Live events are packed with smart people whose gears are turning from sharing and absorbing fresh ideas—making them a goldmine for creating memorable podcast episodes. Whether you’re sponsoring with a full booth or just walking the floor with a badge and a mic, there are plenty of great ways to walk away with high-quality material your audience will appreciate long after the conference wraps. If you have an upcoming live event, here are five solid approaches to make the most of your time onsite.
1. Set Up a Dedicated Podcast Booth
Image courtesy of: https://www.smileexhibit.com/en/blog/8744/7-technique-make-interactive-booth
If you have a booth on the show floor, you have an amazing opportunity to dedicate a portion to a podcast booth. This is more than just a content capture station—it’s a brand experience. It gives you a dedicated space to hold conversations without scrambling for quiet corners or coordinating on the fly. You can plan a recording schedule in advance, pre-book guests, and keep things running smoothly throughout the event.
The physical setup itself is also a magnet. People walking by will stop to check out the mics, ask what you’re recording, and get curious about your brand. It creates natural engagement, buzz, and a sense of momentum around what you’re doing.
Not sure where to start with the tech? You can always bring in a professional team to handle setup, production, and coordination—we do this regularly for clients who want to show up, have great conversations, and leave the logistics to someone else.
2. Create a "Mobile Studio" With a Digital Recorder
No booth? No worries. A Zoom H6 or Tascam DR-40X and a couple of handheld dynamic mics can be your best friends. Find a quiet corner or pull people aside in media lounges and breakout areas to capture a conversation. Even if you can’t find a quiet space, dynamic microphones are designed to reject background noise and focus on what’s directly in front of them—your voice. You’ll still get a clean, usable recording with the din of the show floor pushed into the background.
Avoid using your phone’s built-in mic or condenser microphones in these settings—they tend to pick up everything, including the ambient chaos you’re trying to minimize.
Keep it flexible—use tabletop stands or go handheld depending on your setup. The goal is to keep it nimble and non-intrusive while still capturing something that sounds polished.
3. Record On-the-Fly Interviews With Your Phone (the Right Way)
Let’s say you’re catching people between sessions or want to grab some quick reactions. Your phone works—if you do it the right way. While using your phone’s mic is an option, instead you’ll want to look into an external dynamic mic like the Rode Reporter Mic and pair it with an iRig Pre 2 interface. You could also look into the Rode Wireless ME system which is a wireless mic system that connects directly to your phone. Unlike your phone, these portable, smartphone-compatible microphones help focus on your voice and push ambient noise into the background, dramatically increasing the quality of your recordings.
To record the audio, you can use your phone’s native recorder (like Voice Memos) or a dedicated app like Ferrite or Rode Reporter. Keep your questions simple, short, and focused to capture clear, high-value insights from your guests. You could even give them a time limit—something like, “In under 60 seconds, tell us what you learned from that last session.”
These clips are perfect for stitching together into a post-event compilation episode or using as snackable content on social media, helping you fill your content pipeline between full-length episodes.
4. Capture Speaker Sessions or Panels (With Permission)
If someone from your team is on stage—or you’re attending a session that aligns with your show’s topic—see if you can record it. It’s important to note, it’s never ok to record a session without permission from the showrunners so speak to them ahead of time to get clearance.
If approved, coordinate in advance with the AV team to get a clean audio feed directly from the board. You can capture this feed in a couple of ways: either plug into a digital recorder like the Zoom H6 using an XLR or 1/4″ line input, or use an iRig interface to connect the feed directly to your phone. Both setups give you high-quality audio without relying on open-air mics and help you avoid the noisy, echo-prone sound you’d get from trying to capture audio from the audience.
Wrap the session with some commentary or a quick intro/outro and you’ve got yourself a special episode that gives your listeners a seat in the room—especially valuable if they couldn’t attend in person.
5. Book a Quiet Room Through the Venue or Event Team
This one’s underrated. You don’t need a booth to get clean, quality interviews. Reach out to the show organizers or the venue ahead of time to reserve a quiet meeting room for the day. Many times this is already included as part of sponsorship packages and you can use this to your advantage. It’s a professional, distraction-free setting that gives you the space and sound control needed for deeper conversations with guests.
It also helps you stick to a recording schedule, makes your guests feel more comfortable, and ensures you’re capturing the kind of audio your audience expects.
Bonus Tips & Things to Avoid:
- Always bring enough microphones for the number of speakers you expect. Sharing mics or rotating one between guests creates awkward audio and awkward moments.
- Don’t put an iPhone in the middle of a table and expect magic. It will pick up room noise, echo, and every fork drop and hallway buzz. Use external mics.
- Pack extra XLR cables, batteries, and SD cards. You don’t want to be troubleshooting a dead recorder when your guest is ready to talk.
- Test your gear the night before. Always do a sound check and record a sample before the event starts.
- Have a release form ready. Especially if you’re interviewing attendees or customers—get permission to use the content publicly.
Events move fast. But that doesn’t mean you have to let all that great content go to waste. With a little prep and the right gear (or the right team), you can walk away with podcast gold—whether you’re hosting a booth or just making the rounds.
And if you want help putting a plan together or bringing in support to run your show, we do this kind of thing all the time and are always happy to talk shop!
