Podcasting Specialization From Concept to Audience

Influences | Nicola-André Hagmann

In this lesson, I'll give you an insight into the people who have influenced me and my work the most. As a creative strategist, I'm most influenced by people who have achieved great things in their fields and have positively influenced millions of people. That's why they would probably be the most interesting guests for a podcast interview.

Module 2

Time to bring your voice to the world—literally. With David Mulé as your guide, you’ll dive into the essentials of podcast creation, from the very first idea to publishing it on major platforms. With over 15 years of experience in radio and podcasting, David shares the tools, tricks, and mindset you need to launch a show that’s truly yours.

14 lessons (1h 25m)

The Birth of Podcasting and Its Evolution to This Day

First, a little history. In this lesson, I will tell you about the birth of podcasting and how it has developed to this day.

The Podcast and The Radio, Are They The Same?

Now that you know the beginnings and evolution of the podcast, let's learn about the differences between podcast and radio.

The Functions of Podcasting and What I Need to Start One

In this lesson we are going to discover what things we can do with podcasting and what equipment we need to make our podcast. We will also see what the functions of the podcast are.

Choice of Theme

We are going to know what are the factors that can influence the theme of our podcast and what factor to take into account when deciding which audience to target.

Format Creation

We come to one of the most important parts of creating the podcast; we are going to format it taking into account concepts such as duration and structure.

How to Write a Script

Now that our podcast is in format, we are going to learn how to develop a script, a guide that will help you never get lost in your recording.

Improvisation vs. Preparation

Now that we know how to create a script, let's look at the differences between preparation and improvisation and the advantages that each model has.

Setting the Gear

Now we are going to prepare the recording equipment for our podcast.

In this lesson I will teach you the importance of recording in a good environment and that we know how to correctly transmit the message through our voice.

Silence... Action!

Editing and Finalizing The Podcast

Once we have our podcast recorded, it is time to edit it so that it sounds its best. Let's go there!

Hosting and Podcasting Platforms

In this lesson, I am going to explain to you what characteristics the perfect hosting platform should have, and how we can spread our podcasts through aggregators.

Social Networks

Now we are going to see how social networks can be one of our great allies when it comes to making ourselves known.

Sound Library

Music is, for me, something very important when creating a podcast. Let's get to know some royalty-free sound libraries.

Final Advice

Finally, I'm going to give you some final tips so that you can continue to perfect your podcasts and reach the top.

Module 3

Get ready to uncover the stories hiding in plain sight with Chico Felitti, the mind behind one of Brazil’s most popular podcasts. In this session, you’ll learn how to craft nonfiction narratives that feel personal, powerful, and impossible to pause. From spotting a compelling idea to shaping it into a strong script, Chico shows you how to make every story worth listening to.

12 lessons (1h 45m)

What is my story?

What is the heart of your podcast? What will he be about? Does your idea deserve a narrative of minutes or hours? In this class I will look at what makes a good story.

10m

How will I tell my story?

We already know what we're going to tell. Now it's time to know how we're going to narrate our story and think about the format and voice of the podcast.

What already exists in my story?

You won't be the first person to tell this story, so this class is dedicated to researching what already exists on your topic and using that material to strengthen your narrative podcast.

Before going to the street: equipment

In this class I will review the equipment needed to record in the street. Rest assured, they are few and it is quite possible that you already have them.

on the street (outside)

Recording! In this class, we'll discuss techniques on how to get a recording on the street, despite all the problems that can (and will) happen.

How to order an interview

Let's learn in practice how to do a good interview, make your character comfortable and lead him to speak in the best way for your podcast.

Putting reality on paper 1

It's script time! With the interviews done, let's sit down and think about the text that will guide the podcast. Writing is like putting together a puzzle.

Putting reality on paper 2

With the interviews transcribed and all the links and information gathered, it's time to write the script.

Recording!

Raise your voice. It's time to record the voiceover that will stitch the interview excerpts into a single story: a narrative podcast episode.

