Podcasts are a great ‘hands-free’ way to seek out information or entertainment of your choosing, that you can listen to at a time and a place that suits you. A podcast is a digital audio file typically containing spoken words where a listener can choose to listen to a single file or subscribe in order to automatically have all file available for listening.
So what on earth does that mean?
The easiest way is to think of podcasts as ‘on-demand radio’ where you can choose to listen to stories, interviews, series-length investigative journalism, entertaining conversation between friends, industry leaders or people with a shared interest. Broadly speaking most podcasts can be categorized as entertaining, informative or educational.
Podcasts can be produced by large media corporations, or by your neighbour using only their phone. They can be of varying length and cover more topics than you can possibly imagine. New ‘episodes’ of a podcast show or series can come out daily, weekly, monthly or sporadically. The wonderful thing is that because you don’t need to use vast amounts of money or resources to release a podcast, there are a wonderful array of podcasts on extremely niche topics.
Podcasts are popular because they’re audio which is oh-so-convenient. They can be enjoyed whilst cleaning, driving, commuting, walking, exercising…you get the idea. Secondly, unlike radio, you can pick and choose what and who you would like to listen to, for how long and when and if you get interrupted you can simply return when you choose.
Getting Started –
- Get something that can play your podcasts
If you have a smartphone you would already have an app on your phone that allows you to find, subscribe and listen to podcasts. Generally this would be called something like “podcasts”.
Alternatively, you can pop into your phone’s App Store (Android or Apple) and locate a podcast app or access the podcasts via one of the major music streaming services (such as Spotify, or ABC podcasts).
2. Find a Podcast
Once you have the player you just need to find a podcast that you love. A great place to start is search for the comedians, journalists, News organisations or radio shows you currently enjoy. Given the popularity of podcasts it is fairly likely that you will locate a podcast where they’ve featured in a single episode or a Podcast series they organise or host.
As podcasts are incredibly popular worldwide, especially in Australia, it’s likely that a friend will have some great podcast recommendations for you. Or, take a look at the current podcast charts and take a look at what everyone else is loving.
3. Subscribe!
When you find a Podcast Show or Series that you love, subscribe to ensure you know when all the latest episodes are made available. They will then be ready and waiting for when you can listen to them next.
It really is that simple to listen to podcasts to learn new skills, be entertained by your favourite comedian, or catch the daily news , all whilst you are going about your day.