How to Record a Podcast Remotely And Get It Right The First Time

This article is originally published on descript.com.

Remote interviews are a fact of life for every podcaster, and in today’s era of social distancing, more so than ever. Since you rarely get the chance at an interview do-over, nailing down your remote recording workflow is essential. We’ll show you how to prepare for and record a remote interview, so you get it right the first time — with some additional tips along the way to make sure all your bases are covered. 

Choose the right remote recording setup for your podcast

The first step is to determine the remote recording setup that best suits the format and content of your podcast and your production and editing workflow.

In most cases, your best solution will involve recording remote interviews on Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, or a similar online conferencing service. This low-friction setup makes it easy for guests or co-hosts to contribute, but you’ll need to make sure you have the right software to record these interviews.

It’s also wise to make sure you can record phone calls. Phone interviews don’t offer great audio fidelity, but they make a great backup option in case of technical problems or schedule changes. Phone interviews probably won’t be your first choice, but it’s a good idea to be able to record a phone call just in case you need to. 

If you’re recording with the same remote co-host on each episode of your podcast, consider a double-ender setup, in which you and your co-host record your own audio tracks locally and combine them in post-production. For most podcasters, this isn’t the most convenient solution, but it does translate into the highest audio fidelity for you and your co-host.

The best way to record an interview is to prepare for it

When it comes to interviewing — especially remote interviewing — a little preparation goes a long way.

Do some research into your guest’s background, expertise, and projects. Who are they? Why is their work notable? What do you (and in turn, your audience) hope to learn from them?

Putting together a rough outline of the questions you’d like to ask will come in very handy. Write down a handful of specific questions and key points, but keep your outline broad and high-level. That’ll allow you to more easily adapt to the flow of conversation.

Maintaining that conversational flow remotely can be substantially trickier than doing so person-to-person. Prime yourself to listen more than you speak — in particular, try not to interrupt your guest. Editing out awkward silences between speakers is much easier than dealing with too much crosstalk!

When it’s time to record the interview, take a couple final preparatory steps to ensure a clean recording. Close all unnecessary software and set your computer to “Do Not Disturb” mode to make sure unwanted distractions don’t pop up (or worse: end up in the recording).

How to record a Skype call, Zoom interview, or Google Hangout

For most remote recording situations, Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts are your platforms of choice. All three are easy to set up, simple for guests to use, and feature audio fidelity good enough for most podcasts. 

Both Zoom and Skype offer built-in call recording functionality, but Google Hangouts currently limits this offering to enterprise users. There’s an additional caveat: the file format (.MP4 or .M4A) that each platform outputs may not be what you want, depending on your podcast production and editing workflow.

For maximum control over your final product, you’re better off using third-party apps to record computer system audio directly into the recording software of your choice rather than relying on their recording functionality.

If you’re on a Mac, BlackHole is a great open-source tool that allows you to route audio between apps, which means you can record the audio output from Zoom (or Skype, or Google Hangouts) directly into your preferred recording software. On Windows, Virtual Audio Cable offers similar functionality. 

If you’re already using Descript to record, you won’t need to use additional audio routing software. When recording audio into Descript, open the Record panel, choose Add a Track, select your input, and choose “Computer audio.” Click the Record button whenever you’re ready, and audio from Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts will be piped into Descript. 

No matter which remote recording setup you use, make sure you test it — and test it again — with a friend or colleague before you’re actually recording your podcast. Troubleshooting when you should be interviewing ranks near the top of everyone’s Least Favorite Things To Deal With, so make sure everything is in order before your guest is on the line.

How to record a phone interview with Google Voice

Social distancing means nearly everyone has gotten used to handling calls and meetings on Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts. But maybe your podcast guest is really old-school, or their computer is on the fritz, or maybe they’re simply only able to access a phone during your scheduled call time. It’s likely phone interviews will never be your first choice, but being able to record an old-fashioned phone call will come in handy.

Recording phone calls can be tricky, but using Google Voice to make an outgoing phone call from your computer means you can use the same remote recording setup detailed above to record the call.

Follow Google’s instructions to set up Google Voice and then learn how to make an outgoing call. Once everything’s set up, you’ll be able to record phone calls with Google Voice just like you’d record an interview on Zoom or Skype. 

Again, make sure to test with a friend and then test again before your interview. 

If lossless audio quality is a must, record a “double-ender”

For most remote recording situations, Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts are your platforms of choice. All three are easy to set up, simple for guests to use, and feature audio fidelity good enough for most podcasts. 

