Influential Introvert: Communication Coaching for Professionals with Performance Anxiety - Podcasting While Traveling: Your 5-Step Plan for Recording on the Road

Episode Date: February 15, 2020

As someone who has podcasted from hostels, hotels, and bare-bones medieval apartments, I’m proof that you can record a quality podcast from anywhere. Want to take your show on the road? On this episode of Podcasting Step by Step, I walk you though my 5-step plan for recording while traveling.   Visit sarahmikutel.com for show notes, including on-the-road podcast equipment recommendations.   *** Ready to start your own show? Download my free guide: “8 Mistakes New Podcasters Make and How to Fix Them.”    Looking for a podcast media host? Use my Libsyn affiliate code POSTCARD to get the rest of this month for free and next month free.    I’m your podcast launch consultant, Sarah Mikutel. If you’d like to learn more about me, you can check out my other podcast, Postcard Academy travel podcast. This travel podcast is for the ‘experiences not things’ kind of person who believes travel goes deeper than a fantastic meal (though that is pretty great). Every week, I interview people who packed up everything to start a new adventure in another part of the world. You’ll learn how they did it and get their best insider food and culture tips.    Thank you so much for listening to Podcasting Step by Step. I know you’re busy and have many listening options, so it means a lot to me that you’re here. You are the best.Do you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free Conversation Cheat Sheet with simple formulas you can use so you can respond with clarity, whether you’re in a meeting or just talking with friends.Download it at sarahmikutel.com/blanknomore and start feeling more confident in your conversations today.

So you want to take the show on the road. In this episode, I will walk you through the gear that you need to record a quality podcast from anywhere. Have you been wanting to start a podcast for a while now, but something's holding you back? Maybe it's fear of putting yourself out there or confusion about the technology. I'm Sarah Mikital and on podcasting step by step. I'll break down how to podcast with a little loving motivation to give you the skills and the confidence you need to finally launch that show of your dreams. Let's get started. So you've got a big trip coming up and you're thinking of podcasting while you're there. Maybe you've got a conference, maybe you're going to a wedding, maybe you're going to Paris for the first time. Before you start packing all of your gear,

the first question that I want you to ask yourself is, should I actually even be podcasting at this event? We live in a culture now where we always feel like we need to be documented. We need to be documenting everything. We go to a concert and we pull out our phones and start recording some of the music or taking pictures or getting ready to put things on Instagram. And I am guilty of this as well. And yeah, sometimes we do want to record these things for our memories. But a lot of the times when we're having these cameras in front of our faces, we're never going to look at these pictures again. And they're distracting us from actually being in the moment. And I think podcast can be the same way. I was in Bali a year or so ago with a friend of mine, and I was all keen on

podcasting everything. So we get there and it was like a 25-hour flight. We had a layover in Hong Kong and then another six or so hour flight to Bali. And so, of course, I wanted to podcast about our very long flights. So I was like, let's do a podcast episode on how to survive long-haul flights. So we did that. And then I would have just podcasted, I think, every leg of our journey. But at a certain point, my friend was like, can we just be? Can we just experience where we are? And she had an excellent point. I didn't need to actually be podcasting about different parts of Bali while I was actually there. I could just do like a reflection later after the trip. So I think it's important to not get just too caught up in

documenting every moment of our lives. I know there are some marketers out there who are like, market everything and then put everything on YouTube and then repurpose it for everywhere else. And yeah, sometimes I can work for marketing. For me, that's a little bit too much. I think we should actually enjoy our lives and not just be creating albums that we're not experiencing now, but maybe 20 years from how we can look back and be like, oh yeah, I vaguely remember that. But no, I was too busy taking pictures and podcasting. So yeah, sometimes we do want a podcast when we're on the road, but just be mindful up front. Like, does it have to be now or can I follow up later? And so I not too long ago did a podcast episode with a friend that I met in Bosnia. And I'm glad that I

interviewed her later because while I was there, I could enjoy her company and going out to dinner and exploring and not having a microphone in her face. We were able to build a relationship and I didn't have to worry about tech gear and all that type of stuff. And then later, I was able to call and do an interview with her remotely. And I think that remote interviews tend to sound much better anyway from a quality perspective. When you're in the same room as somebody, a lot of times you get audio bleed and so I actually prefer to do remote interviews rather than in-person interviews

but those can be fun too as well think about the goal of recording from the road what do you want to get out of it and if it makes sense then do it I don't want to say that I never record from the road and I don't want to be like totally shooting down your dreams of like podcasting on your holiday if you want to do it do it just be mindful of what you're doing or I even think doing like sort of like diaries from the road that are more casual can be quite fun.

