often use in like a studio setting. And that's because it's more sensitive than the other type of microphone I'm going to go over. This means it does a better job of picking up voices. But it also does a better job of picking up like ambient and background noises. So an example of a condenser microphone is a Blue Yeti. Blue Yeti is are super sensitive. So if you're recording in an environment that is not super, super, super quiet, a Blue Yeti is probably not the best one for you. And a condenser microphone in general, is probably not the best one. If you do you have a super quiet recording environment, this microphone should give you some pretty good overall sound quality. And it also allows you to sit further away from the microphone. So because it is more sensitive and means that you don't have to be like right up against the microphone. Like for the one I'm using right now, which is not a condenser, My mouth is literally only about an inch away from the microphone, which can get a little bit dicey because I talk with my hands. But if you're somebody who likes to move around a lot, when you talk, you like to talk with your hands. A condenser microphone helps you to be able to sit a little bit further back and just kind of give yourself a little bit more space. But again, I don't recommend them unless you have a really, really, really quiet and well designed and set up space to record where it's going to absorb sound rather than bouncing around everywhere and just get picked up by the condenser microphone. Okay, so next in alphabetical order, we have a da da W, you might see this get referred to especially if you're talking with other editors in the space, or they're explaining how to edit dot means digital audio workstation. And it's basically just the industry term for the software program you use to edit and produce podcast episodes or really just edit any type of audio. An example of this would be audacity or audition, GarageBand, Hindenburg, Reaper, there's lots of different ones that can be used depending on whatever the editors preferences. Okay, so the next one is directory. This is just a listing of podcasts on a particular platform. An example of a directory would be the apple podcast platform. That's their directory.
05:00
So for example, there are a lot of smaller podcast apps that pull from Apple's directory of shows. So it's basically just all the shows on that particular platform. Okay, so now we are on to the next type of microphone, which is a dynamic microphone. This type of microphone is best for a beginner or hobbyist podcaster, because it's very forgiving. It does not pick up nearly as much background noise as a condenser microphone, aka a Blue Yeti. So examples of a dynamic microphone would be the one I'm using right now, which is the Audio Technica 2100. So ATR 2100, or the other one that I also recommend, which is the Samsung cue to you, those are both great starter mics, they have excellent audio quality, and they don't pick up nearly as much background noise because they are dynamic microphones. Dynamic microphones do tend to be less expensive than condenser microphones. And as I mentioned earlier, it does have the drawback of needing to sit very close to it while you're talking. But that's really about the only main drawback. So again, I do recommend going with a dynamic microphone for your podcast.
06:09
Okay, so the next term is a hosting service or host. This is where you actually store your audio files for your podcast. You don't want those to live on your website, because they take up so much space. And eventually it will bog down your website and make it be really sluggish. And when really slowly and make the pages load slowly, which can affect your ranking in Google and of course affect anyone who visits your website, because it will just won't perform well for them. The hosting service also is where you get your RSS feed from so your RSS feed. I will explain later when we get to the ours. But just know that this comes from your hosting service. An example of this is Lipson blueberry, captivate audio boom pod bean, there's all kinds I do recommend Lipson, but that's what a hosting services. Okay, next we have ID three tags. So I have been over this in previous episodes. And in fact, Episode 77 breaks us down in much more detail. Although side note, I do mention that it three tags help with SEO and that episode, and it's actually been discovered that it really doesn't help that much. So just ignore that little part. But to explain it here, Id three tags are basically just the data that they attach to the actual audio file for your episode. So generally speaking, this works just like if you're at least a millennial like I am. Back in the 90s. When we all had CDs, and we started getting these like fancy new radios, we would actually like have a screen and display the artwork and stuff like that, or you'd put it into your computer back when we still had CD ROMs. And you would see all of the information for that particular CD is just like auto generates and whatever program you're listening. So it usually includes the title, the artist, the description, artwork, copyright, notice track number, all of those things. That's the ID three tags. And again, in Episode 77, I explained how to add those to your file and why you should do that. So the next term is intro. I have already been over that a little bit when we talked about the bumper. But again, there are two separate intros for an episode or at least there can be, you have your main show intro, which is the one with the music that's the same in every episode, generally speaking, and then you can have an episode intro. This usually goes after your main show intro, and then is an episode intro that works best when it's you talking before you go into an interview. So it's usually providing some information on the guests maybe writing their bio explaining what you're going to talk about on the episode, and then you transition into the actual interview itself. So again, you have a main show intro, and then a separate episode intro if you want. The next term is metadata. And this is basically just another term for it three tags, those are just about interchangeable, ie three tags as a more specific version of metadata. But you can really use either one of these terms and you'll get the same result. Okay, so the next step is mixing or mix. This is when you take all of the elements of your show and combine it together into a single audio file, creating the final version of your episode. So if I say I'm mixing an episode, that means that I am piecing it all together in my dog, my digital audio workstation with the main show intro the episode intro, both tracks for the host and the guest. Any transition music, any ads, if there's a an episode outro, a main outro any of those things I'm piecing all of that together to create one cohesive end file for the episode. So that is the mixing process of what you do in post production and not too confusing.
