One of the main aspects of creating a branded podcast involves interviews. It’s a situation where the host of your company’s podcast interviews subject matter experts (internal or external), industry influencers, prospects, and customers.
But with this range of guests, it’s impossible to coordinate in-person recordings each time. And that’s why remote podcast recording is a key ingredient to running a successful podcast for your company.
To get the best possible recordings from remote interviews, you need to use a remote podcast recording platform. Even though a remote recording session may not be the same as a local recording space, it presents a lot of benefits for your overall workflow. In fact, you may ditch in-person interviews altogether once you give a remote interview a try.
In this blog post, we’re going to breakdown:
- Why a remote recording process is a good approach for brands
- What you should consider after you decide remote podcasting is a fit for your show
- What to look for when analyzing different remote recording apps
- How to get the most out of your remote recording software
Why should you record a podcast remotely?
In a perfect world, your guest would come into the studio to record a podcast in person. This gives you the most control over the interview and sound quality. But if you’re looking to bring together the best possible guests for your audience, this isn’t always possible.
People are busy and they’re traveling less and less for business purposes. If you plan to solely rely on in-person recordings, it’s likely your podcast will fail. You’ll struggle to coordinate in-person recordings and align schedules. Podfade will come sooner than you realize.
Remote recording gives you the ability to secure guests that would normally be out of reach due to time constraints or location. Not only does it widen the scope of potential guests, but it can also be a more cost (and time) effective approach to podcast recording.
“We help podcasters record in over 130 countries. And just last year we helped podcasters record over a decade of audio.”
Zach Moreno
Co-Founder
SquadCast
The essentials of remote recording
- Microphone
- Computer
- Headphones
- High-quality camera
- Isolated environment suitable for audio/video recording
- Strong internet connection
- Remote recording platform designed for podcasts
What to look for in podcast recording software
When we think of a remote podcast interview, we tend to draw our attention to the usual video conferencing platforms like Skype, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom. Using these types of platforms for podcast recording is certainly an option, but it’s far from the best way to record a remote interview.
Over the past couple of years, we have seen major advances in the technology we can use to record remote podcasts. Platforms like Squadcast, Riverside, Zencastr, and Welder make recording a new episode easy, even if you’re in the United States and your guest is in India!
So, how do you decide what remote recording option is right for you? Here’s a list of the major considerations involved when picking out the best remote recording tool for your company’s podcast.
Independent audio tracks and video tracks
Unless you’re hosting a live-streamed podcast, it’s highly likely you’ll need to edit some parts of your episode. And since your guest and host will be in different recording environments, it helps to have separate tracks for each person involved. If you don’t have individual tracks for each person, this can be a real nightmare for your audio and video editors.
When choosing a recording platform, make sure that you can download individual tracks for each person involved with the recording session. When you get the raw file for each participant, you can dial in specific settings and make adjustments for the host and guest independently.
HD video recording
One of the biggest issues with using a standard video calling platform is that HD comes with a cost. You need a platform that can record and export a high-quality video file and audio file. Most of the video conferencing platforms do not provide true HD video (1080p). And if the video conferencing platform does provide HD, it usually requires you to access the video file after the recording (because it’s located on your hard drive).
If you’re not able to get access to HD video and high-quality audio files, your post-production process will be limited. At Motion, when we create podcast trailers, we like to include a full frame representation of the host and guest for visual variety.
Want to see how we create podcast episode trailers using video content from remote recording platforms? Check out our case studies.
Guest experience
The first part of a remote podcast can be awkward. The host and the guest need to go through a pre-flight checklist to make sure all of the technical “things” (microphone, headphones, camera) are working properly. And if something isn’t working, you have to go through a troubleshooting sequence.
When you evaluate a platform, get a good feel for the remote recording studio experience. Many of the platforms provide a green room for testing your equipment before entering a session. And in other cases, platforms allow a producer to check the settings of others involved. The best way to get a handle on the user experience is to go through a trial of the different applications and conduct a few test sessions.
Local recordings vs cloud recordings
To get the best quality audio and video files, most of the platforms enable local recording. The platforms record to the cloud as a backup and then record individual tracks on each user’s machine. For video podcasts, it’s essential that you use a platform that records files locally.
How to get the most from your remote podcast recording software
There’s no reason you can’t have a great experience interviewing your dream podcast guest. And with remote recording platforms, you have access to anyone in the world.
But once you’ve decided on your personal remote recording setup, how do you get the most out of it?
Here are some tips to help your remote podcast recording go as smoothly as possible.
High-quality audio will always beat editing in post-production
There is an old saying in the recording industry, “we’ll fix it in post.” While this is certainly an option for a podcast, it’s important to remember another well-known saying, “garbage in, garbage out”.
There is no amount of editing in the world that can turn a poorly recorded voice into a crystal clear, release-ready audio. Even though all of these platforms are getting more advanced and microphones are better at isolating your voice, it’s crucial to limit the background noise while you’re recording.
Background noise can be stripped out of the track between words, but artifacts and consistent noises are much more difficult to remove when a host or guest speaks. This can be jarring, especially for those listening to your podcast through headphones.
The golden rule should always be to get the recording right the first time around. This means your guest needs to be in a quiet space, with a good microphone.
Ideally, make sure your guest is wearing headphones during the interview. This will prevent echoes and strange audio glitches from the guest’s mic picking up other speakers.
Help your editor
No matter if you’re editing the podcast yourself, or you have someone in charge of the editing process, it’s nice to make things a little easier.
One of the best ways to help your editor is through notes you take during the recording process. A lot of companies have a producer involved in the recording session. And in other cases, the host is responsible for taking notes.
When recording, it’s helpful to note these types of things (including an approximate timecode of when it occurred):
- Mistakes or “retakes” by the guest or host
- Major takeaways referenced by the guest
- Unique stories provided by the guest
- Any unnecessary banter that shouldn’t be in the final episode
Basically, let your podcast editor know about anything that should be included or excluded in the final version of the episode.
Use video, even for an audio-only episode
At Motion, 95% of our customers produce video podcasts. But, there are a few customers who don’t produce a video version of the podcast.
But even though 100% of our customers don’t produce videos for the final deliverables, all of the customers do use video during the recording session.
When using video during your interview, you get an opportunity to build more rapport with your guest and make eye contact. Using video can help build rapport. You’re able to see each other’s body language and facial expressions that can make the difference between a boring conversation and a natural, enjoyable one.
Looking to get more from your remote podcast interviews?
Remote podcast recording opens up a wide range of guest options and can be a very effective way to access the best guests for your audience. You’re no longer restricted by location or time constraints and can still provide high-quality content that your listeners will love.
If you’re looking to get more out of each remote podcast interview you have with your company’s podcast, then check out Recorded Content. It’s a podcast we produce at Motion and it helps marketers get the most out of their company’s podcast.
Want to see how other B2B marketers use their podcasts on YouTube?
Recorded Content is a show for small, scrappy marketing teams who are looking to launch & grow a successful B2B podcast. In each episode, we provide stories on how to overcome the challenges of launching, running and growing a show. We tackle issues with technology, content marketing, distribution and more. We help you become a B2B podcasting hero with an amazing show.
Written by Tristan Pelligrino
Tristan Pelligrino is the Co-Founder of Motion. He’s a serial entrepreneur who started his career as a consultant with large IT companies such as PwC, IBM and Oracle. After getting his MBA, he started and grew one of the fastest video production companies in the country – which was listed on the Inc. 5000. Tristan now enjoys leading the content marketing strategies of some of the most innovative B2B technology companies in the country. You can find him on LinkedIn and Facebook.