Is this story an only child?

Can your podcast episode yield even more? It's time to think about other episodes and maybe design a series.

A podcast is a product

In this class, let's put a face to your podcast and think of it as a product: where should it be available?

putting on the air

Now that your work is done, in this class we will learn how to get it on the air. It's easy and free. Or almost.

Module 4

Step behind the scenes with Tom Kelly, the audio expert behind some of the most beloved podcasts out there. With his guidance, you'll learn how to build your own home studio and master the fundamentals of podcast production. From recording and editing to mixing like a pro, you’ll turn your raw audio into a polished, immersive experience your listeners won’t forget.

18 lessons (3h 48m)

The Necessary Tools and How to Use Them

While a podcast can be done with or without a variety of professional tools, you will learn about some of the most common tools used in voice recordings, how they work, how to use them properly, and how to get ready for recording.

A great-sounding recording is dependent on a great-sounding environment. In this lesson, I will explain how the room you record in impacts the quality of your recording.

The Acoustic of a Room

Setting up the Space for Recording

As mentioned before, the quality of a recording is largely determined by the quality of the room or environment in which the recording takes place. Here you will learn how to determine the best way to set up our space for a recording, mostly utilizing materials that we have on hand.

Setting up the Gear

Once our space is set up for recording, let's get set up for recording in our space! We will take all the gear we learned about in the previous lessons and make sure it's all set up properly to record a great-sounding podcast.

Introduction to Pro Tools and Other Software 1

This lesson will not only be a great resource if you have never seen the Pro Tools interface in your life, but it can also be a great refresher if you have worked in Pro Tools before. You will learn how Pro Tools handles file management, a few tricks for getting set up more efficiently, and recording your first vocal take!

10m

Introduction to Pro Tools and Other Software 2

If you're familiar with a different DAW or don't wish to use Pro Tools, that's also totally an option! Just make sure the DAW you choose is non-destructive. The software Audacity is not a compatible DAW with what we will be learning in this course.

Let's get to work! You will see how I record the intro and outro for the podcast! We will focus more on microphone technique, setting the gain on the audio interface, and how to capture the best vocal recording.

Recording Yourself

Recording with a Remote Guest

In this lesson, I will show you how a remote recording session using Riverside works. You will learn about backup/redundant recordings and how to record a conversation with the final product in mind properly.

In this lesson, I will do the not very fun but still very important tasks of prepping the session for editing. You will learn how to import audio into Pro Tools and how Pro Tools handles external audio, how to organize your tracks and create folders, and I will rough out the layout of my episode!

Setting up the Session

14m

Cleaning up the Noise

This lesson will cover a crucial part of my editing process. It's a process that I don't see many folks doing, but I think it makes the process of editing much easier later on and makes the overall podcast sound much better!

This is where the conversation starts coming together! Once we have our session organized and set up, we will start focusing on the dialogue and cleaning up the conversation in order to make it the best possible version of itself.

Making Hard Cuts 1

In this lesson, I will also discuss the ethics of cleaning a conversion too much and how sometimes doing less is more. We will touch on some more cool and unique features of Pro Tools and how it can make editing much easier and faster. Going above and beyond, you will learn some amazing editing hacks that will increase efficiency and make your edits sound better.

Making Hard Cuts 2

20m

Restoration

In a perfect world, this lesson wouldn't exist. We would capture perfect audio with no flaws in it whatsoever. However, that world does not exist, and in the world of podcasting, restoration plays a massive role. We will discuss a few of the most common issues that arise in podcasting, and we will explore some very simple but very powerful tools that were designed specifically to restore dialogue.

Equalization is probably the most difficult skill to master, but we will have a much easier time if we understand the physics of frequency. I will keep it light with plenty of simple listening exercises that will help you better hear a voice as more than just "a voice" but rather as several distinct parts that make up the whole. We will also take some time to explore the parts of an equalizer, see how they work, and why some equalizers are better/different than others. Let the fun begin!

