How To Start A Podcast, With Abu Zafar

Ever dreamed of making a podcast of your own? Of being the next Teri Gross or Joe Rogan? This week we’re learning how with the help of Lifehacker’s own video producer Abu Zafar. Abu recently produced a 3-part video series for Lifehacker called How to Start a Podcast and he joins us this week to talk about some of the podcasting basics he’s learned from experts like Josh Clarke (Stuff You Should Know), Misha Euceph (Tell Them I Am), and Roman Mars (99% Invisible). When Abu isn’t busy crafting snappy how-to videos for Lifehacker, he moonlights as a host and producer of his very own podcast network, Lore Party.

Listen to The Upgrade above or find us in all the usual places where podcasts are served, including Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio and Stitcher.

Highlights from this week’s episode

From the Abu Zafar interview:

When first thinking about making your own podcast, consider this advice from Misha Euceph, producer of Tell Them I Am:

I think first you have to ask yourself why this should be a podcast? Do you just want to be a podcaster? Or is the thing that you’re trying to make something that doesn’t exist and should exist? And should it exist as a podcast? Because something can be a great Instagram story or a great series of illustrations or a video interview or a documentary or an essay. And I think asking why sound is important and why the human voice is important and why this medium is important is is a big question. And if you don’t know the answers to those questions, it doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be a podcast. You should probably try to figure out answers to those questions, but it’s worth taking the time to try to justify it.

On doing your research ahead of starting your podcast:

I mean, this is so cliché to say, but finding your niche or finding that thing that doesn’t exist out there yet and doing it, that’s becoming increasingly more and more difficult with the internet and the small pockets of niches that exist everywhere across the internet. But there’s always gonna be a way that you can cover something that no one else can. And I think figuring that out is extremely important.

On not evaluating your podcast’s success by revenue or downloads:

I think at the end of the day, whether or not your podcast was successful, I think your metric for success should be whether or not you succeeded in saying the thing you wanted to say. Or exploring the topic you wanted to explore. If you succeeded in that, then I think you made a good podcast. If you connected with people, then I think you nailed it.

For more practical advice on starting your own podcast, we highly recommend listening to the episode!

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