We have heard the word podcasting a million times, but not all of us have experienced one, nor have we developed one as training professionals. Here's an overview of creating a direct download podcast of a live phone conference presentation with a remote presenter.

Let’s consider the following example:

If you feel your pulse quicken, you understand what you have gotten into. Before you start to feel overwhelmed, take a moment to review the project facts.

• The regional sales manager wants the training department to develop a podcast.
• The presenter, the SVP of sales, will not be in the room, but will dial into the call.
• The podcast needs to be finished and available next week.
• The training department has never created a podcast, but it has performed audio and narration work.
• The department has sound editing software: Sound Forge Audio Studio.
• The podcast will be published as a direct download to an existing website.
• There is an existing website.
• The webmaster will publish direct download audio files in the same manner as attached documents.

You face a challenging, but not impossible situation—especially if you carefully negotiate the terms with your customer. However, you definitely need to take some time to review podcasts.

The term podcast originally referred to audio files downloaded from Apple iPods. However, with growing popularity and use, the podcast has come to mean any highly compressed digital audio file that is pre-recorded, uploaded to a server, and downloaded by a listener. Podcasts can be saved in a variety of formats. Currently, developers typically save files in an MP3 format, which is a highly compressed file format for digital audio that is commonly used for Internet downloading. In short, the MP3 is basically a universal way to store and share recorded audio.

Once recorded, podcast files can be distributed in several ways. In general, there are two methods for podicast delivery: direct download and streaming audio. The more common delivery method is direct download, which is a process similar to downloading attaching documents. You can also create streaming podcasts, which allow listeners to hear the content immediately without having to download a file because the server parses out segments of the audio file in a continuous stream. Streaming audio is more complex and it increases such requirements as infrastructure, hardware, software, and technical expertise. In summary, given the number of delivery options, you will want to carefully set customer expectations.

Communicate with your customer regarding typical project requirements, such as due dates and the look and feel of the finished product. Next, clarify how the organization will distribute the podcast—direct download or streaming. Finally, set clear expectations with your customer regarding the recording environment.

There are certain facts when recording live presentations, along with the added challenge of recording a live phone conference. For example, there is no "re-record" option. In addition, there may be various noises, such as coughing, room noises, phone beeps, or side discussions, that could represent editing time. Bottom line: negotiate carefully.

Setting customer expectations represents a consulting opportunity because the recording conditions relate to the amount of development time and overall feasibility of the solution. For example, ask your customer if you must remove conference-related noises like coughing and beeps, or are they okay to leave in the finished recording. Based on their response, be prepared to negotiate terms. If the conference noises are to be removed, the message is clearly very important and sound quality expectations are high. You may face a no-win situation.

If the final deliverable terms are not feasible, then immediately propose a different approach. Explain that the current solution will not provide a result that matches the customer’s expectations. Next, suggest to your customer that the SVP should book some time in a studio to record what needs to be communicated in order for you to more quickly edit the content and publish the podcast for direct download.

In addition to setting customer expectations, you also will need to examine your technical readiness to record and edit a podcast. Techical readiness for podcast development involves hardware and software on your computer. Purchase hardware and software as business needs and budget permit. The following table provides a general overview of hardware and software requirements.

Prices can vary significantly for each item depending on the quality of hardware selected. If you will not capture and edit podcast recordings on a regular basis, then you may want to purchase items on the lower end of the price range.

With regards to software, there are numerous audio editing programs that you can use. Your primary considerations should pertain to recording, editing, and saving functions. The software also should provide easy-to-use features regarding equalization, volume (up/down), declipping, and fade (in/out). For the sake of this example, let's assume that your laptop already has Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio.

Sound Forge Audio Studio software is a fair entry-level audio editing software that you can purchase for approximately US$70. Of course, there are other programs available, but this program offers most of the basic features. You can learn to use this software in several hours if you are familiar with other recording software packages. Otherwise, allow yourself several hours per day over the course of one week to practice editing and saving audio recordings.

A week has passed since the project was assigned and you have practiced using the new microphone, headset, and recording software. Now it is time to make final preparations.

Practice session. If the conference call is one hour in length, then practice recording to a single file for slightly more than one hour. This will help you to test your available hard drive space and you also will learn the approximate file size for a one-hour conference call using the current software settings. If recording to a single, one-hour file was problematic, then practice saving the recording as a separate file every 15 minutes. Pay careful attention to the time required to save the file and initiate a new recording.

Perform a sound check. A sound check will help you place your microphone and test your software settings. Perform a sound check under the actual recording conditions. Go to the room where you will record the conference call. If possible, find a quiet room with a speakerphone. Second, perform a sound check or test record audio from the speakerphone and set your audio controls accordingly. Finally, on the day of recording, set up your equipment, double-check your software settings, and perform a final sound check. Be sure to leave at least one hour before the start of the conference.

Save the file. When saving podcast files, you are trading file size for quality. Your goal is to maximize the reduction in file size while you minimize losses in sound quality. Let’s look at the following example. I took a four and one-half minute recording and saved it as both a "Wave File" and an "MP3 file."

As you can see, saving your podcasts as MP3 files takes on greater significance if your webmaster allows you 100 megabytes of storage space. People downloading them also will appreciate smaller podcast files due to reduced download times. That said, there are numerous ways to save your file, even within MP3 format. Here is a fair setting to use when formatting MP3 files:

Using this setting, you will find that one minute of audio compresses to a file size of approximately 0.85 MB.

Now that you have an understanding of software settings, take a moment to review these helpful hints:

• Check your available hard drive space (at least 5 gigabytes).
• Coach presenters to speak clearly and not too fast/slow.
• Perform a recording sound check under the same conditions as the actual recording.
• Plan for the unexpected: hard drive crash, disconnection, software failure, and so forth.
• Have a back-up process for recording live/real-time situations.
• Get it right the first time, especially with live recordings.
• Know the limitations of the software and your computer.

Hopefully, that should be enough to get you started. A few final key points of understanding to take with you:

• Creating a high quality recording of a live phone conference represents a difficult situation. Typically, you will record an SME in person, and in a controlled environment with few noises. However, there will be times that must record in uncontrolled and challenging environments.

• Look at challenges as opportunities to improve your consulting and negotiation skills. Don’t be afraid to say "no" and provide a feasible alternative.

• Keep in mind that podcasts are driven by your audience. Perform a quick media analysis and determine learner interest and technological capabilities. In short, the learner decides when they will locate, download, and listen to the audio file. Therefore, you should identify both the learning outcomes and factors that enable and motivate the learner to listen to the podcast.

Ed Mayberry is a performance consultant in the San Francisco Bay Area and an adjunct professor with Capella University. His experience includes performance consulting, organizational development, instructional design, and e-learning development. Contact him at DrEMayberry@aol.com.