I recently podcasted from a travel show that I did in London. I was invited up there and so I wanted to go up there and do a podcast episode on the best places to travel in 2020. And I wanted to do sort of off the beat, off the beat empath types of places. There were hundreds of vendors and other people there. And I knew this would be a good place to get many soundbites all. at one. So I think that's a great opportunity to be podcasting on the road when you can gather a bunch of different things you need all in one place. That's perfect. We have Caribbean ingredients, Caribbean food culture again, but with the refinement of the French church.

And this is what we call the Creole Arde Viver. Can you tell me a little bit more about what that food is like and what's your favorite restaurant? In Guadalupe, my mother's restaurant, it's not a restaurant, but, you know, my mother's, she used to cook very well. She's gone already, but I remember she would have this enormous cooking dictionary. So I think podcasting from a conference is a very good idea. And if you want to do that, I would recommend these five steps. Number one, have a plan before. you get there about who you want to talk to and why. So if you're podcasting to promote your business, then interviewing people who are potential customers is a very wise idea or people who you want

to build relationships later, maybe have a collaboration, or just even people who you admire. Like, who is going to be there? Check the programs. Check the list. Because we never have as much time as we think we do. So have your like top list. list of the people who you want to get in touch with, and then make sure you hit up that list first, because the day is just going to fly by. Or you could even reach out to them in advance and say, hey, I'm going to be here. Can you spare five minutes for me? Next, if you're going to do a themed episode based on what you're getting out of this conference, try to think about one to three questions that you can ask every person you interview. So this can unify your

episode's theme. So this is for kind of like a man on the street. or insight type of podcast episode. Then three, chat them up a bit and to gauge whether they would actually be good on Mike, so are they friendly, do they have enough energy, are they interesting to talk to you, or are they like way too salesy and promotional and you actually wouldn't want to include them on your podcast? So step four, if they pass your test and are a good match and they're up for an interview, then just say, you know, hey, can I take a few minutes to interview?

you and then respect their time. So if you say it's only going to take a few minutes, especially if their sponsor or somebody on the floor who's like trying to generate business, then make sure you respect their time. But if they are keen to keep going and you want to keep going, then, you know, by all means keep going. But then step five, after the interview, thank them and then exchange business cards or some kind of information so that you can let them know when the episode is out and then and share it with them. And again, maybe this is a potential client. Maybe this is somebody you would want to work with down the road. So make sure that you follow up with them soon after the conference. So, you know, you can get the ball rolling. And just side note, I'm so

excited about podcasting's future because when I was at this travel show, I was really shocked at how kind of old-fashioned it was and almost a little bit outdated. I was asking different people there how they were marketing their travel services. And a lot of them were like, I really am not even sure what we're doing for marketing. Or they're like, oh, we're putting an advertisement in such and such travel magazine. And I was just thinking, wow, I don't know anybody who has planned a trip based on an ad that they saw in a magazine. So I just think that the future for podcast advertising and sponsorship is really, really bright for us. So I just think that's a very exciting opportunity.

So what equipment did I use to record on the floor? Well, at this travel show, I recorded using the following equipment. The microphone I used was a Samsung Q2U. I'm pretty sure that's the one I grabbed. I may have grabbed the ATR 2100, but I'm pretty sure I grabbed the Samsung Q2U because that one is a little bit better with noise handling because I was holding the microphone like reporter style. So I had the Samsung Q2U, the recorder that I brought was my Zoom H6, and then a cable to attach the microphone to the recorder. And the cable usually comes

