How-to: Use WordPress/PodPress to podcast to iTunes

Audio blogging IS Web 2.0. You are letting your readers get to know, like and trust you as they hear your voice and they come to look to you as a respected authority in your area of expertise.

Using audio in your WordPress blog is so easy. And it can be free. If you have a PC with a microphone (many 

are built in now), you can record your audio right into a free program called Audacity. If you find royalty free music, put some at the beginning and end. When you start using Audacity you will see how easy that is. It's even easy to make the music fade out at the beginning and fade in at the end!

With a free WordPress plugin, PodPress, you can upload your audio to your blog in a few easy clicks of the mouse.

What should you say? At first, try reading one of your articles into Audacity. Listen to it and if it sounds like you are reading, do it again. Since recording is free, you can do as many 'takes' as you want - or need. Get comfortable speaking into the microphone - it won't take long.

When you are ready to record something to put on your blog, keep it short - 5 to 10 minutes - and speak from your heart. Your listeners will like you better if you don't sound like you are reading. That's why it is so good to practice a few times before doing the 'real thing'. This will also give you the chance to practice with Audacity. It is so easy to cut stuff out. Just like in a word processor. Find what you don't want, highlight it and press the scissor icon. Poof - it's gone. Listen again to make sure you didn't cut too much. YOu can undo the cut until you do something else. If it is too messed up, don't save it but call it up again and it will be in its original format.