Last week I was privileged to be one of the presenters at the 2nd Annual Social Media for Communicators conference by Ragan Communications and the Public Relations Society of America.

I now have a whole notebook full of the latest social media advice and counsel, and plenty of information to share on PeteCodella.com.

Today I’m going to focus on podcasting.

The term podcasting simply means an audio or video file that is made available for download via syndication (read Wikipedia’s Podcast entry for more info).

In the case of an archived podcast, it’s just a file posted on a website. Of course the power of podcasting comes when you attach an RSS feed to it, broadcasting it and making it easy for others to subscribe and share.

Free Editing Software

Audacity provides a free software that allows you to edit your audio file. It’s a great — and did I mention free? — tool.

A Co-Host

Podcasts are more interesting when two or more people contribute to the discussion. If you have a co-host or guest that’s not in your same geographic area, use Skype to record the conversation. It produces good quality audio files.

Equalizer

A free audio equalizer is The Levelator. Use it to even out the volume of your podcast, especially if some speakers are much louder than others. There’s nothing more annoying than being surprised by uneven audio levels, especially if you’re listening with ear buds in your ears.

Expand Your Reach

Use a service like Liberated Syndication to host and distribute your podcast.

Ask for Audio Comments

K7 Unified Messaging allows people to phone in comments and emails you the audio file. Then you can easily include them in your podcast.

Be Real

No for a few pieces of advice I gathered from the discussion about podcasting:

• Don’t read from a script
• Don’t include advertising
• Tell stories
• Be passionate

Do you have any other podcasting tips for this public relations and social media audience? If so, please share.

Photo: blogefl on Flickr