With so many ways to connect to different communities, it is important to be able to understand and effectively use a range of mediums to reach your members and fans.
Podcasting stands as one of the most personal and intimate of these techniques and can allow your community to gain a deeper insight into and greater connection with your club.
Often thought of as a difficult or expensive form of media to create, podcasting can actually be quite simple.
Here are a number of tips and tricks to help you get started.
Tone and Content
Before diving into equipment or beginning recording, it is crucial to know what type of podcast you wish to create.
As an audio format, podcasts lend themselves well to interviews and conversations. Consider inviting players or coaches on for a chat before or after a game or during the week to discuss how the club is travelling.
Alternatively, you could incorporate members of your club’s community such as volunteers, former players and coaches or club historians to highlight special stories from your club’s past or present.
If you would prefer to create easily made quickfire content, your club could release match reports in the form of podcasts, which convey what happened to those who may have missed the game.
Similarly, a short club news podcast can update listeners about the upcoming fixture or club events, or important information such as administration or fee changes.
Furthermore, its essential to find ways to make your podcast more interesting and set it apart from others.
Natural sound provides one way to add spark. On gameday, try to get snippets of natural sounds such as crowd noise, or the kick of the ball to weave into your podcast to give it life.
Additionally, you can also choose to incorporate cameras to create an audiovisual podcast.
Above all, your podcast should draw in listeners and attempt to grow the club, so you need to avoid content which could degrade the club’s image.
Overly negative analytical podcasts can hurt the confidence of players and fans, while an ill-fitting tone will fail to garner an audience.
It is important when creating your podcast that you capture a tone that sounds authentic. If your audience finds you honest, they are far more likely to connect with your content and potentially listen to more of what you release.
After you have decided on what you wish to create, try to maintain a familiar style. If the form of your podcast frequently changes it can become difficult for your audience to remain attached.
Equipment and Software
Many people dread the costs of the equipment or software they need to begin podcasting but there are range of solutions available.
While professional cameras or microphones will deliver professional quality, it is possible to achieve sufficient results from modern smartphones.
However, your equipment will not matter if you do not set up your recording environment properly.
To get the best audio quality, always attempt to find a place where outside noise will not disrupt you or where your voice won’t echo. Noise will bounce off hard and sharp surfaces, so try to find areas with soft surfaces like curtains and carpets to dampen echoes.
If you do not have access to a good place to record, recording in a car or with a blanket over your head can provide makeshift solutions.
There are also a range of accessories available to help make your podcasting journey much smoother:
- Pop filters, to help reduce harsh speech sounds.
- Stands and mounts, to help set up your equipment comfortably.
- Lights, to illuminate your face to your audience.
To record and edit your podcast you will need software programs.
Free options such as Audacity and GarageBand stand as good beginner options, while Adobe Audition, Hindenburg Pro and Descript provide professional alternatives.
For long distance audio visual recording between different parties, Zoom will allow you to record on a free plan.
Marketing Your Podcast
After you have created your podcast, try to release it on as many platforms as you can to reach your audience anywhere.
Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube are among some of the most popular podcast platforms available, but if you have a club website attempt to release your podcast there too.
You do not have to release your podcast frequently, but it should maintain a consistent release schedule, so your listeners know when to listen to it.
A bonus of podcasting is that it can also feed into your regular club media.
In your club newsletters, match reports and social media posts, consider quoting interviews or reposting clips from your podcast to continually build its following.
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