10:00
term is mixer. Now this is an actual piece of equipment that allows you to have more control over your audio sound and quality. I don't recommend starting with this as it can be expensive, and they can be really complicated. Basically, if you have ever seen a video or watched a movie, or a TV show or a documentary where somebody is in a recording studio, and there's usually a person like sitting in front of this like board with a whole bunch of like buttons, and sliders, and tabs, and like all kinds of things in front of them, that's their mixer, basically. So that's just allowing them to have more specific control over the audio. And again, it can be expensive, it can be complicated, and you honestly don't need it. If you go with one of the two microphones I mentioned earlier, the ATR 2100, or the Samsung Qt, you that can just plug straight into your computer via a USB port or USB C depending on the mic, and you're good to go. You don't need a separate mixer. That is like a level 201 kind of a thing. And when you're just starting, we want to get you set off on the right foot not make it any more complicated or expensive than we need to. Okay, so next we have mono track. Now this can be referred to when you're recording when you have your final audio file. But basically this means that all of the audio is either recorded or ending up on one single track. This is best when you're recording a solo episode, but is not recommended when there's more than one person being recorded. So if it's you and a guest, or you and a co host, ideally, you want to each have your own separate audio file, which means that when you go to mix all of this together and edit it in the post production process, which is everything that happens after you record, you actually end up with each person having their own actual like channel or track in your DAW. And so that's ideal, and that is called multitrack recording, which is the next term. So mano means there's only one track for everything going on in that episode or in that interview. And multitrack means that you have separate tracks for every element of the show every person who talks and it really allows you to have a lot more control over what you do in the post production process. So how you clean up that audio how you make adjustments to how it sounds. So multitrack is preferred over mono track. Speaking of multitrack, this can sometimes also be just called separate tracks, or it can be called split track. Those are all kind of terms for the same thing.
12:36
And next is the outro. Similar to the intro, you have two of these potentially, you can have your main show outro, which is what plays at the end of every episode, it's the same every time it's got your music. And that's just your main show outro. Now, some people choose to prefer to do like a live read of this and just have a little bit of music in the background every time. And that's totally fine. And then you can also have an episode outro. So that is where some of my clients, for example, they have their interview and then at the end of the interview, so towards the end of the episode, they come back with a solo segment where they're like recapping or providing further insights or offering some next steps for the listener to take. And then they're usually giving out a call to action and sharing where they can find the show notes. So that's typically what happens in an episode specific outro. And then we of course have the main show outro
13:31
Okay, so the next term is platform. platform is basically just where you can have your podcast listed and people can download or listen to them. So also known as podcast apps. So Apple podcast is a podcasting platform. Spotify is now a podcasting platform stitcher podcasting platform. Hopefully you catch my drift there. replatform is literally just where they can find your show. Okay, and the next term is podcast. And I know you're probably thinking, Why the heck am I defining podcast and a show about podcasting? Clearly, you already know what a podcast is. However, a lot of people use this term incorrectly. Some people like to call individual episodes, podcasts. And that's not actually true. That's not accurate. A podcast is a series of individual episodes. So a podcast is the show as a whole. So podcasting for coaches is my podcast. And then I have podcast episodes. So this is a little pet peeve of mine. It drives me nuts when I see people say check out my podcast or check out the latest podcast. And that's not accurate because the podcast is your entire show as a whole. So you should be saying check out the latest podcast episode. Now if you're explaining a podcast to somebody who doesn't know what a podcast is, which by the way you absolutely should be
15:00
One of the main ways you can grow your audience is by educating people on podcast because so many people, millions upon millions of people still do not know what a podcast is. So when I'm talking to other people who don't know what a podcast is, which happens very frequently, I always explain it as it's like a radio show that you can listen to, at any time on any device. And that's a very basic way of explaining it so that they kind of get a rough idea of what it is. And then I can follow up with more details if they want. But that's usually like my quick little elevator spiel on what a podcast is. So next is post production, which I've already used several times in this episode. So again, it's just anything after the episode has been recorded. So that includes the actual editing of the audio, the mixing that we've already gone about uploading the final file to your hosting service, which we've already talked about writing the show notes, which we're going to talk about in just a second, creating artwork. And of course, like all your social media promotions. Alright, and next, we are up to RSS feed. So I'm not going to get too technical on this. But it's basically just