Why Good Mic Technique is Key to Your Podcast Audio

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I'm Danny Brown,

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and you're listening to One Minute Podcast Tips,

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the show that helps you be a better podcaster

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in just a minute a week.

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If you want more specific tips just for you in your podcast,

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check out the Magic Mic membership

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at oneminutepodcasttips.com/support.

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And now, this week's episode.

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When it comes to the audio of your podcast,

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there are two ways to make the sound

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as good as it can be every time.

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The first is the treatment of your room, and I've spoken before about that in a previous episode, and I'll link to that in the show notes so you can check it out.

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But your mic technique is equally important.

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Now mic technique, as the name suggests, is the technique you use to speak into the microphone.

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And this is really important to make sure a) the sound is consistent and b) the quality is really good.

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So here are two examples of why mic technique is good, whether you use a condenser microphone or a dynamic one.

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The first one is plosives.

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Plosives are the hard P and B sounds you often hear where someone is speaking too close to the mic and directly into it.

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So I'm using a condenser microphone at the moment.

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It's at an angle to the side of my face.

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So instead of speaking directly into the mic,

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I'm speaking across it.

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So at the moment, if I said,

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Peter Pepper picked a pickled pepper,

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hopefully you shouldn't hear too many of the P sounds

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being really harsh.

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If I turn around and speak directly into the microphone,

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Peter Pepper picked a pickled pepper,

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Peter Pepper picked a pickled pepper,

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you can probably hear the P's being really aggressive.

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So the direction of the microphone is really important.

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Sticking with a condenser,

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you need to make sure you're in a steady,

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consistent seating position.

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So for example, right now, the distance of my mouth to the microphone is a hang loose

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sign using your hand.

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Basically that's where you extend your thumb and your pinky or your little finger and put

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them as far apart from each other as you can.

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That distance is the ideal distance for mouth to condenser mic.

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If I sit back a little bit now.

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So now I'm about 10 inches away from the microphone, 10 to 12 inches maybe.

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And you can probably hear that the volume's gone down quite a bit until I come back in

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to that sitting position that I had before.

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It's the same if I just turn my head and look about the room.

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You can probably hear, even though I'm at the same distance as before, because I'm moving

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my head around, the vocals have gone all over the place. So it's really important you keep

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a steady position from the microphone. Dynamic mics are a little bit more forgiving, so let's

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switch over to one now. So now we're on a dynamic. I'm actually a lot closer to the

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microphone as well, I'm about 2 inches away from the microphone now. But once again, it's

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pointed at an angle to my face, as opposed to straight in front of me and I'm speaking

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across the microphone. So if I say "Peter Pepper picked a pickled pepper", "Peter Pepper

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picked a pickled pepper", hopefully the P shouldn't be too harsh on you. As opposed to turning

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directly into the mic. Peter Piper picked a pickled pepper, Peter Piper picked a

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pickled pepper. You can hear how harsh the P sounds are. Now if I do the same as before

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and adjust my seating position, it's not quite as dramatic as the condenser mic. I'm about

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10-12 inches away from this microphone and if I come back in and start looking around

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the room and move my head to look about, you can probably hear the vocal tone change a

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bit but the difference in volume isn't quite as dramatic as the condenser mic. So hopefully

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that shows you why mic technique is so important. Get your mic technique right, get your room treated,

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and you'll have amazing audio every time.

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Until the next time, happy podcasting.

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Thanks for listening.

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Until the next time, happy podcasting.

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