Podcast 101 (A Tutorial)

It seems we may have jumped the gun just a wee bit.

In our eagerness to share our weekly podcasts, it has suddenly come to our attention that we might have put the cart before the horse for a lot of people. Because we know many aren’t naturally technologically-savvy…and some might even need to know what on earth a podcast is!

(And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, by the way. It’s still a fairly new and untapped medium, so we’re all getting used to it!)

However, listening to the weekly podcasts is the foundation for everything else we offer here at BE. It’s sort of the hub of this wheel, so we need you to listen in!

So we’re going back to basics to hopefully shed some light on exactly what this thing is that we’re doing.

1. What is a podcast? A podcast is a multimedia digital file made available on the internet for downloading to a portable media player, computer, etc. Basically, it’s like a video you’d see on You Tube. Except that there’s no video, it’s just audio — like listening to the radio or an MP3 file on iTunes.

2. What kinds of podcasts are there? All the podcasts available in the world are different. In Christian circles, you can find podcasts of sermons that pastors have preached on any given Sunday. Some people have a question-and-answer format. At BE, ours is simply a conversation between friends. Our hope is that as you listen to it, you feel like you’re sitting at the coffee shop, participating in conversation with us.

3. Why would I want to listen your podcast? If you’ve read our weekly posts, what you’re reading is basically an outline of the conversation we had on the podcast. In the posts, we add in the printable, practical application and additional resources. But it’s primarily a recap of what the discussion was on the podcast. Each week we choose an attribute (for example, Be Content), and for 30 minutes the three of us (Sara, Monica & Amber) discuss what it means to BE that attribute. We bring out Bible verses related to it, what the original Greek or Hebrew definitions mean, and share personal stories all related to that one topic. It ends up being way too much content for a blog post; you’ll want to listen to the actual podcast so that you’ll get the full breadth of the topic and conversation.

4. Okay, so I think I’m ready to give it a whirl, this “listening to a podcast” thing. What do I do? Yay! Well, you have several options for listening:

a. See this little Play button that shows up on each post? You can literally just click that and listen to the entire thing, right there in the blog post. And while you listen, you’re free to surf around on the web and doing other things on the computer. Win-win!

b. You can click the “you can also listen here” words (the words in blue indicate it’s a live link) and that will take you to our Buzzsprout page. (This is where each of our episodes go first before iTunes picks it up.) (But that might be too much info.) (Grin.) Then click the play button on whatever episode you prefer and listen there.

c. You can click the words “subscribe via iTunes” (another live link in blue text). This will bring you to an iTunes webpage; then click “view in iTunes” to open the actual iTunes app.

This will open up iTunes on your phone, tablet or computer. Then just click “subscribe.”

The benefit of subscribing is that each week, the episodes will instantly update to your phone, tablet or computer so you don’t have to check in on the website to listen to the episode. It’ll just be there for you to listen to at your convenience. (But definitely come to the site at some point to get printables, resources, etc.)

d. From your phone, tablet or computer, open iTunes and simply search, “Be Still Be Free” and then subscribe.

And that’s it!

We promise, this  looks entirely more complicated than it really is. It truly is just as easy as one click of the mouse to listen in. Hopefully these screen shots will make it a whole lot less intimidating for you to grab a cup of coffee, sink down and join in.

Now let’s practice! Be sure to listen here or subscribe on iTunes so you don’t miss a single episode, okay? (How was it? Everything work out okay?)

(Expectant smiley face emoji inserted here.)

If you  have ANY questions about the podcasts — accessing them, listening to them, or otherwise — please fill out the form below. Monica will respond to you quickly and is more than happy to walk you through it! After all, this place is for you — if you’re having trouble we want to fix it.

And if it wouldn’t be too much trouble to ask — if you’re listening and enjoying the podcasts, would you mind giving us a review on iTunes? We only ask because the more reviews and ratings we have, the easier it is for others to find us on there. We’d love to someone to “accidentally” find us on iTunes and embrace the freedom of Jesus in the process! You can do that by clicking “Ratings & Reviews” when you’re in iTunes.

We love you dearly — happy listening!