a bunch of code in the form of a URL. So just like a website URL, that when you submit this URL to all the various podcast platforms, these platforms scan continuously for any changes in that code. And a change in that code, as an example would be when you add a new episode to the feed. So you have by adding that episode changed that code, and therefore the podcast platforms, detect that change and display it, aka they show your new episode. So the RSS feed again, looks like a normal URL. And it typically comes from your hosting service. And it's literally just a bunch of code. Okay, so next we have show elements. This can also be known as segments. And these are just the various parts of your show. So that can be a main show, intro and episode intro, the main content of the episode, whether it's a solo recording, or the interview portion, any commercials, any bits of transition, music or sounds, any sound effects, background, music outros, literally any part of your show, those are show elements. And then each segment is something different that happens in the show. And the next we have show notes. So show notes are basically a blog post, you can pretty much create them on most website platforms as a blog post. And you should have an individual post for every single episode. And this is what you're using to entice your listeners back to your website. And that's because there are some things here in the show notes that we can offer them. So they should include the title of the episode, potentially some artwork as well. Short Description of the show at least a player so that they can listen to it right on your website. That is important. You might be surprised how many people actually listen to podcasts, not on their phone, the majority are still done via mobile devices. But a lot of people do listen on websites, especially if they found you through like a Google search because they were looking for help on a particular topic you've talked about, and it led them to your website. And now they're like, Oh, what's this? She has a podcast. Okay, let me listen to this, they're not going to necessarily like stop and get out their phone and go listen, especially if they don't already have a podcast app they're using. So beyond that, we want to make sure we have some subscribe links right underneath the player is usually ideal. And that's just to the main platforms Apple podcast, Spotify, Google podcast, Pandora, I Heart Radio, you can put one for your general RSS feed because again, it's basically just a URL. And then you can do subscribe on Android. So that subscribe on Android COMM And that works for anybody who has an Android device and just kind of brings up whatever apps are available to them. And they can choose the one they use. Then one of the most important parts, what is going to entice your listener back to the show notes is having a resources section. So this is where you link to anything that you mentioned in the episode. So if you have a guest, it's all of their links. And if you're selling something, it's links to your own products or services that you mentioned. So anything that they might want more information on is right there in the resources section. And then we usually end with a call to action. So whatever that next step is that you want that person to take. Okay, and then the last term I am going to cover is the stinger. So a stinger is a short piece of sound or music that denotes a transition from one segment to another. So a lot of times this is generally just called a transition piece or transition music transition sound effect. So it's anything to just kind of signify that one segment is ending and the next one is beginning. Now if you want to learn more, you can check out the podcast glossary from the podcast host and of course, there will also be a link in the resources section for the show notes for this episode, podcasts.
20:00
For coaches.com, click on the podcast tab in the main menu and go to episode number 93. All right, that's gonna wrap up this episode, I want to invite you to come back next week where I am going to have Andrea Sager on the show with me. She is an attorney and a podcaster herself. And we are going to be talking about all things legal in terms of podcasting. So make sure that you do not miss this episode. I know it's intimidating, but it's a very important one. And before I officially wrap up, I do want to remind you that the doors are currently open for my brand new live group podcasts launch program, start a podcast in eight weeks or less. The doors will be closing on Sunday, September 6 at midnight eastern standard time, so you only have a few days from the day that this goes live. And that will include a weekly calls with me and no more than nine other participants in the program for a total of 10 where I am going to walk you through every single step of starting your podcast and I'm going to provide you with expert guidance and feedback on every element that you need to create for your podcast so that you can go from idea to launch in eight weeks or less. This type of high level attention is usually reserved for my one on one clients, but I am now offering it in this group setting. So again to find more information about that program, just go to the show notes for this episode, podcasting. Virgo does comm click on the podcast having the main menu episode number 93. Thanks so much and I will see you back here next week.
21:35
And that wraps up another episode of podcasting for coaches. If you'd like to connect with me further, you can do so on Instagram at podcasting for coaches. If you know it's time to finally get serious about starting your podcast, go to podcasting for coaches calm and click on the work with me tab in the main menu to learn more about my one on one launch consultation packages or my self paced online course. And I look forward to seeing the podcast that you create and put out into the world.