But if you have a remote co-host that regularly appears on your podcast, and you want to maximize the quality of your audio, a “double-ender” is the way to go: Each host or guest records themselves locally, and audio tracks are combined in post-production. For an additional cost, you can use third-party recording platforms that simulate double-enders without each speaker managing their own recording software. 

A traditional double-ender sees each speaker recording their own audio track using their recording software of choice (Descript, Audacity, Quicktime, etc.), and then the host or editor combines each speaker’s recording into a finished product. Each speaker should have a decent microphone — if they’re using a laptop microphone to record, you probably won’t hear a substantial advantage with a double-ender over a Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts recording.

Alternatively, you can simulate a double-ender by using a platform like SquadCast, Zencastr, or Cleanfeed. These services record lossless audio from each speaker, upload each track to the cloud, and combine them automatically. These platforms cost money, but they’re a great alternative to a double-ender when guests or co-hosts don’t have the time or wherewithal to fiddle with recording themselves locally. Again, make sure each speaker has a decent microphone — otherwise you won’t reap the full benefits of lossless audio.

Make remote recording hassles a thing of the past

Recording your podcast remotely isn’t painless, but once you get the hang of it — and nail down your workflow — it’ll become second nature.

How to Make Your Writing More Multigenerational

by Beau Peters

At times, there are clear age-related delineations in writing. Young Adult Fiction, for instance, literally has the intended audience right in the genre title. No matter what audience you start with, sooner or later, you’re likely to aspire to superseding these boundaries and rising to a level of composition that appeals to all generations. 

If you’ve found yourself struggling with writing to a multi-generational audience, here are a few suggestions for different ways to make your writing more appealing to different ages at the same time.

Tell the Story from Different Character’s Perspectives

One of the simplest ways to appeal to different generations within your writing style is by creating multiple characters who approach your story from different perspectives. Now, that’s not to say that you should develop characters purely with the mind of appealing to a larger audience. This can quickly lead to common character-development pitfalls such as creating 2-dimensional characters without any purpose in your larger story. 

Instead, as you write, look for natural characters who emerge from the subtext of your story. When these come from different age groups, it can present a natural opportunity to present a piece of the story from their unique perspective. Robert Jordan has done this remarkably well with his “The Wheel of Time” novels by sharing the story through multiple characters who were deeply involved, yet varied in age and gender.

Having multi-generational characters in your story is an excellent way to provide connecting points for various readers to experience the narrative vicariously through a persona that they can relate to.

Appeal to Universal Truths and Experiences

Different ages typically have varying things that they prioritize and focus on. Nevertheless, there are many truths that, while presented in different formats, contexts, and experiences, can still be appealed to in a universal manner. For example, a few of these more comprehensive aspects that can make your writing more multi-generational include:

●      Fleshing out characters with depth and relatability regardless of the specifics.

●      Staying family-friendly in your writing style unless the situation clearly calls for an adult- or child-focused angle.

●      Avoiding open and shameless pandering or favoritism — such as espousing a current political platform — when it clouds or confuses the story being told.

●      Generally writing to help the reader genuinely suspend their disbelief.

Develop Your Emotional and Cultural Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is a powerful writing tool. The ability to be aware of, control, and express your emotions — not to mention empathize with others — as you write can imbue your manuscripts with realism and relatability, regardless of age.

Now, it’s important to understand that emotional intelligence doesn’t appear with the flip of a switch. It takes time to develop. However, if you have the patience to do so, you’ll be able to gain a better sense of awareness both for yourself and those around you.

Additionally, cultural intelligence equips you with the ability to relate to and communicate with a culturally diverse audience. This is critical if you’re hoping to appeal to a larger, multi-generational crowd.

If you can tap into and develop empathetic and cultural intelligence as you write, it can quickly turn a plot-driven narrative into a deeply emotional, relatable experience that transcends age and generation.

Hob Nob with Different Generations

One of the best ways to relate to various age levels better is to spend time with them. Simply taking the time to talk to different age demographics — especially within your existing readership, if you already have a following — is an amazing way to gain a broader perspective.

As you dig into the treasure trove of different thoughts and opinions, you’ll likely begin to find commonalities between different age groups that can be woven into your writing. Things like cultural, geographic, or faith-based similarities will stand out and can become more intimately important to your story.

