Social media for dummies: How and why to podcast

What employee communicators need to know about podcasting

Once the domain of self-described techies and audio geeks, podcasting has graduated into the business mainstream. Here’s a quick Q&A guide to podcasting, geared toward savvy internal communicators.

What’s a podcast?

A podcast is a multimedia file that’s distributed by subscription over the Internet using syndication feeds and played back on a personal computer or mobile device. A podcast can be an audio or video file. For this article, let’s stick to audio. Think of it as “TIVO for your ears.”

What’s all the fuss? Hasn’t downloadable audio been around for eons?

The concept of downloading audio is not new. However, a technology called RSS (Really Simple Syndication) has fueled the phenomena of blogging and podcasting by allowing publishers to distribute content automatically. Listeners don’t have to remember to check the publisher’s Web site regularly to see if a fresh podcast has appeared. Owners of iPods and other portable devices are hungry for content, which podcasters are eager to provide.

At the same time, the ubiquity of portable MP3 players and the availability of low-cost recording gear and audio-editing software have created podcasting’s perfect storm.