How to Use Zoom to Record Your Podcast

Zoom is a widely popular meeting tool that you can use to record your podcast. We’ll break this down for you in a few steps.

Step 1: How to Record Your Call #

1. Download Zoom.
2. Log into Zoom on your computer. Look for and click on the Gear Icon to open Settings.
3. Click the Recording option on the left.
4. Helpful preferences:
   1. Select the folder to store Zoom files (Zoom will create a default folder in your Documents). Click the dropdown to choose a new destination.
   1. “Record a separate audio file for each participant”: Check this box if you want to have further editing power for each participant’s audio in post-production.
   2. “Optimize for 3rd party editor” – Check this box if you’re also doing a video podcast and want to import the video into your video editing software of choice.
5. Close settings and Click New Meeting to test the features.
6. On the bottom bar, click the Record button.
7. When you’re done, click Stop Recording. You’ll see a message in the top right corner that says “your file will be converted to an MP4 when the meeting ends”. Click END in the lower right-hand corner to end your meeting, then click End Meeting For All.
8. Your Zoom meeting has now been recorded and is being converted into an MP4.  Once your Zoom recording has been converted, Zoom will automatically launch the Finder Folder where your recording has been saved.

Step 2: Covert Your Zoom Call to an MP3 #

As of the writing of this help article, PodOps Hosting does not accept MP4 files, so you’ll want to covert your file to an MP3 prior to uploading.

Two Ways to Covert Your File:

Use iTunes to convert a Zoom recording into an MP3

1. Open iTunes on your computer.
2. Drag and drop the Zoom recording here.
3. Open Preferences (Navigation iTunes and click on Preferences).
4. Under “General”,  navigate to “Notifications – Import Settings”.
5. Click on the “Import Using” dropdown menu, and select MP3 Encoder. For the “Setting” dropdown menu, select Higher Quality (192 kbps).
6. Click OK.
7. Select your Zoom recording, then navigate to the top left-hand side and click File – Convert – Create MP3 Version.
8. iTunes will create an MP3 copy of the file in iTunes.
9. Two-finger click on the file and click Show In Finder. This is the file you’ll use to upload your podcast to PodOps Hosting.

Use your DAW to convert your Zoom recording to an MP3

There are many DAW programs, if you are on an Apple product, Garage Band is a free program you can use. If you’re on a PC, try Audacity.

1. Open GarageBand.
2. Click Empty Project.
3. Under “Choose a track type”, we’ll select Audio.
4. Open the folder where you’ve saved your Zoom recording(s). Drag and drop the file into your GarageBand project. You can drag the file/files into the track that’s already there or drag them into the project window and GarageBand will create new tracks for them.
   • TIP: TURN OFF THE METRONOME AND COUNT IN. IF YOU DON’T, THERE WILL BE A CONSTANT CLICKING SOUND THAT WILL PLAY THROUGHOUT YOUR PODCAST RECORDING.
5. When you’re ready to export your podcast, navigate to the top bar and click Share – Export Song To Disk.
6. Use the “Where” dropdown menu to select your destination on your computer. Select MP3 and select the Highest quality.
7. Click Export.
8. Click on the Finder icon and navigate to the folder that you chose.
9. Your recording has now been converted to an MP3. This is the file you’ll use to upload your podcast to your hosting platform.