A quick aside: as you gather these gold nuggets of information, make sure to be ready to collect them into an organizational space. List them out on paper, create an idea board online, or cobble together a mind map to help you sort through and categorize all of the facts and opinions.

Developing Your Writing For a Larger Audience

Whether you’re cultivating deep characters, appealing to universal truths, tapping into emotional and cultural intelligence, or having face-to-face discussions, there are plenty of ways to develop a multi-generational style of writing. 

This approach can be applied to more than simply age. Differences in culture, demographics, gender, and life experience, in general, can be overcome as well. Interacting with your target audience and working to expand your knowledge of their thoughts and desires can help to expand your writing style and make it relatable to more readers.

At the end of the day, whether you’re trying to bridge an age gap or any other differential amongst your readers, the crucial part of the process begins when you, the author, take it upon yourself to speak to your readers in their native tongue. When you can learn to use words and phrases that communicate to different groups at the same time, you will truly be able to set your sites on an audience as large as humankind itself.

Debut Novelist Mads Molnar III on Finishing Untold Stories and Traveling to Write

by Mads Molnar III

A Brooklyn Wine Class and the Unfinished Story

I’d been thinking about this idea ever since a wine class in Brooklyn 7 years before. As we sniffed and snorted our glasses, the vintner leading the class paused his wine pitch to tell us a story from the French countryside in 1940. 

In May, the Nazis raged across the border of Germany through Alsace and did a little more looting than was seen later in the war. One French winemaker, upon getting word they’d raid his cellar next, poisoned a case of his best wine.

We had all stopped drinking and swirling. The vintner had our attention. Then he added, “No one knows what happened to the wine.” The class released a collective sigh before we poured the next glass. 

Traveling to the Scene of the Crime 

The story lodged in my subconscious, and reminded me of my grandfather’s biographical WWII tales. I mulled both over for years, until I found myself on a biodynamic vineyard in a little town called Katzenthal, working for a winemaker named Clément Klur.

We took in a harvest of grapes: gewurztraminer, pinot noir, pinot grigio and riesling. I stomped some with my bare feet freezing numb in the cold of the fall and pressed others in Klur’s large bladder press. My wife cooked giant family-style lunches for the workers and we finally, after weeks of work, rode through the little town on the harvest tractor wearing garlands of grape vines and singing in the end of harvest—La Fête des Vendanges. We got to taste the juice from the grapes that we’d harvested. And as I helped with the fermentation and was alone in the cellar surrounded by bubbling barrels of juice turning hard, I remembered the story from the tasting and my grandfather’s life. Now surrounded by the same world of wine, standing in a cellar in that same region of the world, 80 years later, the story began to bubble up in my mind like the wine and I began to write. 

My grandfather inspired the psychologist-turned detective protagonist, the wine class vintner inspired the plot and Clément Klur and his gorgeous town of Katzental inspired the winery and winemaker in the book. 

The ferment was soon finished and my writing broke from the early morning hours into other parts of the day. 

My wife and I traveled through France, Switzerland and Italy for months from one vineyard to the next. We ended up in New Zealand via Australia before I typed “THE END” and attained closure on the story of the poisoned case of wine. 

Writing Prompts for Fiction Authors

As a writer, have you ever had a life event shove you out of inertia and into writing a story? Here are a few questions and writing prompts for you, related to travel and expanding on true stories:

• The next time you travel, collect details from that place. It just might serve you in your next story. Take note of the smells and sounds, the personality of the people and the place’s history. And most importantly, ask questions of all the local people. If you can become curious to learn the history it will be fleshed out in your mind and be more real to readers.

• Are there details about people you’ve met or know that could inspire rich characters? Think about speech patterns, mannerisms, dress, physicality, habits, motivations and even the things that make that person angry.

• Is there a story you’ve heard that’s always stuck with you? Maybe from a class or from someone in your family, like grandparents?

• Is there a compelling true story with an unknown ending that you could finish?

If you’re a fan of fast-paced adventure and hard-boiled detectives such as Philip Marlowe, you may enjoy reading my take on the destination of the bottles of poisoned wine. The historical thriller is a story of murder, love and revenge that one early reader called “a wild ride through Europe during WWII.” Watch the book trailer and grab a copy of Pinot Noir: A WWII Novel here: www.pinotnoirbook.com 

By afternoon, he's a journalist who's won numerous writing awards; by evening, he's an award-winning film director and by early morning he's a fiction writer under the name Mads Molnar III. Pinot Noir is his first novel.