Create engaging podcasts from your live videos

Expand your audience by repurposing your live streams as podcasts!
 How to turn your live video into a podcast

Live videos are popular because they’re full of engagement. Going back and forth with viewers is one of the main reasons people tune into live streams. But the engagement that makes a live show so enticing can make it less appealing on the replay or when it’s repurposed as other content. Transforming your live videos into another type of content, such as podcasts, works well, but only if you do it right.

If you have a live show you’d like to gain more traction with by repurposing it as a podcast, this guide is for you. But first, what is content repurposing, and why should you choose podcasts as your second medium?

Why repurpose your content?

Repurposing is taking content that exists in one form and reusing it in another. Turning a video into a blog post, an article into a podcast, or an infographic into a video are all examples of content repurposing.

How can you repurpose live video content?

  • Podcasts: Strip the audio from your live stream’s recording, edit it, and publish it as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher.
  • VOD: The easiest way to repurpose a live stream is to save the recording and post it as a video on demand (VOD) on YouTube.
  • Twitter quote posts: Take an important or entertaining quote from your live stream, pair it with a screenshot from the stream, and publish it on Twitter — with a link to the VOD replay, of course.
  • Teaser videos on Instagram: Shorten your live video recording into bite-size videos to publish on your Instagram feed.
  • Blog posts: Import your live stream recording into Descript to get its transcript, then turn it into a blog post.
  • Compilation videos: Find highlights from past live streams and edit them together into a compilation VOD for YouTube or Facebook.
  • Emails: Send a link to the replay to your email subscribers and include a captivating thumbnail in the email body.

Repurposing gets you more mileage out of your content, so you don’t have to brainstorm new ideas for content in every medium, for every platform you post on. You’ve already done the research, so you have all the info — you even have visual assets too. All you’re doing is presenting the same information in a different format. Repurposing live video lets you reach more people and boost your exposure without having to redo your hard work.

There are several ways to repurpose live content, but this article focuses on podcasts. Podcasts have skyrocketed in popularity in the last several years. As of April 2021, there are over 2,000,000 podcasts globally, with over 48 million episodes. In the US, 50% of all homes consider themselves podcast fans. Podcasting is a good business to get into right now too, as it is bringing in an estimated $1 billion in ad revenue.

Although the competition might seem stiff — over two billion podcasts — you can develop an audience and boost your brand image with a high-quality podcast. What are some other advantages to podcasting?

  • Make genuine audience connections with listeners who are dedicated to the shows they follow.
  • Foster a community of loyal fans who are faithful to your brand.
  • Generate revenue with sponsored ads and paid partnerships or by upselling premium content.
  • Record and produce a podcast with minimal equipment.

As a live streamer, you know how important audience engagement and fan loyalty are. By turning your live videos into a podcast, you create an opportunity to reach an even wider audience and establish a connection with more fans.

How to turn your live video into a podcast

Repurposing your live video as a podcast is simple. All you need is a recording of your live stream and an audio editor. Then, follow these steps to produce an engaging, professional podcast.

1. Record and download your video

Before you go live, you should ensure that you are recording your stream. There are several ways to record a live stream, but one of the easiest is with Restream Studio. When you go live using Restream, we automatically save a recording of your stream. Once the stream’s over, you can download your recording as either a video MP4 file or an audio-only M4A file. Download the audio file to your computer and save it so you can use an editor to polish it.

2. Get separate audio tracks for guests

If you have a guest or co-host on your live stream, you may want the audio files of each person as separate recordings. With individual audio files, you have more control over gain and volume levels while editing. To get these separate recordings, you can either ask your live stream guests to record themselves (if they’re remote) and send you the files, or you can use split-track recording while you’re live.

In addition to recording your streams, Restream Studio also has a split-track recording feature. You can download a separate audio file for each person once the stream is over. When you use Restream Studio to go live, you don’t have to worry about your interview setup for recording. You can easily invite guests to your stream using a secure link, and Restream will create separate tracks for their audio.