Equalization 1

14m

Equalization 2

We will finally dig into our recordings and start sculpting the tone for clarity and intimacy. We will do plenty of listening while searching for annoying resonant frequencies, cleaning up any unnecessary or harsh tones, and massaging our voices into the best version of themselves. Then we will take it a step further and smooth both of the voices into a great partnership with each other.

Loudness, Dynamics, and Compression

One of the most important contributing factors to a great listener experience (or lack thereof) is loudness. This is a widely misunderstood topic that comes with a lot of baggage. In this lesson, you will learn what loudness is and how it differs from volume and gain, and we will explore the importance of loudness range and monitoring. The tools used for loudness control are called compressors, and by the end of this lesson, you will understand why we need them, how they work, and how compression is different from automation, limiting, and normalizing. Once our audio sounds silky smooth, we want to make sure it's loud and that it stays loud. We will use some stock compressors, among other tools, to properly dial in and maintain our desired loudness range. You will learn the importance of being delicate with compressors and how to chain several together for a strong but natural-sounding effect. You will also learn how to check out loudness using a LUFS meter and make sure everything is ready for finalizing the podcast!

20m

Adding Music

Most podcasts have some element of music within them, usually for intros, outros, and for adding breaks if any. It's common to be speaking over the top of the music, which can cause some intelligibility issues, so in this brief lesson, you will learn what's causing those issues and how to solve them.

Exporting the Final MP3 File

The podcast is now complete! All that's left to do is bounce all the tracks into a stereo file ready for uploading to your podcast hosting platform or the student forum. You will briefly learn about audio codecs, how to export in Pro Tools, and how MP3 compression works!

Module 5

Enter the world of sound with Quentin Bresson, a podcast creator who turns voices, music, and effects into unforgettable audio stories. In this session, you’ll explore the full production process using Reaper—from recording and editing to mixing and sound design. Learn how to build atmosphere, rhythm, and emotion with minimal gear and maximum creativity.

16 lessons (3h 57m)

Introduction to Sound

What is sound? How does it spread through the air? How do we perceive it? Before embarking on the realization, it is important to understand how sound works as a physical phenomenon. That's what I'm going to explain to you here.

The Podcast Industry

I will now talk to you more specifically about the podcast sector: how it was born, these listeners, among others. I will also present the project to be carried out for this course.

Microphones and Sound Recording

Who says sound recording, says microphones! In this lesson, I will introduce you to the different types of microphones that exist and that you can use. I will also discuss notions to keep in mind when recording sound.

18m

The Work of the Producer

What is the job of the sound designer? I will analyze the work of the director (or "sound designer") and his role throughout the production.

Let's move on to a more technical point. In this lesson, I will introduce you to the REAPER software, which is free for individuals. I will explain how to use it and show you the interface.

The REAPER Software 1

Now that we have seen the main manipulations related to sound editing, I will show you how to mix and export sounds.

The REAPER Software 2

14m

Preproduction: The Music

How to put words to music? How do I choose music that matches my project? I am going to start here from the text that will be read for my project and I will explain to you how to draw ideas of sounds from it.

15m

Preproduction: Ideas for Sound Effects and Preparation for the Reading

As a sound producer, it is important and useful to prepare the text before recording. For this, it will be necessary to look for the possibilities of sound effects and to refine the reading intentions.

18m

Recording and Sound Recording

This is the big day ! Accompanied by an actor who will read the text, I'm going to take the sound. You will see how to carry out tests, then how to take notes during recordings and debrief with the actor on what needs to be corrected or changed.

16m

Selecting Rushes and Editing 1

An important step is the “logging”, that is to say the selection of the best takes. I will therefore edit a first version of my recording, which I will enrich with better takes as soon as I come across a passage with which I am not 100% satisfied.

Selecting Rushes and Editing 2

I will continue here to clean up the take, removing too long pauses or mouth noises, for example, and adjusting specific sequences. The pre-assembly will thus be done.

