Have you ever felt like getting into podcasting was too hard? Do you feel like you don’t have the equipment to get the job done? Well it’s easy to start a podcast today, using only your mobile phone and its free!

Watch the video to get all the details, and read the transcript below.

Transcript:

Anchor is not only a podcast creation tool, it is also a platform you can build an audience on. The app itself is available on both iOS and Android. Today, we are using the iOS version. And one thing to remember, Anchor is 100% free!

The app and platform has evolved since it’s launch in 2017, and is steadily maturing as a podcast creation tool. When you first set-up your podcast, Anchor automatically distributes it to podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts (iTunes), and Google Play Music. Future episodes will be automatically distributed.

When you first open the app, you are presented with a number of tools at the bottom. The coloured ones are all for the creation of your podcast. To the left is the Listen button, which opens up for you to listen to Anchor channels – you can favourite ones you like, or search for new ones by name or use the various categories to discover new content.

To the right, you can access your profile, access your settings and see your podcast’s past episodes.

The main button is the Record window. To start recording, you can lift the phone to your ear, just like a telephone call, or you can hold the record button and record. For better recordings, you can use many of the compatible external microphones on the market. Once a segment is recorded, you can listen back to it, and optionally add background or ambiance music to that segment. If you made a mistake, you can undo to go back and record again. When you’re happy, click done.

The green button takes you to your Voice Messages, these used to be called call-ins. People listening to your podcasts on Anchor can “call-in” to your station/podcast and leave a comment, message or add something to the subject matter of your podcast. You can listen back to those messages and insert them into your next podcast. All of a sudden, your podcasts have become interactive!

The Purple button is a new feature of Anchor, where you can record with a friend. Bring in a co-host or interview someone.

The blue button is for bringing in music from Apple Music or Spotify. Note, you can only include music on your Anchor broadcast, and cannot be included in podcasts published to other podcast platforms.

The pink button is for adding transitions to your podcast. Transitions are like stingers on a radio station, and help transition your podcast from one segment to another. 

As you go, the app prompts you to publish your podcast, you can keep skipping this until you’ve finished adding segments. When you’re happy with your segments, you can tap the Publish button. Give it a name and description and choose to send it to Anchor only or to all podcast platforms. You can also send a link to the podcast via Twitter and Facebook.

Now we move over to the Anchor website at Anchor.fm

Assuming you’ve already go an account, sign in and you’ll come to the Anchor Dashboard. Here you get an overview of your Anchor stats, including number of plays, episode downloads, etc. You can also upload an audio file here if you’re pre-recorded your podcast on your computer. This is great for interview podcasts or where you’ve turned a YouTube or other video style live stream into a podcast episode.

The Settings tab is where you can edit everything about your Anchor channel and podcasts. It will also have all your links, including where your podcast is available on various platforms.

The new episode tab includes an interface where you can assemble a podcast in a similar way to the mobile app. The same colour-coded buttons appear down to the side so you can Record, add Messages, add Transitions and also options to Upload a pre-recorded file and browse all the audio you’ve created on Anchor previously.

Once an episode is assembled in the window on the right, you can Save the episode and have it sent to Anchor and the other podcast platforms.