Skip to content
Primer disparo

Practice exercises

Reading about podcasting doesn't make you a podcaster; recording does. Here are the exercises from every lesson. Do them with whatever you have, even just your phone, and keep the files: by the end you'll have material for your episode zero.

Level 1: fundamentals

  • Lesson 1: What is a podcast

    Listen like a producer

    Listen to one episode from three podcasts in different formats and analyze how they're built.

    1. Pick an interview, a solo show, and a panel show or a narrative.
    2. Note their length, their release schedule and how the first 30 seconds open.
    3. Decide which format fits your idea and how often you could really publish.

  • Lesson 2: How sound works

    Put numbers on your voice

    Record your voice and find out which frequency zone and level it falls into.

    1. Set your software or app to 48 kHz and 24 bits and record 30 seconds of normal speech.
    2. Look at the meter: note the dBFS range your peaks move in.
    3. Open a spectrum analyzer (Audacity has a free one) and find where most of your voice's energy is.

  • Lesson 3: Microphones

    Find the dead zone

    Use your own microphone (or your phone's) to check how the noise changes depending on where you point it.

    1. Put a constant noise in the room, like a fan or a radio playing quietly.
    2. Record the same sentence with the noise in front of, beside and behind the mic, always speaking from the same spot.
    3. Listen on headphones and note which position lets in the least noise.

  • Lesson 4: What gear do I need

    Your realistic gear list

    Take stock of what you already have and decide what you're missing for your format, in order of priority.

    1. Note how many people will record, where, and whether there will be video.
    2. List what you already have: phone, headphones, room, maybe a mic.
    3. Rank what's missing following this lesson's priorities, and record a test episode before buying anything.

  • Lesson 5: The room

    The four-room test

    Record the same sentence in four places in your home and hear how much the voice changes just because of the room.

    1. Record with the same mic at the same distance in the bathroom, an empty room, the living room and inside a clothes closet.
    2. After each sentence, clap once and leave two seconds of silence to hear the tail.
    3. Listen on headphones and choose your recording spot; if needed, improve it with blankets.

Level 2: recording

  • Lesson 6: Mic technique

    Your ideal distance

    Record the same sentence full of p and b sounds at three distances and two angles, and pick the combination that sounds best with your microphone.

    1. Record “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers” at 1, 4 and 10 inches (3, 10 and 25 cm), first head-on and then off-axis.
    2. Listen on headphones and note the bass, echo and pops in each take.
    3. Choose your distance and angle, and write them down so you always repeat them the same way.

  • Lesson 7: Levels and gain

    Find your gain

    Record three takes of the same story with the gain too low, right and too high, and compare the waveform and the sound.

    1. Tell a 30-second story with a laugh in the middle, with peaks around −30, −10 and 0 dBFS.
    2. Raise the level of the quiet take to match and listen to the background noise; look at the cut-off crests on the clipped one.
    3. Note where the gain knob sits for the correct take with your voice.

  • Lesson 8: Recording interviews

    A test interview

    Record a five-minute interview with a friend, first in person and then remotely, following the full checklist.

    1. Set up one mic and one track per person, or two phones if you don't have more gear.
    2. Do the level check and the clap, and record five minutes with a backup recording.
    3. Import the tracks, sync them using the clap and note what went wrong so you can fix it next time.

  • Lesson 9: Your voice

    Listen to yourself like a listener

    Record five minutes talking about a topic you know and analyze your own voice with a checklist.

    1. Warm up your voice for five minutes and record without a script, as you would in an episode.
    2. Listen on headphones and note filler words, speed, trailing endings and low-energy moments.
    3. Pick just one thing to improve and record the same topic again.

  • Lesson 10: Podcasting on your phone

    Your first pocket episode

    Record a short three-minute episode using only your phone, applying everything in this lesson, and compare it with a normal voice memo.

    1. Install an app that records in WAV, turn on airplane mode and find the quietest corner of your home.
    2. Put the phone on a stand a hand span away, bottom edge toward you, and record after a level check.
    3. Record the same thing with the voice memo app while holding the phone, and compare the two versions on headphones.

Level 3: editing

  • Lesson 11: Workflow

    Your episode template

    Set up today the structure you'll use for all your episodes: folders, names and a template project.

    1. Create an episode folder with the five subfolders and save it as a model.
    2. Open your editor, create the named tracks, place the theme music and save it as a template.
    3. Record five minutes while noting the time of each slip, and check how long it takes to find them afterwards.

  • Lesson 12: Cutting and cleaning

    Five cleaner minutes

    Take five minutes of a recorded conversation and clean them up without any cut being noticeable.

    1. Note the starting length and remove long silences, repetitions and coughs.
    2. Turn down two or three loud breaths instead of deleting them, and add short fades at each join.
    3. Listen to the result without looking at the screen and note where you notice a cut; fix it and compare the final length.

