Continuing the Podcasting 101 series. In this podcast I walk you through getting your voice into an MP3 file — the basic building block of a podcast. This is probably the hardest, geekiest one in the series, so don’t be put off if at first you don’t succeed. If you get stuck, drop me an email and I’ll help you over the hump.
Show notes
Here are a few useful links to help you through the hardest part (which is getting your mic connected to your computer). You’ll have to come out to www.SexAndPodcasting.com to see the links (they don’t show up in the iTunes descriptions yet).
Mac people can go here (this is a link to a support page on the Apple site that shows how to set up your mic).
PC people can go here if you’re running XP, or here if you’re running Win 95 or Win 98.
If you’re a Linux person, you’re on your own. But I bet you can figure it out.
Cookbook steps
– First, get Audacity ready to export MP3 files. They have a topic about that in the help menus — it differs by computer.
– Plug your microphone into the “mic input” jack on your computer
– Doodle around with the sound control panal until you get the mic “turned on” for recording (this differs by computer, see above for links)
– Fire up Audacity and hit the “record” button
– Hold the mic about a foot away from your mouth, say a few words and hit the “stop” button when you’re done
– You should see blobby blue stuff in Audacity where your words are.
– Final step – go into the “File” menu and select “export as MP3”