Create your own podcast

After you've finished your show, save it as a WAV file. That will give you a "master" file to work from and a backup in case you have a problem exporting to MP3.

Now it's time to edit. In most cases, that means cutting out mistakes and long stretches of silence. In Audacity, as in most audio editors, you can find and remove silent patches easily. Just look for areas where the waveform becomes an almost straight line. Select that area (much the same way you select text in a word processor) and hit Delete.

Ideally, you should now save your recording as an MP3 file, preferably using a 32Kbps to 64Kbps bit rate. In Audacity, with the LAME MP3 encoder installed, this is also the chance to add ID3-tag info: your name, the name of the podcast, and so on. Without this, listeners won't be able to find your show on their MP3 players.

Make your podcast jazzier and more professional by adding loops, snippets of music used for everything from opening the show to introducing specific segments. Find thousands of freely available loops at Flash Kit.