  • Lesson 13: Noise reduction

    Find the limit

    Record a minute of voice with a constant background noise (a fan, for example) and find the sweet spot for reduction.

    1. Record 20 seconds of room tone and then a minute of talking with the fan on.
    2. Create the noise profile and export three versions: gentle, medium and maximum reduction.
    3. Listen to them blind on headphones and keep the one that best balances a clean background and a natural voice.

  • Lesson 14: EQ

    Find the mud in your voice

    EQ a recording of yourself using only cuts and a minimal boost, and compare it with the original.

    1. Put a high-pass filter at 80–100 Hz and listen to what disappears.
    2. Sweep between 200 and 600 Hz, find the frequency that sounds worst and cut it by 2–4 dB.
    3. Boost the presence by 1–2 dB at 3 kHz and compare with the original at the same volume, on headphones and on your phone.

  • Lesson 15: Compression

    Three compressions, one sentence

    Apply gentle, medium and exaggerated compression to the same recording, and listen at the same volume to train your ear.

    1. Choose 30 seconds of your voice with a laugh or some emphasis.
    2. Export it three times: 2 dB, 5 dB and 12 dB of reduction on the peaks.
    3. Listen on headphones, adjusting the volume so they sound equally loud, and note which sounds most natural.

  • Lesson 16: Loudness and LUFS

    Measure your favorite podcast

    Compare the loudness of a professional episode with your latest episode and bring yours to the target.

    1. Use a loudness meter on a long section of a podcast you like and note down the LUFS and true peak.
    2. Measure your whole episode and note the difference.
    3. Correct with gain and a limiter until you hit −16 LUFS and −1 dBTP, export and measure again.

  • Lesson 17: Music and sound effects

    Dress up your intro

    Build the first 60 seconds of your podcast with theme music, ducking under your greeting and a stinger into the first segment.

    1. Choose a licensed theme that allows podcast use and keep the proof.
    2. Put your greeting over it and lower the music by 12 to 20 dB while you talk, with gentle fades.
    3. Add a 2–5 second stinger before the first segment and listen on your phone with headphones.

  • Lesson 18: Editing step by step

    Your first episode from start to finish

    Edit a short 5–10 minute episode following every stage and export the final MP3.

    1. Record or dig out a short conversation and create the project folder with a backup.
    2. Follow the lesson's order: cleanup, cuts, EQ, compression, music and loudness at −16 LUFS.
    3. Export the MP3, listen to the whole thing on your phone and note three things you'd improve next time.

Level 4: content

  • Lesson 19: Idea and niche

    Your podcast's fact sheet

    Write your podcast's identity sheet on a single page before recording anything.

    1. Write the one-line pitch: who, what and how.
    2. Write 20 episode ideas and three possible names; search for them on the platforms.
    3. Decide on format, length and schedule, and write the script for a one-minute trailer.

  • Lesson 20: Script and outline

    Outline your first episode

    Prepare the full outline for an episode of about 20 minutes of your future podcast.

    1. Write three different hooks and keep the one that sparks the most curiosity.
    2. Split the body into three timed segments with a spoken transition between each.
    3. Write the close word for word with a single call to action and read it aloud.

  • Lesson 21: Interviewing well

    Ten minutes with someone close

    Interview a relative or friend for ten minutes about an important moment in their life, as if it were an episode.

    1. Prepare five open questions in order, from easiest to most personal.
    2. During the interview, ask at least three follow-ups and hold the silence after each answer.
    3. Listen to the recording and note where you talked over them or chained questions together.

Level 5: publish and grow

  • Lesson 22: Publishing

    Your publishing kit

    Prepare everything you need to publish your first episode, even if you don't publish it yet.

    1. Design the cover art at 3000 × 3000 px and check it shrunk to postage-stamp size.
    2. Export an episode as MP3 at 128 kbps stereo and at 64 kbps mono, and compare how they sound and how big they are.
    3. Write the episode's title, description and chapter list.

  • Lesson 23: Video podcast

    Ten minutes with three shots

    Film ten minutes of conversation between two people with a wide shot and one of each person (they can be phones).

    1. Set the resolution, frame rate and white balance on every camera, and record the audio separately.
    2. Clap at the start and sync in the editor.
    3. Cut a two-minute section in multicam, switching shots according to who's talking.

  • Lesson 24: Promote and measure

    Three clips and a data check

    Cut three clips from an episode and analyze its stats a month later.

    1. Choose three strong moments and edit them vertically, with captions, under 90 seconds.
    2. Post them on different days with a line that leads to the full episode.
    3. After a month, check the episode's drop-off curve and note one improvement for the next one.