with the Samsung Q2U. So I'm pretty sure I've talked about this microphone before. And what's great about it is it's USB, so it can plug right into your computer. But it also has like the cable option if you want to plug the microphone into the digital recorder and record on the road like I did at that travel show. And top tip, make sure that you have enough battery power to get you through the day. So I made sure I had like a full new fresh battery pack in my digital recorder before I headed out. And then I recorded my mini interviews reporter style. So that was with me holding the mic and then putting it in front of my interviewee's mouths. So you want to stay in control of the mic and try to keep contact with your interviewee so that they're not

moving their head around. I mean, there might be a lot of distractions on this floor and you don't want them to be speaking off mic. So hold the mic in front of their mouth and then try to just maintain eye contact with them. Also, if you give them the mic, then you're at the risk of, one, them talking forever and not giving the mic back. Or two, introducing like Russell, hand movement sounds on the mic and that doesn't sound so great. But if I were interviewing just one person when I was on the road and we were in a quieter place, we're only doing that one interview, then I would have brought some more equipment. So I would have had two mics, two mic stands, the digital recorder, two cables so I could hook in both of the microphones. I would have brought

two pairs of headphones and then a headphone splitter. And the reason of the one, for the two headphones is so that we can both hear whether we are on mic or not, because guests have the tendency if they can't hear what they're saying to lean back in their chair or drift away from the mic, and also if they have headphones connected to the mic, they're more likely to just naturally be closer anyway, because they're tethered to it. And then having two mic stands is better than both of you holding the mics just for sound quality purposes. Now, if you have the money and time and desire and you want to go full NPR style when you're on the road. So those folks like to use shotgun microphones in general when they're out in the field so they can

capture all of the beautiful ambient sounds like street noise and coffee brewing and forks hitting plates for their so they love incorporating all this into their narrative podcasts. And we love that too, right? That's what makes it NPR style is that classic. All those. like little sounds and the way that they weave in the music in and out. They also have big teams to help them and do all of this stuff. If you want to try this kind of thing, know what sounds you want to capture before you go out into the field and then make sure that you're wearing headphones so that you can monitor what you're capturing. And also be very careful of wind noise. That just sounds screaming, piercing. It's so unpleasant to listen to. And it's really

really hard to get out of audio as well. They make these things that you can put over your microphones called like Dead Cats, which I think sounds awful. There's got to be another word for that. I guess wind screens kind of, but I would avoid wind recording in the wind if you can do that. I personally have yet to invest in a shotgun mic that the NPR people like to use because I like to keep things simple. However, my friend Lynn Lindberg, recently told me about a portable mic that she has been loving. Lin hosts the Couch to Active podcast and she co-host the Lindbergh's podcast for their husband. And here is what she had to say about the Sure and the 88. So Lynn, you told me that you got a nifty little microphone that you

took to a conference, was it? Yes, a convention, a really noisy, loud fitness convention and an air show. So it's been taking it to both of those. Okay, so tell me what this microphone is and how you used it. Were you using video as well? What were you doing here? So I have done both just audio with it and video too. So this is the MotoV series, which is a microphone series designed specifically for the Apple Firewire phone port. And buying that made me a little bit nervous because, you know, the size.

second Apple changes their plug-in, which they always do, then my microphone doesn't work anymore, right? But this ease of use and the quality is awesome. So what it is is you plug it in, you download an app that's really surprisingly easy to use. And in a convention center, it actually, you can point the mic to a speaker. So I did this at an air show. I had a video and pointed the mic at the speaker. I was probably 40 feet away from the speaker, lots of noise in the convention, but it picked up, it beamed and picked up the speaker that it was pointed at. And it is, it's scary, amazing at how well it picks up the person and dulls out the ambient noise. I don't even, I'm not an engineer. I don't even know how they do it. But it is really, really cool. So the mic is

plugged into your phone? Yes. So it turns into like, A handheld microphone. Yeah. Is it, do you know if it's just for iPhone? I believe it is because it's that firewire port. Okay, okay. And no other devices have it. And it's, the microphone itself comes in this kind of cool zippered case that is about the size of a tennis ball.

So you unzipper this tennis ball looking black case and then the mic is maybe an inch tall and it plugs into your phone. so it's not like a handheld mic. It's your phone really becomes the mic. Yeah. It was really small when you showed it to me. So it looks like it's really easy to keep in your purse. Yep. And so you also used it to record video.