I have a voice edit, naked, without dressing. Now is the time to add atmospheres, sound effects and music. You will see how to import selected sounds and start adding them step by step to the montage.

Sound Editing 1

As I add up sounds, I'll show you how to create effects, like reverb.

Sound Editing 2

I arrive at the last seconds of the assembly. I will add the last music and work on the end to finish on the best possible note. Once that's done, I'll listen to everything again to see what happens and what needs to be corrected.

Sound Editing 3

We are reaching the goal! The last stage of the project will be to mix the product so that it corresponds to broadcast standards, but also to smooth it and make it perfectly intelligible. First of all, it will be a question of doing “mastering”, that is to say processing all the tracks, then I will work on the “Voice Bus”.

Mixing 1

I will now listen to the whole podcast again and play on the volumes at the level of the transitions to see what I want to emphasize. Finally, I'll show you how to export the podcast!

Mixing 2

The story behind the podcast

Module 6

Get ready to take your podcast from concept to audience with Nicola-André Hagmann, founder of PERFORMANCE ONE HEART. With his expert guidance, you’ll dive into the full creative and strategic process: developing your idea, scripting your episodes, recording and editing, and finally—getting it out into the world. Learn how to market your podcast effectively and build an audience that keeps coming back for more.

19 lessons (3h 2m)

In this lesson, I'll explain what we'll be working on together in this course. Everything is geared towards you being able to create your own podcast at the end. Before that, I'll give you everything you need to do that. I'm really looking forward to your podcast!

Audio Marketing

In this lesson, you'll learn everything about the different facets of audio marketing. It's worth sticking with it!

Podcast Marketing

Now we come to podcast marketing as part of the content marketing strategy. We will also look at who actually listens to podcasts in Germany and what forms of podcast advertising are available to us to make a real fuss. So, let's move on!

Podcast production and what you need for it

In this lesson, you'll learn how to start your own podcast, with a focus on on-site and remote recording. We'll also discuss the equipment and software needed for a professional production. Stay tuned for concepting tips in the next step!

Creating a podcast concept

It all starts with the framework, the framework you set for your podcast. You'll learn what's important here in this lesson. Check it out!

The listeners

Who do we want to address with our podcast? That needs to be defined. How? And that's exactly what I'll show you in this lesson. So, take a look!

What do you want to say in our podcast? And how did you come up with that idea? Is there a specific problem you want to solve? Or a clear requirement? That's what you need to define and put down on paper.

Formulate the story

Research host and guests

Interview podcasts require two protagonists: the host, i.e. the person who is interviewing, and the guest, i.e. the person being interviewed. I'll show you how to research both.

Preparation of the briefing

Si está planeando un podcast de entrevistas y ha investigado a sus invitados, el siguiente paso es recopilarlos. Con una sesión informativa. Descubrirás lo que todo esto implica en esta lección.

Develop the script

What will your podcast be like? We define that in the script, the screenplay of your podcast. I'll show you how I structure my podcast and I'm already very excited to see how you approach it.

Preparing the equipment

What kind of technique, technique is needed? I'll tell you in this lesson. So, you know what to do. Watch!

The recording

Get to the microphone, let's get started. We're recording the podcast now!

Post-production and finalisation of the podcast 1

We continue exploring fascinating concepts in this phase of the lesson - make sure you join us!

Post-production and finalisation of the podcast 2

We continue exploring interesting concepts in this part of the lesson - don't miss it!

20m

Post-production and finalisation of the podcast 3

We continue exploring fascinating concepts in this phase of the lesson - make sure you join us!

15m

Sound effects and samples from sound libraries

With sounds and samples you can take your podcast to a whole new level. How? I'll show you. So stay tuned!

Hosting platforms and podcasts

Where do you put your podcast after recording and post-production? Well, to one of the many hosts out there. Which one exactly? That's up to you. Which one do I use and recommend to you? You'll find out in this lesson. Take a look!