Let me begin by saying, I am not a podcaster. I have created “practice” podcasts as a tool of professional development for instructors, but I have yet to venture into podcasting as a necessity for my vocation. However, I have recently run across a tool that is about to make me change my mind. Let me introduce you to the easiest totally free podcasting tool I have ever seen ..Anchor!
Anchor is a podcast hosting platform that has everything you will need to create your own podcast in a matter of minutes. Then once you create the podcast…(wait for it)…Anchor will take care of uploading it to all the major sites like Spotify, Pocket Casts, Apple Music, and more. Did I mention that this app is free? It’s like one stop shopping because you don’t have to use multiple apps to get the job done. The icing on the cake is your podcast could be monetized through listener donations, which could put a few pennies in your pocket as well!
Anchor is a great place to start your podcasting journey without being overwhelmed by tech tools that only complete a portion of setting up your podcast. Anchor lets you create and edit your podcast as well as provide a hosting platform for your podcast episodes. Be creative with background music, integrating other voices through recorded messages, and then view analytics on how your podcast listenership is going.
Now there are some drawbacks to Anchor that I discovered…
- Using my phone to record was not such a great idea. I have an Apple iPhone 12 and the quality of the output was terrible. It sounded like I was speaking from the bottom of a well. You may want to invest in a better microphone if you’re going to be doing this regularly.
- Anchor uses a 3rd party to store your podcast files, so they are not stored on your own computer. This made me a bit nervous in terms of who controls the content.
If you are ready to start podcasting, check out many tools before making a decision. However, I did find Anchor to be easy to use and it contained many features that made it an all-in-one tool for podcasting.
Happy Podcasting!