How to record a podcast

Listeners forgive a cheap mic. They do not forgive a boomy room, a voice that jumps between whisper and shout, or a show that is quieter than every other one in their feed. Here is how to get all three right at home.

1. Pick a microphone you will actually use

A dynamic USB mic (the kind radio hosts use) is the best first buy for most home podcasters: it picks up mostly what is directly in front of it and ignores the room. Condenser mics sound detailed but also capture the fridge, the street and every reflection. If you only have earbuds with a mic, use those, and use the mic test to check them.

2. Get close, and stay there

Keep a hand-width between your mouth and a dynamic mic, slightly off to the side so plosives (P and B) blow past it. Consistency matters as much as distance: leaning back mid-sentence changes your level and tone.

3. Tame the room

Hard parallel walls bounce your voice back into the mic a few milliseconds late, which makes it sound hollow. Soft things absorb it: a sofa, curtains, a rug, a bookshelf. Recording into a wardrobe of clothes, or with a duvet draped behind the mic, is a genuine trick used by voice-over artists. Turn off fans and air conditioning for the take.

4. Set levels and record

1. Open the voice recorder. For a dynamic mic in a quiet room, untick noise suppression and auto gain; they are built for calls and can make your voice pump.
2. Talk at show volume. The VU needle should swing around 0 on normal speech and stay out of the red on laughs.
3. Record 10 seconds of silence first. It gives the noise remover a clean fingerprint.
4. If you flub a line, pause, and repeat the whole sentence. It is far easier to cut cleanly at a pause.

5. Edit and polish

• Delete false starts and long pauses by selecting them on the waveform and pressing Delete.
• Run the noise remover if there is steady hiss or hum.
• Apply the "Podcast voice" preset in the effects rack: high-pass at 80 Hz, a clarity lift, 3:1 compression and a limiter.
• Add intro music with the audio joiner and a 2-second crossfade.

6. Loudness and export

Podcast apps do not all normalize loudness, so a quiet show sounds weak next to others. Apple's published guideline is around −16 LUFS integrated with peaks at or under −1 dBTP. You get close by compressing, then normalizing to −1 dB and leaving the limiter on. Export MP3 at 128 kbps mono for voice-only shows, 192 kbps for stereo with music.

7. Turn the episode into text

Transcripts help accessibility and search. Drop the final MP3 into Audio to Text, then press "Show notes" to get a summary, bullet points and chapter markers drafted from what you actually said.

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