A beginners guide to Podcasts

I love my iPod - it has opened my world in ways I could not imagine. The reason for this is simple: podcasts! Before I got my iPod, I didn’t even know they existed.

Simply put, podcasts are free downloadable audio in the form of a digital media file that you can subscribe to, via syndication feeds over the internet. They were initially developed for the Apple iPod, hence the name. Now they are also available in an mp3 format and are accessible on not only an iPod but on other portable media device, too.

You can even simply listen to a podcast by having it stream over the Internet. So don’t let the techno speak put you off, be assured they are super easy to access and listen to. If you click on any of the links below, for example, you’ll be listening over the internet in moments.

I prefer to download the podcasts onto my iPod, that way I can listen wherever and whenever I like. Also when you buy an iPod (mini iPods costs $99) you’re able to subscribe directly to podcasts using the iPod software.

The variety of information that is available is amazing. I can be listening to lectures in the Entrepreneurship from Stanford Technology while driving, I can listen to CEOs while I garden or I can have a laugh to Andrew Dentons' Enough Rope while I set up a training room.

Here are a few of my favourites:

Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders lecture series is a weekly lecture, run as part of the Stanford Technology Program. This program has a rich array of guest speakers, from well know companies with very interesting stories to tell.

Wall Street Journal on Small Business Even though this is an American site, it has some useful and timely discussions about small business and a Q&A session.

Manager Tools This site is phenomenally rich in information. I realise soloists do not manage staff, but we manage relationships, we manage priorities and our daily routine. Michael Auzenne and Mark Horstman are spot on with their insight about the very basics, from how to effectively leave voicemail, to running a meeting, to emailing, to communicating. Their constructive detailed comments provide you with actual tools to improve yourself right now.

It is not uncommon for me to listen to the same hour long podcast four times over, just to ensure I have absorbed every last morsel. This podcast is the unfair advantage you will have over your competition.

Great Speeches in History as the title suggest, allows you the opportunity to hear the full account of many of the speeches that you have just caught snippets of. The words of great leaders and thinkers can still provide us with great inspiration and insight into our own character and the way the world around us works.

I hope you enjoy these sites as much as I do. If you know of any Podcasts that you think other soloists will find useful, please add a comment to let us know.

Heather Smith, an MYOB Certified Consultant and Specialist Trainer, provides business management software solutions which generate accurate and timely financial information that the business owner can use and understand.

3 comments | Add your own

I am with you there Heather - I love my iPod and podcasts. I have been a disciple of Manager Tools for two years now and hands down there is no better practical tool than MT podcasts to provide support to budding managers. Robert Barnes from Sydney
Robert, Maybe I will see you in Sydney in November at their first Australian Conference? Heather Smith from Brisbane
Thanks, Heather - valuable stuff with which to fill in time at airports and between meetings! Grant Hyman from Sydney | Read my articles

3 comments | Add your own

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