You’re serious about being a podcast guest. You have a message that you want to share, you’ve identified people that could benefit from it, you’ve identified great hosts who take guests, and you’ve started booking yourself as a guest on podcasts. You’ve even invested in equipment to sound great – a microphone, headphones, etc.

But there’s one part of the equation you can’t control – the quality of the actual recording. You can’t control the recording process and tools – whether the host prefers Squadcast, Zoom.us, Zencastr, Cleanfeed, Uberconference, or Skype (or any number of other tools). And regardless of which solution the host has chosen, neither of you can truly control the stability and speed of your internet connections – at least not completely.

But you still want to sound consistently great. Or at least do all that you can to make that happen.

So…what to do?

Well, the best thing you can do is take control of how YOUR part of the interview sounds by recording it on your side. If you’re a podcast host as well, you can do that by using your preferred recording method. But if you’re not a podcast host and you don’t want to download free (or paid) software, there’s a little-known trick to record YOURSELF that’s built right into your computer.

It’s already there and almost nobody is talking about it.

It works for both Windows and Mac and I’m going to show you EXACTLY how to do it, with recommended settings in this short video.

Note: I’m going to assume that you already practice good recording hygiene and have already done the work to make sure everything sounds great and your computer is working in tip-top shape. I’m ONLY going to talk about the recording part here.

For an Apple computer:

1. Open QuickTime Player
2. In the menu, select File > New Audio Recording
3. Click the little arrow next to the record button
4. Select your microphone or interface
5. Select the quality 
   1. “High” = M4A file format (compressed kind of like MP3)
   2. “Maximum = AIFC (larger file and not quite as compatible but higher quality)
   3. I recommend “High” for better compatibility unless you know how to convert the files yourself – it’s still better than many remote recording solutions
6. Gently tap or scratch your microphone to confirm that the volume bars are moving
7. Hit “Record” when it’s time
8. If you can, add a clap or click so the host can sync
9. Hit “Stop” when it’s time
10. Save the file with a name and location you can remember

For a Windows computer:

1. Check your computer’s settings to confirm that the correct microphone is selected
2. Open “Voice Recorder”
3. Gently tap or scratch your microphone to confirm that the volume bars (around the play button) are moving
4. Hit “Record” when it’s time
5. If you can, add a clap or click so the host can sync
6. Hit “Stop” when it’s time

After you’re done:

1. Let the host know that you always record a local copy of yourself and make that available in case they need it or prefer it for any reason. Let them know that you’ll upload it to whatever file sharing service you use (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.) and ask what email address you should send it to them.
2. Take the interview file and load it to your file sharing service.
3. Send an email to the host thanking them and include the link to your file.
4. Consider including a link to a free conversion tool like FreeConvert.com
   1. AIFC to WAV: https://www.freeconvert.com/aifc-to-wav
   2. M4A to WAV: https://www.freeconvert.com/m4a-to-wav
   3. Check the Privacy Policy and TOS yourself to  ensure you’re comfortable with them

Is this a guarantee that you’ll sound great in the end?

Not necessarily. Some podcast hosts will not use the file you recorded. That’s their choice. It’s their show.

But some will.

And either way you’re showing up as a professional. You’re doing what you can to give your very best to their audience.

The rest is up to them.

If you have questions or feedback about this – hit me up at toptieraudio.com. Links to social, place to find more videos like this, and more – including any questions you have about podcast production or suggestions for future video topics.