Welcome

- Hi, my name is Rich Harrington, and welcome to this course on professional podcasting. We've got a lot of things to cover today, so it might take you a couple of sittings to get through the entire course. Now, remember as well, we're going to expose you to a lot of different topics, but depending upon your skill level, you might decide to dig into deeper things, and you'll find additional training here on Lynda.com. In this course, we're going to make sure you have a clear understanding of what podcasting is. We'll talk all about what podcasting is and isn't, as well as the role of RSS feeds and some trends of how podcasts are consumed.

We'll also explore pre-production strategies. These are the things you do during the development stage, determining your guest and the approach of your show. How you're going to organize things and structure them. We'll then walk through some production approaches, things you need to know when it comes to shooting or recording a podcast. We'll then walk through some very specific techniques on how to get set up to record an audio podcast as well as some tips and techniques for video podcasting. We'll walk you through some behind-the-scenes advice as well as some technical tips to configure your equipment for the best quality, as well as some options for screen casting and some practical tips for video podcasts.

We'll then explore the editing process using Adobe Audition to edit an audio podcast as well as what to look out for when you put together a video podcast. We'll then explore the world of compression. This is the fact of making video files or audio files smaller, easier to download, and more optimized for playback on portable media players or other devices. This is a critical step, and while we'll cover all the essential things you need to know, you might decide to dig deeper into some of the other topics here on Lynda.com to explore a specific compression application.

Lastly, we'll explore the process of hosting and delivering your files. I'll help you find the right podcast host so you know what to look for when it comes to storing your files, as well as how to build your own RSS feed for the real simple syndication. We'll even make sure that you know how to submit that feed to places like iTunes or other popular directories as well as how to monitor the feed to make sure it maintains its health and that everything keeps working, and get a sense of how you're doing with statistics and item information about who's consuming your podcast.

I've been podcasting for many years. In fact, from the very beginning, and I'm super excited to share these techniques with you. Podcasting has been around for a long time, so whether you're new to podcasting, and you're just getting around to it, or you've been doing it for a long time, I think you'll enjoy some of the practical advice in this course. Podcasting is having a resurgency. It's starting to become an extremely popular way to reach people. When we take a look at some of the statistics of what's happening in the world of podcasting, you'll be surprised at how many people use podcasts.

In fact, podcasting is a lot more popular than some of the big social networks. Alright, let's jump in and start to explore the many things that it takes to make a professional podcast.