7 Steps To Start A Yoga Podcast

 

Start Easy

The good news about Yoga Podcasting is that you don’t need a professional studio. But you absolutely must have a good mic and a quiet room. If you have lots of distracting noises in the background, it will put people off.

Doing anything for the first time is usually not easy. And podcasting is no different.

That’s why I recommend you “start easy”. If you hear your Inner Monkey whispering in your ear that you need to start a “world beating podcast show” say this:

“Oh, hello Inner Monkey, didn’t see you there. I’m going to start easy.”. 

It’ll take a while to learn the whole yoga podcasting process, but if you like the idea of improving your yoga teaching skills, and spreading your yoga teachings around the world, it’s well worth giving it a go.

Benefits Of Podcasting 

The many benefits of podcasting for yoga teachers include:

• Establish your credibility and expertise
• Deliver content quickly and easily
• Teach on multiple yoga subjects
• Teach on multiple yoga lifestyle subjects (e.g. veganism)
• Platform to invite guests to be on
• Extend your brand beyond blog posts and YouTube videos
• Grow a tribe
• Create a movement
• Share your offers (e.g. yoga retreat) in a unique way
• Make friends (hosts you interview will become friends)
• Free yoga and lifestyle education for the public
• Improve your yoga teaching skills

Step 1: Audacity & Microphone 

You’ll need to record your voice. I use a free, open source software called audacity on my computer. I also use a Blue Yeti microphone.

Step 2: Decide What To Record

To get ideas for what to record, visit Apple.com/itunes, and type in the word “yoga”.

Keep your first few podcasts simple by simply recording yourself performing “one yoga pose”. Recording only “one yoga pose” will radically improve your teaching,  because you need be detail orientated (no one can see you) and entertaining. The buzz word is “edutainment” (combination of education and entertainment). Let your personality shine through on the recording. Don’t try to be a stereotypical yoga teacher. Be YOU. Allow YOU to come out to play.

I recommend recording dozens of “one pose only” podcasts, before you do any other kind of podcast.

Before you record about the “one pose”, make sure you research the heck out of the pose. Spend hours (days even) learning more about the pose. Don’t rush the research phase. Get pen and paper out. Take notes (mindmaps) of your findings.

Get your musty old yoga books out, and flip to the pages with the “one pose”. Watch YouTube videos about the “one pose”. Read blog posts about the “one pose”.

Once you’ve done plenty of “one pose” podcasts, you could:

• Record yourself teaching a yoga class
• Record yourself teaching a student (during a 1 to session)
• Give a talk about “one subject” (e.g. why you went Vegan)
• Interview someone about something about yoga
• Interview someone about something about yoga lifestyle

Step 3: Learn How To Get Your Podcast On ITunes 

There are lots of articles online showing how to get your podcast on iTunes.

Step 4: Record & Welcome The Awfulness

Open up your Audacity Software and record the podcast.

You can find lots of video tutorials on how to use audacity by going to YouTube and searching for “audacity tutorials”.

If you’re just staring out, you don’t need to get your podcast mixed (mixing is the process of taking recorded tracks and blending them together).

Allow yourself to be a beginner.

You wouldn’t do bow pose if you just started practicing Yoga, so don’t feel the pressure to “mix” your podcasts to professional quality. It’s not needed at the beginning of your podcasting journey.

The most important thing at the beginning of your podcasting journey is spending quality time researching what you’re going to be podcasting, and learning from each podcast.

You’ll be awful to begin with.

You’ll be terrible.

You’ll stumble words.

You’ll go off on ridiculous tangents.

You’ll lose the plot halfway through a sentence.

You’ll speak too quickly.

Allow yourself to be awful. You’re a beginner podcaster. You’re not Oprah Winfrey or Barbara Walters. You’re beginner YOU. Get over it. Enjoy your awfulness. You will get better…podcast by podcast. It’s a process. Just like Yoga.

Step 5: Itunes

Once you’ve recorded your podcast, you’ll need to add it to to iTunes. This will allow people to download/stream your podcast on their device.

Step 6: Whatever You Do, Don’t Plan A Grand Launch

Remember, you’re a beginner podcaster. Don’t try to be a pro. Revel in your amateur awfulness. So, resist the temptation to do a grand launch of your podcast. It will only disappoint you because only your mum will be listening in.

Instead of a “grand” launch, I recommend an “easy” one.

Tips for an easy launch…

• Go to Digg.com and Digg it
• Write a blog post and include the audio
• Share the podcast on your Facebook Page
• Share the podcast on your Twitter Page
• Share the podcast on Instagram and Pinterest
• Share the podcast to your Email List

Step 7: Yoga Teacher Business Kit 

Okay. I admit. This isn’t an official podcasting step. I snuck Step 7 in because “7 steps” sounds oh so much better than 6 steps.

And I thought (rather presumptuously) that you might like my Yoga Teacher Business Kit. I created this Kit to help get more students to my yoga classes. I’ve spent 100+ hours over the years testing, tweaking and adding new yoga marketing and business tips and templates to the Kit. You should have received this Kit during your yoga teacher training course.

Optional Steps 

8 Questions To Ask Yourself

How many episodes per week?

What “category” do you want to be classified under in iTunes?

What is your podcast called?

Who can I get on as a guest to interview?

Will I do solo shows, or guest shows, or both?

What topics do I love that will make good podcasts?

How will I prepare for each podcast (e.g. mindmap points to cover)?

When will the podcast go live (e.g. same day/time each week)?

Han Solo Or Luke Skywalker

When you first start podcasting, I recommend you go “Han Solo”.

Go solo!

Don’t host guests. Imagine you are Han Solo. Han Solo is a maverick, smuggler, scoundrel, hero who starts off selfishly thinking only of himself. The word solo means “done by one person alone”. When starting out podcasting, go solo like Han Solo.

When you have learned your podcasting craft (just like a Jedi learns to wield a lightsaber) after many months of podcasting, you can morph into “Luke Skywalker” (a team player), and start hosting guests. Phew! Coming up with the Star Wars allegory has exhausted me.

Oh no, I feel one last allegory emerging from my fingers…

Using the Force, a Yoga Podcasting Jedi can not only predict incoming blows (e.g from Darth Vader’s nasty lightsaber), they can predict what makes a good podcasting topic (e.g. Has Johnny Depp Gone Vegan).