The Language of Podcasting

Podcasting really does have its own language. There are a number of important terms to the art that mean something very specific. I feel it is important to highlight the most used vocabulary in the podcaster’s lexicon, so that new people entering the craft will understand what we are talking about.

Glossary of Terms

Ask

Why are you creating a podcast? You might answer something like “to promote my brand” or “to share information about a topic I care about” or “I have a passion about a subject”. Each of those, and any others you come up with, are fine. They are also the best place to look to figure out your Ask. An ask is a request of your audience. Here are a few of my favorites:

Ask them to like your page on social media.
Ask them to buy your new book.
Ask them to support the podcast through a patronage system.
Ask them to rate the podcast.
Ask them what they want to hear next time.
Ask them to return next time and listen again.

DAW

DAW stands for Digital Audio Workstation. This is a very important piece of kit for a podcaster. This is the software and hardware, usually a computer, that records all of your audio, and allows you to edit, assemble, and then share your podcast with the world.

Interview PC

If you want to interview people for your podcast, chances are you will meet most people electronically, via an online voice or video chat. The interview PC is attached to your mixer via a Mix-minus setup. This allows the guest to just call into the program from their own computer, using standard things like a USB headset, or a regular headset and microphone.

Kit

The combination of all of the hardware used for your podcast. At a minimum, a smart phone can be your entire kit for a basic podcast. More advanced podcasters will have a DAW, a Mixer, Microphones, A Soundboard, An Interview PC, and more.

Listener

The real reason for any podcast to exist. The listener is the person who is actually receiving your podcast and taking their time to hear what you have to say. Treat them with respect, and always put them first in everything you do while podcasting.

Microphone

The center of the podcasting universe. If you want to record your voice, the piece of hardware that you use is called a microphone. It can be as simple as the one built into your smartphone, or as complicated and expensive as you would like it to be. Just know that if you want to podcast, you will need at least one.

Mixer

A digital or analog component that takes all of the various audio sources for your podcast and mixes them together.

Mix-Minus

A method using a mixing board that takes in all of the different audio streams and combines them, with the exception of the voice from the guest, and sends it all to the guest. This allows a guest to participate in your podcast without an echo of their own voice coming back to them.

Podcaster

The person or people who perform the art of podcasting.

Rolls

Rolls are prerecorded pieces of audio that are used at specific times in your podcast. There are three major types of rolls:

Preroll
Midroll
Outroll

You can probably tell by the names that they occur before, in the middle, and at the end of each Podcast. By having these three pre-recorded, and placed into your podcast, you can offer your listener a bit of consistency. These are also important places to add your asks and sponsors.

Soundboard

A device that queues up advertisements, rolls, sound effects, sound bites from other sources. This can be a tablet PC with a specialized app. It can also be a computer with software designed to respond to keystrokes. Here is a link to how I set my soundboard up:

Podcasting Tips: Converting a Novation Launchpad to a Soundboard for Your Podcast
_How a cheap, readily available music tool can improve your podcast workflow._medium.com

A person or corporation who wants to reach your podcasting audience and is willing to pay to do so.

Additions

Do you have another term that you think should be defined? If so, drop me a line in the comments below, and I will add it to the article.