A podcast is a great way to share your passion and personality with the world. If you’ve always wanted to present your own show, these practical tips from Guardian Masterclasses speaker Helen Zaltzman will encourage you to stop uum-ing and aah-ing about it – and learn through doing.
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If you want to start podcasting, start. Don’t wait for an invitation or ‘the right time’ - now is as right a time as any. Set yourself a strict schedule and stick to it.
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There are a ton of shows out there, so what’s the reason for yours to exist? Carve yourself a niche. Choose a topic or format you can stomach spending a lot of time thinking about. Be creatively ambitious and work as hard as you can.
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Form a community with other podcasters, whether in person or online. You can help each other with all the piddly little tech problems and the big “What the hell am I doing?” problems. Plus you can exchange ideas, and generally make this solitary pursuit a little less lonely.
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Don’t expect great fame or riches to result from a podcast. If they do, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
- Your show is competing with all of the rest of the internet. So if the listener has been generous enough to give you their attention, repay them by giving them something worth their time.
Helen is the co-presenter of Sony award-winning comedy podcast Answer Me This!. She also presents and produces The Allusionist, a funny, educational podcast about language and etymology.
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