Headliner Highlight 001: Derek - Behind The Wheel Podcast

Welcome to the first Headliner Highlight, a series where we talk with the people behind the podcast in order to learn how they create, share, and think about podcasting.

This week, we talk with Derek Oxley host of Behind The Wheel Podcast. On his morning drive Derek talks with ordinary runners and endurance athletes who are doing extraordinary things within their sphere of influence. (we know, the audio isn’t the best – we recorded it using google voice.)

Why did you start Podcasting?

It wasn’t intentional. I’m a runner, and I started meeting a lot of interesting people along this journey who were at different stages and just wanted to be able to share their stories. So, I got behind the wheel, the name of my podcast is Behind the Wheel, so I would get behind the wheel of my car and give someone a call. I’d video them and would videotape myself and then stick the two videos together. And then anchor came along and stripped the audio from the video and turned it into a podcast. So it was sort of like a back door. And I’ve been doing it for two years.

What keeps you going?

There’s so many fascinating stories that are out there. People at different levels of their training, from just beginning to competing in triathlons. And yes, I want to continue to share those stories. I think there’s a lot of negative examples out there and just kind of drown out the negativity and turn up the volume on positive news is part of the reason that I continue to do the podcast.

How do you share your podcast?

I share it online primarily social media. Instagram, Facebook, Facebook groups, running and triathlon communities, I’ve identified some groups that I could be apart of those groups so i could post the teaser videos or sound cards that you guys have put together to give them a preview of what’s coming and why they should tune into the podcast. Then link the podcast episode in the post.

Which type of post (image, video, audiogram, text) performs the best for you?

The [audiograms] continue to be well received on Instagram. The ones that have the transcribed text typical do better than the just the audio by itself.

Is there anything you no longer do to promote your podcast?

At one point, I was just posting a video clip of it and that was it. And then I became aware of Headliner and started using the person’s picture and then transcribing the text on top of that as a way to engage people. So I no longer use just video.

What’s your podcasting gear set-up?

I use a MacBook Pro and Garageband for editing and recording. When I started, I’d use my iPhone with a Blue Mickey. Once I started recording in-house, I purchased a Blue Yeti. I was doing a lot of my initial recording and I switched to a Shure MV5. The base fit nicely into my cd slot.

When I’m recording on the go I’ll use my iPad with the Shure MV88 because it has a mode where it picks up the audio from both sides the quality is great and it fits in the palm of your hand.

For podcast hosting I use AnchorFM. They’re very responsive and continue to update the platform with new features.

I used Squarespace to set up my website and Headliner to produce marketing pieces