How to Record a Phone Interview For a Podcast

One of the easiest podcast formats to produce is the phone interview. After all, all you need to do is co-ordinate the call, co-ordinate the questions you want to ask, do the call and record it. The person you are interviewing does most of the writing of the content. In many cases you don't even need to come up with the questions -- just your own slant on them.

But there's one problem that seems to stump most new podcasters.

How do you record a phone interview for a podcast?

It seems like it should be difficult because there are two people being recorded. But it really isn't. In this article I'm going to show you how to record a phone interview under four different methods.

One of the easiest methods is to steal a page from teleseminars. Rather than simply call the other person directly, use a teleconferencing system to make the call. In this case both of you will call the bridge line. Once there you, as the host, start the recording facility which most teleconference service (even the free ones) have. After that all you need to do is carry out the interview. At the end you end the call in the normal way and download the recording.

Another method is just as easy. Use Skype and call recording software like MP3 Skype Recorder. This is a particular tool can be downloaded for free. All you need to do is start the recorder then make a Skype phone call either to your interviewee's Skype account or to their land line. Once you hang up on Skype the call recorder will save the recording to your hard disk. Find the recording, edit it and you're all set to go.

However, sometimes life isn't so easy.

Every once in a while, you'll find that you need to use a regular telephone line to make the call. But don't worry you can still record the podcast.

The easiest way works only if you are able to call using your computer. Many of us have modems built into our computers. We've forgotten them because the internet now does many of those functions that a modem was used for. However, if you have a modem you can use them for a function you might not have thought of -- you can make a phone call with them. It might take a bit of work but you can still find software that allows you to make phone calls directly from your computer. Simply use that software and add a free tool such as Wavepad sound editor. Although these tools are intended for audio editing most of them are also able to record.

Of course, sometimes there's no choice but to use a real telephone to make a direct call. The easiest solution in that case, is to buy a suction cup telephone pickup microphone. These are inexpensive microphones which stick to your telephone. Plug the microphone jack either into a memo recorder -- an MP3 player with a microphone jack will do -- or attach it to the headphone microphone jack for your computer. If you are using your computer as a recorder use a free tool such as Wavepad to do the actual recording.

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How To Record Your Voice So It Sounds Professional

It is incredibly easy to record your voice in 2012. All you need is a microphone, which you can pick up from almost any corner store these days (I've even seen them at drug stores!), and a computer. Windows has a simple little program built right in called Sound Recorder. It's small and dead simple. There is one button that either says "Start Recording," "Stop Recording" or "Resume Recording." So really it is easier to record in Windows than it is to, say, use e-mail.

Most folks can figure out how to hook up a simple mic, like the little headphone/mic combos you can get at one of those corner stores I mentioned. Assuming your computer has a soundcard (and a vast majority of them do - they come that way from the manufacturer), all you have to do is put the little 3.5mm plug into the pink socket on the card. If it is a headset type of mic, you put its plug into the green socket.

Now you are all set to chat on Skype, record a podcast, etc. If all you want to do is have fun talking to friends and family or putting your voice onto a quick video for personal reasons, then you're good to go with the above recording set-up. However, if you are using your recordings for your business, an internet business with podcasts and videos for example, your audio will not sound professional enough.

So even though most folks can easily figure out how to record their voices, actually achieving an audio product that sounds professional seems to be elusive. Even when people realize their audio could, and should, be better, they often don't take the steps they need to in order to get professional results. The irony is that it is quite easy, fast and inexpensive to get to that next level.

The thing that will have the biggest impact is changing microphones. The kind you plug into your sound card is not the kind you want. You want a USB microphone. As the name implies, these mics can be plugged directly into the USB port of any computer and they're ready to use. They're even easier to connect since you don't have to dig around the back of your computer looking for the little sound card holes.

But not all USB mics are alike. You want something called a large diaphragm condenser (LDC) type of USB mic. These are large mics that look different from the standard hand-held icecream-cone type of mics you see a lot. You usually speak into the side of an LDC, rather than the end as with standard stage mics. But these are not as expensive as you might think. My local Best Buy has one called the Samson C01U that is only about $75.

Don't just believe me. Try it for yourself. Record your voice with a standard PC mic plugged into your sound card. Then record again with the USB mic (LDC type) and compare the two audios. You'll be amazed, especially if you listen in headphones.

Make that one change and you can move from amateur audio to sounding like a pro.

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