How to record podcasts

This is a brief step-by-step tutorial on how to record your voice and compress it into an MP3 file. This assumes no prior experience in using audio software. However, some basic familiarity with using a computer is assumed.

What you will need:

1. A computer running Microsoft Windows (or Linux or Mac OSX).
2. A built in or an external microphone. If you have used your computer before for voice-chat, you already should have this working.
3. Enough hard disk space (about 1 GB should be usually good) to store audio files before compression.
4. A bit of patience to get it all working!

Once you ensure you have the above, follow these steps to record your voice.

1. Download and install Audacity from http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ It is a free and open source software available for Windows, Mac and Linux.
2. Open audacity
3. Go to Edit -> Preferences menu and in the Audio I/O section make sure that your recording device is set to the appropriate device you wish to set.
4. Select menu Tracks -> Add new -> Audio track
5. Click on the big record button at the top and start recording your voice.
6. Click stop button at the top to stop recording and rewind a playback to make sure your audio is recorded correctly.
   1. It might be a good idea to try to record for a few seconds and make sure everything works fine before you proceed to recording the complete podcast.
   2. If this does not work, experiment by choosing different input devices till you find the one that works.
7. Once you are happy with the recording, save the project at a convenient place.
8. Select the menu File -> Export. Select the output file format as MP3. Give the file a suitable name and click OK.
9. You should now have an MP3 file that contains your podcast. Double click the file to make sure that it has been recorded properly.
10. Contact the admins of praja through the contact form and let them know that you have the podcast ready. Admins will get in touch with you to arrange the transfer of file. Do not attach the files through email since they tend to be very large.

It is OK if you make mistakes. Just re-read that part correctly and we will edit the audio to remove those parts. If you are proficient at further editing of audio, feel free to experiment.

If you have further doubts, please post it as a comment below and the answers can benefit everyone in future.