3. Edit your audio for podcast quality

Once you’ve recorded and downloaded your files, it’s time to edit them into a podcast. Live streams are a different format than podcasts, so there are sections you might want to add or remove. Use these editing tips to make your podcast flawless:

  • Consider cutting out interactions with your live audience, as podcast listeners won’t be able to know what your viewers are saying in the chat as you respond to them.
  • Plan your exchanges with the audience and only interact during certain segments of your stream. It’s easier to edit those chunks out of your podcast later.
  • Edit out any long pauses, mishaps, or other unplanned sounds that sometimes happen on live streams. Podcast listeners don’t have any visual cues, so they won’t have context for those sounds.
  • You may have to record a new intro for the podcast, especially if your live stream intro mentions that you’re “live right now.”
  • If your viewers asked good questions via the live chat during your stream and you want to include them in the podcast, you can always record yourself asking the viewers’ question, then edit in the answer you gave on the live stream.

4. Upload to podcast hosting platforms

Once you have a polished version of your live stream to publish as a podcast, you need to upload it to a podcast hosting platform. The hosting company stores your MP3 files and creates a podcast feed for you. There are a lot of options out there, some free and some paid. The most popular ones are:

  • Buzzsprout
  • Captivate
  • Transistor
  • Castos
  • RSS.com
  • Podbean
  • Resonate

When choosing a hosting platform, consider how much storage space and other features you get when you sign up for a paid plan, the user-friendliness of the platform, and whether you can use an RSS feed to pass your podcast on to directories like Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Some other important podcast hosting features to look out for include:

  • Embedded player to embed podcasts on your website
  • Affiliate marketing integration
  • Transcription
  • Batch uploading
  • Website for your podcast

5. Promote your podcast

Once your finished podcast is uploaded, all that’s left to do is promote it. Share links to it across your social media channels and add a link for it to the description of the replay video for the live stream the podcast is based on. Ask people to review your podcast as well, because that will help generate more exposure. In future live streams, be sure to mention the podcast and how viewers can access previous episodes. If you’re hoping to monetize your podcast, you’ll have to promote it to attract enough viewers so sponsors agree to work with you.

Tips to make your podcast sound great

As you stream your live session, take steps that will make editing the recording into a podcast easier. Remember, podcast listeners are accustomed to high-quality audio, and if you produce anything less, they won’t stick around.

Use these tips to make your podcast sound more professional:

  • Avoid external noises: Try to do your live stream in a soundproof room, or make it as soundproof as possible. Echoes and external noises ruin the audio quality for both live viewers and podcast listeners.
  • Mind your microphone placement: Podcasts are audio-only, so a decent microphone placed correctly will go a long way toward improving the quality of your podcast. The ideal spot is two to three inches from your face, just off to the side from your mouth.
  • Use headphones: If you’re hosting remote guests on your live streams, headphones are a must. If you listen to your guests through computer speakers, their voices will show up on your recording and make editing nearly impossible.
  • Hire a producer: To truly make your live-stream-turned-podcast sound professional, you can hire a producer. They stay off-screen to watch and listen to your stream and ensure everything goes according to plan. The producer can monitor the live chat during the stream and screen questions for you as well.
  • Insert pauses: When you’re streaming, you normally don’t think to insert pauses after you make a mistake, but doing so will help the editing process for your podcast. Train yourself to wait a beat before continuing after an error.
  • Don’t speak over your guest: If you are interviewing someone on your live stream, try not to speak at the same time as them, if possible. Ask them to do the same. When you speak over each other, it makes editing difficult later.

Wrapping up

Reach a wider audience by repurposing your live video as a podcast. You’ll find a whole new set of listeners who will become loyal fans of your podcast and even check out your live streams too. To make a live stream fit for a podcast episode, it takes some forethought and the right tools. If you plan it correctly and follow the tips in this guide, turning your live stream into a podcast will be a breeze!

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