Starting a podcast is fun—but it’s also hard. There are a bunch of decisions to make and skills to learn, and unless you have a background in radio or editing, they’ll all be new.
I thought it might be helpful to share what I’ve learned, so if you’re thinking about starting your own podcast, you can get up and running faster than I did.
As a general approach, I started by doing everything for free—using open-source software or platforms with free base plans. Over time, I learned what’s actually worth spending money on.
🎙 Microphone
You’ll quickly find there are two types of microphones: condenser and dynamic.
- Condenser mics are what you see most big podcasters or YouTubers using. They sound great—crisper, more sensitive—but they pick up everything, so they’re best for soundproof studios.
- Dynamic mics are what singers typically use. They capture only what’s directly in front of them and block out most background noise.
I started with a condenser mic (the Rode NT-USB) because it is in the top 5 of most microphone review lists —and, let’s be honest, it looks cooler. But I couldn’t get it to sound good. My room is a bit echoey, and the mic picked up every mouth noise I made. It was horrible.
I eventually switched to a dynamic mic—the Audio-Technica ATR2100x-USB, which I’d heard Tim Ferriss recommend—and it was immediately better. Cheaper, more robust, easier to use. If you compare the two side-by-side, the Rode sounds better, but the difference isn’t meaningful. Plus, editing software lets you polish the final sound anyway.
Tip: Always make sure your guest is using some kind of mic. If you don’t give them a heads-up, they might just use their laptop mic—and the quality can be terrible (see Episode 8 for proof). I typically recommend a Jabra headset if they don’t have a proper mic. If they don’t own one, I send them one and ask them to post it back after which works well.
🧑💻 Recording Software
There are a lot of “all-in-one” platforms like Riverside and Zencastr. I tried at least three of them—they often have a free trial or free hour of recording. In theory, they’re great. In practice, not so much.
- They’re web-based and not that stable. Lag, audio drift, or file corruption happened more than once.
- They often work better in one browser than another—something I didn’t want my guests to worry about.
- They’re not cheap.
So I went with OBS—a beloved open-source recording tool you install on your desktop. It takes some figuring out, especially if you want to record separate audio tracks, but there are enough tutorials online to get you through.
For calls, I use Google Meet. It’s cheaper than Zoom, very reliable, works on all devices, and super easy. I record the call with Meet (as a backup) and use OBS to record high-res audio locally. Zoom, Google, and Teams all compress audio heavily—good for meetings, not for podcasts.
Tip: If, like me, you use a Mac, and plan to record using a desktop application like OBS, you need to install an audio driver called BlackHole to allow recording of audio input (i.e. the guest), it’s a bit of a pain but you only need to do it once.
✂️ Editing Software
If you go with an all-in-one platform, you can use their built-in editor—but I didn’t like them. They’re slow, buggy, and limited and I was interested in learning the craft of editing.
Instead, I started with Audacity—another open-source favourite. It looks like it’s from the ’90s, but it works, it’s updated often, and there’s tons of support online. I edited my first 20 episodes this way. It’s a good way to learn the basics although be warned there is a bit of a learning curve.
Eventually, I switched to Descript, an AI-powered editor that lets you edit audio through a transcript. It’s faster, simpler, and honestly impressive. It also has a feature called “Studio Sound” that makes recordings sound like they were done in a studio—even if your guest’s audio wasn’t great.
Descript has a free version, but to really use it, you’ll need a paid plan. For me, it’s 100% worth it. It saves a huge amount of time and sounds better than what I could produce manually.
I am not affiliated with Descript but just love the product (Descript if you are reading this, yes I will partner with you).
📡 Hosting
There are a bunch of hosting platforms. I use Spotify for Creators (formerly Anchor). It’s free, the UI is great, analytics are solid, and it doesn’t restrict you to Spotify. I suspect they all do pretty much the same thing so just pick a free one.
🎨 Podcast Logo
There are a few ways you can approach creating a podcast logo. As a starting point, you could use ChatGPT or another AI image generator. It’s fast, and it might even look okay at a glance—but as with most things, you get what you pay for.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about branding, it’s that recognition is key. Creating a logo is easy; creating one that people instantly associate with your show AND captures the essence of your brand is much harder. AI can churn out something that looks like a podcast logo, but it won’t think strategically about what your brand should represent.
If you’re serious about committing to a podcast, I strongly suggest investing in a proper brand identity. It’s an area worth investing in. You can use one of the many freelancer platforms such as Fiverr where there are plenty of options.
I am lucky—my wife works professionally in branding, so we could build How It Ticks’ visual identity properly from the start. If that wasn’t the case, I would’ve likely pulled something simple together myself for the first few episodes and then hired a freelancer to create a proper logo and brand style once I knew the podcast was something I wanted to commit to.
🔁 Bonus Tips
Always have a backup strategy. Tech issues will happen.
- I record with OBS and keep Google Meet running as a backup. I’ve already needed the backup once when guest audio failed.
- At the start of each interview, I tell the guest: If my internet drops, I’ll call you on my phone using the same Google Meet link. If your internet or computer crashes, call me from your phone using the same Google Meet link. If Meet crashes (hasn’t happened yet), I’ll send you a new link immediately.
I have not needed to resort to any of these yet, but I am 100% sure that one day I will need to. That tiny bit of upfront planning makes all the difference when something inevitably goes wrong.
One last tip:
Try your first episodes with friends.
The first few are nerve-wracking. Doing a couple of trial runs with people you’re comfortable with—my first two were with my dad and a work colleague (neither aired)—makes a big difference.
Thanks for reading,
Mike
