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Many people have asked me on how I started Tech Conclave, a technology news show and video podcast that lets geeks and technology enthusiasts from around the world to become tech correspondents. Before I engaged with my own online show, I was already exposed to several podcasts and saw many online shows that encouraged me to do my own. The best thing with web shows is that it is open to everyone. In this article, I will provide the details on how you could start your own show with minimal financial requirements and important elements to keep in mind.

Prerequisites

First, you must understand that your primary goal is to produce good multimedia contents for your audience to follow regularly, in addition to your own personal or business goals, if you have any. I recommend that you choose a theme or a topic you are passionate with so you will have the higher levels of motivation to carry out the tasks needed to produce the contents for your show. After choosing a theme, derive a name for your show. A show’s name should be short and simple, and something unique and easy to remember. I also recommend that you include in your planning the social aspects of your show.

Type of Show

Secondly, determine what type of show you want to run online. Assess your speaking skills and your level of confidence in exposing yourself to different people online, regardless of the language medium that you want to use. You could choose to run an audio or a video podcast, which are pre-recorded shows released episodically and downloaded through web syndication – or a live audio or video streaming show, also known as “webcasts” or “webinars” for seminar-type shows.

Podcasts are better suited for those who are not very confident with their speaking skills as they will have the chance to edit and perfect the recordings prior to releasing them in public. Live stream shows, on the other hand, are usually innately more interesting due to the live interaction with the audience, although the mistakes one commits are final and can be recorded by anyone who watches the show.

Technical Requirements

Since you will be running a show, a strong speaking skill is an asset although I must emphasize that you don’t have to be perfect with your speech to be able to start your own show. If you can talk confidently with people in the real world, chances are you are already good to go. Additionally, you must have good knowledge on using editing software. If your show requires that you edit the content, I advise that you search for video tutorials on YouTube to save time.

For audio-based shows, you need to have a microphone, an audio recording and editing software, and hosting providers. At minimum, you could use your regular headphone as your microphone. If you want to have a better audio quality, however, I recommend that you buy a USB microphone designed for podcasting. To record and edit your audio, I recommend that you use Audacity software, which can be downloaded for free if you can’t afford to buy the commercial software. And for the web hosting, you could choose to host your files for free at Mevio.com or Podomatic.com networks. You will want to register your show’s official website as well. In my case, I’ve chosen to host Tech Conclave with Host Color to establish a professional identity.

For video shows, you will have similar requirements as mentioned above, except obviously you will need a video camera. You could use a regular webcam to record or stream your videos. It’s good to note, however, that producing a higher definition video content will be more enticing to the audience, in addition to the quality of the video content itself. So, you may want to save money while you’re running your show to buy HD webcams or video cameras later on. For video podcasts, you will also need to find some video sharing websites to distribute and share your video contents. I’ve mainly used YouTube for Tech Conclave due to its popularity and share of audience. If you’re aiming to run a live video stream show, I suggest you check the broadcasting features of uStream.com and Justin.tv.

Getting Started

Before you working on your first episode, I suggest that you establish your show’s website first. Create accounts on popular social networking websites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, among others) intended only for your show. After doing so, you can start working on your first episode or live stream broadcast.

The best way to start your introductory episode or premiere broadcast is to prepare a content that lets your base audience know what your show is all about. Your initial or base audience could be your friends, co-workers, and family members. Think about impressing them. Think about people. Think social. Employ a mindset that though your main goal is to produce contents, you’re producing them to impress others professionally. So it’s just necessary for you to brainstorm topics that will appeal your audience. The first episode or broadcast is the perfect time to put your basic ideas into action and blow your audience. Remember, first impressions last.

Building an Audience

You will realize once your show kicks off that the next and usually the time-consuming thing to do is to build and grow an audience. While working on Tech Conclave, I realized that the best indicator of my show’s progress is the number of people who regularly watches my episodes. I also realized that while producing quality episodes is a virtue, it sometimes fall short in making them visible enough to many people. That’s why I emphasized from the very beginning of this article to think of the social aspects of your show as it will help retain your audience, market your show, and make it grow.

It’s also equally important that your show, in addition to your own ideas, must also respect and be constantly shaped by the criticisms of your growing audience. They usually help identify the weakest points of your program that needs to be addressed. Just be consistent with your contents and how you produce them. Future broadcasts and episodes are usually judged against the existing ones. So, if your episodes or broadcasts lack spark as they sometimes do, your consistency will support the existence of your show and steer it to success.