Can you tell me about that? Because this could be really handy not only for podcasts, but if people wanted to do YouTube videos and things like that. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So I used it for the video quite a bit at the fitness convention. And I went from booth to booth and interviewing, vendors at their different booths and did a bunch of handheld, you know, selfie videos. And it worked great for those. And then I had a few where I had somebody else holding it for me and they were

about 20 feet away. And it's just very same thing. You just choose if you're going to do audio or audio only record or do a video and it uses it. And it's pretty, once it's plugged into your phone, it's really seamless. So do you need a lot of storage on your phone or is this going into the cloud or how does that work? Oh, great question. I am always biased towards recording on your phone and not to the cloud, but especially if you're out and about, right? So you're usually, you know, maybe not next to a really great Wi-Fi or, you know, you don't know the reliability of it. So I record onto the phone and I've done hours and hours and hours and spend no problem. So you record it and then I guess get it off your phone as soon as you can. Yep. Yep. Yep, exactly. And then you can put it

to the cloud or whatever. Another application I've just started doing with this since you and I spoke is I also learned that it comes with this foamy windscreen. And I played with how far I held this mic from my mouth. And I learned that if I had this mic about three inches from my mouth, I could get practically studio quality recording just from my car or wherever, I mean, because cars have usually awesome acoustics and good noise dampening. And so I'm actually going to, on one of my podcasts, my solo podcast, I'm going to start doing a lot more of just on the road recording. And I love the fact that I, just my mic is the size of a tennis ball and it's protected. and then I'm still going to get really great quality out of it. Very nice. You can just be driving and doing a little audio diary, deep thoughts with Lynn Lindberg.

Yes, exactly. All right. When I am at Podfest next month, I am going to see if Sher has any special offers on that mic because I really want to have a play with that. So there's another tab tip for you. If you go to any of these podcasting conferences, a lot of times they will be offering discounts on equipment. and also raffles as well. So when I was at Podcast Movement, I actually won a Roadcaster Pro and a bunch of other cool gear. Also this pod mic that I'm using right now. So enter all the raffles.

I've actually been really lucky lately. I also just won a book from this raffle that Amy Porterfield did on her Instagram. I won a copy of Marie Furlio's new book. So that's pretty cool. So you can't win if you don't play. In the next episode of podcasting step by step, you will hear more from Malin. I will be talking to her about the essentials that you need to have in place to make a co-hosted podcast a success. To sum up what we talked about today, before recording on the road, think if you actually really need to.

Is this the right time? If so, then have a plan so that you're not kicking yourself later for missing out on the people you wanted to talk to, but you just ran out of time. My go-to man-on-the-street equipment is my Simpson Q2U microphone. The recorder that I like is Zoom H6. I've got the cable to attach the mic in the recorder. Don't forget that. And I've included links to this equipment in the show notes. And then finally, enjoy the conversations that you're having and exchange information after so that you can share the episode when it comes out and also to stay in touch because maybe this is a contact for a future collaboration,

maybe it's a future customer, or maybe just a friend, or all three. That's the magic of podcasting. I'm actually headed to Greece at the end of this month with a podcasting student and also friend. So that's amazing. And we met through podcasting, and I love it. And I hope you are creating these beautiful podcasting stories as well. if you are, I would love to hear about what you're up to. So find me on Instagram at Sarah Megatel and tell me about somebody you've interviewed and then you became friends or you did

business together or went on a trip together. I would love to hear about what your magical podcast experiences have been so far or even just something that you've learned while doing your podcast. So find me on Instagram at Sarah, at Sarah Magatel. Yeah, that's it. I would love to hear from you. Thank you for listening. I will talk to you next week. Thank you for listening to podcasting step by step. You are now one step closer to launching that podcast you've been dreaming about.

But I want to get you even closer. I created a free guidebook for you with actionable worksheets called Eight Mistakes New Podcasters Make and How to Fix Them. To find that, head on over to sarahmicatel.com slash fix. Do you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free conversation sheet sheet with simple formulas that you can use so you can respond with clarity, whether you're in a meeting or just talking with friends. Download it at sarah micotel.com slash blank no more.