Inspired to Podcast

By Bro. Enrique Antonio B. Reyes (89)

A decade and a half ago, Steve Jobs announced that they would support podcasts on iTunes. Podcasts were still in infancy that time and catered only to a very targeted segment of Apple customers. But Jobs insisted that it had a huge future. Fast forward to today and there are more than 1.7 million podcasts with about 43 million episodes on countless hosting platforms – and the numbers keep climbing. But what are podcasts?

Podcasts are simply audio program that you can download or stream to listen to whenever you like – kind of like the radio program but without the schedule, so you don’t have to worry about missing a show, whether because you forgot about it or you had conflicts in schedule. Podcasts will be there whenever you’re ready. Getting started in podcasting has never been easier. I started on my podcast three years ago and I had to contend with either a paid platform or a free one with regulated features. I chose the latter, but found the hours restriction very limiting. Luckily, Anchor (now part of Spotify) entered the market and provided creators with an absolutely free application where you can create, edit, publish, distribute and even monetize your podcast. Not only can you consume podcasts anytime and anywhere but now you can create an episode just by using your mobile phone. I began my podcasting journey with an episode aptly titled ‘Let perfection chase you’. It was a nod to the premise of pressing record and publishing even if you feel the episode still has a lot of flaws. Sometimes people take years to get started on things because they let their fears and insecurities hold them back. I was a victim of this mindset for so many years and I didn’t want it to be the case again. It’s funny as I listen back to the episode while writing this article. I actually spoke about the brethren hitting the driving range (shoutout to all the Muogolfers out there), then from there about my observations and how one should just ‘grip it and rip it’. Not exactly good advice to a competitive golfer but perhaps a good one for someone who just wanted to let go of inhibitions and try out new things. After several episodes, I began to challenge myself to improve the content that I put out and started learning a couple of things about audio editing and even making graphic designs. I noticed that there were sounds in the background that shouldn’t be there. I would often hear myself breathing heavily in between sentences, which was a bit distracting. I also wanted to have an AM radio feel – maybe add some base on my voice. Sometimes I even wanted to cut out entire segments of my recording. I was, and still am, not exactly a technical person but I needed to keep up with the times. So, I got in touch with a friend (his name is Google) and consulted my mentor (YouTube) and they directed me to an awesome free application – Audacity – where you could perform almost any audio edit that you can possibly imagine. Learning more about audio gave me a better perspective of the right recording environment for my podcasts. Dogs barking, babies crying and people chatting are just some of the common sounds you’d hear, and as they accumulate over the course of the episode, it gets pretty annoying to say the least. There is no need to remodel your house to get that professional acoustic treatment. All you need is to record at the right time at perhaps the most isolated corner of your place; then throw in a blanket here and there to absorb the excess sound. Be wary of the phrase

commonly attributed to Voltaire ‘Perfect is the enemy of good’ so always be pragmatic at first. Don’t get me wrong – I also convinced myself of ‘investing’ on equipment. I actually talked myself into buying a couple of condenser microphones, an audio interface, pop filters, headphones, boom arms – the works. They were definitely helpful but, as I would later painfully realize, not exactly essential. I didn’t have a personal studio and I would often find myself recording on the go which means all I really needed was my mobile device and trusty earphones. One of the major ‘roadblocks’ I encountered was really getting bored of just listening to myself. I sounded like an inebriated guy ranting over the mic. I was also running out of topics in mind. Later on, it would dawn on me to just go on and do interviews. It was a good way of letting the guests do all the work and all I needed to do was ask a few questions. Thirty episodes after and I was able to guest some of the most interesting minds in the country – people in various paths: sought-after speaker, championship coach, industry leader, marketing guru, freelancing pioneer, gifted preacher, world champion. These are just some of the labels of guests that I had the good fortune of having on my program. I believe that the experience benefited me a lot. I pay for seminars just to listen to a couple of these folks and now, suddenly, I have my own audience with them, where I could pick their brains and learn directly from the source. Access to these kinds of personalities isn’t guaranteed and I had my share of rejections. This taught me to keep myself grounded on the fact that they do not owe me anything and simply be grateful for their graciousness. I have also garnered a little bit of respect in the industry, being appointed as admin of one of the premiere podcasting groups in the community as well as being named one of the judges during the first ever podcasting awards in the country. I would like to personally thank the brethren of Muog Lodge No. 89 who have fervently supported my creative ventures, along with Bro. Aldrin Fermin who has generously shared broadcasting advice to me throughout the process. I invite you, my brethren, to explore podcasting and see how this could be of benefit to you as a creator or listener. Cheers!