Guides for people starting or improving a podcast. They cover choosing a format, recording and mic technique, remote guests, room sound, video podcasts, loudness targets, show notes, a launch plan, budgets and sponsorship. The reading path takes a new show from first idea to a planned episode.
46 items: 25 guides · 9 tools · 8 templates · 4 reference files
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For podcasters
Plan the first 90 days, pick a format, get the mic right, then name and plan your first episodes.
Grouped by collection. Templates and checklists are free to look inside; one sign-up to From the Barn sends the clean files and opens every template.
Calculator · free, no sign-up
Work out how big a podcast episode will be from its bitrate and length, how much a year of episodes needs, and where the unit mistakes happen.
Calculator · free, no sign-up
Loudness targets for Apple Podcasts and Spotify, the difference between loudness and peak, and a step-by-step calculation to find the gain change for an episode.
Calculator · free, no sign-up
What a UK podcast really costs per year, the hidden lines most budgets miss, a formula for your own numbers and Granary's published package prices.
Interactive · free, no sign-up
Interview, panel, solo or narrative: how to choose the podcast format that fits your guests, your material and your editing time, and the mistakes to avoid.
Explainer film
How far to sit from a podcast microphone, which angle to speak at and how to stop plosive pops. An illustrated step-through plus written notes and common faults.
5 min read
The order to edit a podcast in: clean the audio, tighten the talk, mix the voices and music, then master. Why the order matters and what to check.
3 min read
What you control in podcast search: the show name, the description, episode titles, show notes and transcripts, and a page for the show.
4 min read
UK market ranges for podcast studio hire, editing and agency production, set against our own prices: from £108+VAT an hour or £395+VAT an episode.
4 min read
How to prepare for a podcast interview, sit well at a broadcast microphone and help the show afterwards, from a podcast studio near Chichester.
3 min read
What multi-camera podcast recording actually changes: cutting on reactions, hiding edits, thirty clips instead of ten. Three 4K cameras at Granary Digital's podcast studio near Chichester, explained plainly.
5 min read
A practical plan for a business podcast's first season: one listener, one format, six titles, a reusable running order and recording days instead of evenings.
4 min read
How a broadcast engineer records a remote podcast guest: mix-minus so nobody hears themselves, a local recording at each end, and what to do when the line drops. From Granary Digital's podcast studio near Chichester.
2 min read
Why the room you record in matters more than the microphone you buy, with a ten-minute test to hear the difference and a checklist for a quieter, softer room.
4 min read
What a produced video podcast episode at Granary Digital includes: up to 90 minutes recording, three 4K cameras, an engineer and a producer, audio and video edit, thirty short-form cuts, files in five working days, £395+VAT.
4 min read
Edison found in July that UK weekly podcast listeners use YouTube more than any other app. What that changes for a business podcast, with costs.
6 min read
Promotion is where most podcasters get stuck. A 30-day plan for the first month after launch, with weekly jobs, a calendar table and the numbers to expect.
6 min read
Should your business have a podcast? Five questions to answer first, what it costs in time and money, what the survey numbers say, and the cheaper options.
6 min read
A 90-day plan to start a podcast in the UK, with what surveys of real podcasters say about audience, time, cost and quitting, so you plan for the real thing.
Excel or Google Sheets · free preview
A one-page episode planner and run sheet for podcasts, filled in step by step, with a worked example and the timing and tech mistakes that waste time.
Word or Google Docs · free preview
A booking email and a prep sheet for podcast guests, with the details to include, the order to send them in and the mistakes that cost a recording slot.
Word or Google Docs · free preview
A fill-in template for each episode's written material: show notes, chapter timestamps and a clean transcript, with the order to write them in.
Word or Google Docs · free preview
A one-page sponsorship pitch template and the rate sum behind it. Work out a per-episode fee from your own listens, and label the ad the way the ASA asks.
PDF, 1 page · free preview
A checklist for the three things to settle before episode one: the show name, square cover art that works at thumbnail size, and a short trailer.
PDF, 1 page · free preview
A checklist for a podcast recording day: what to prepare at home, what to pack, and what to check on arrival so the session runs on time.
Explainer film
A ten-minute routine for breath, body and voice before you present, record or go live. The order to run it in, and what to avoid beforehand.
2 min read
How to find the fillers in your speaking, replace them with a pause and rehearse the joins between points, with a simple record and listen routine.
2 min read
How to hold a handheld mic, when to leave the lectern mic alone, and how a head mic should sit. Plus how to decide whether you need one and why to soundcheck.
2 min read
Nerves speed your voice up, and the speed feels right from the inside. How to measure your pace from a recording and slow down without sounding strange.
2 min read
What a smiling voice is, why it changes how a recording sounds, and five steps to find it before you record, with a short practice routine.
2 min read
How to vary your pace, pitch and volume on purpose so a talk does not go flat, with a practical method you can rehearse this week.
6 min read
How to look and sound good presenting on Zoom or Teams: sound first, then light, camera height, background, eye contact and a pre-call check.
PDF, 1 page · free preview
How to use a printable tongue twister sheet as a five-minute warm-up for clear speech before a talk, a recording or a take.
Calculator · free, no sign-up
Work out the studio hours and editing hours for an audiobook from its word count, with the method, a worked example and the errors that throw plans out.
3 min read
What we learnt making The Phoenix Formula, a 24-episode audio course: testing demand, checking sources, mastering, a private feed and selling it lawfully.
7 min read
How a remote ADR session runs: Source-Connect Pro, transport sync, streamers on picture, full-quality takes at both ends, and what the director and actor need.
5 min read
ACX's audio rules in plain English, how a word count turns into fifty hours of work, and why the noise floor is where home recordings fail.
4 min read
The arithmetic of audiobook recording: about 9,000 words to a finished hour, two to three studio hours per finished hour for narration, editing and proof-listening on top, and ACX delivery specs. From Granary Digital's studio near Chichester.
Glossary
Plain definitions of about thirty podcast terms, from alignment level and clipping to show notes and sync clap, in alphabetical order.
Glossary
Twenty-nine sound terms explained in plain English for presenters, producers and crew, from boom and room tone to LTC, plosives and sync.
Free download
How to use a 1 kHz tone, pink noise and a sweep to check a sound chain before a shoot, with the level to set and the mistakes to avoid.
Free download
Three test files and a slate for setting levels, checking a room and matching picture to sound, with the steps for each and the mistakes that spoil a take.
Explainer film
Where to clip a lavalier mic on a presenter or actor, how to hide the cable and stop clothing noise, with steps and the mistakes to avoid.
6 min read
How to record usable dialogue on a small shoot: boom position, lavalier placement, levels, monitoring and the room tone your editor will ask for.
Calculator · free, no sign-up
Which aspect ratio suits YouTube, TikTok, Reels, Facebook and LinkedIn, and how to keep faces and captions clear of platform overlays.
PDF, 2 pages · free preview
The loudness, true peak and file checks to run on a dialogue mix before delivery, with the EBU R 128 targets, a checklist and the mistakes that get edits sent back.
6 min read
How to clear music for a film in the UK: sync and master rights, what PRS and PPL do, library music, public domain, cue sheets and the mistakes to avoid.
Browse all 350 guides and tools or go back to the guides home.
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