My company has asked that I create some short podcasts they can stream for our business.  Can anyone give me some suggestions on what are the critical things I need to consider EQ, Compression, Limiter wise to get the best recording?  I know EQ will be based somewhat on my voice.  Which type of Mic is best for this as well.  Should I use a condenser or something like a Shure 57? Should I put effects in the channel strip when recording or apply afterward?  I just want to make sure it is quiet, clear and intelligible.
 
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
 
Terry

Use a low cut on the EQ below eighty if you are a man and higher for women.

You could probably benefit from expansion which will suppress noise when the person isn't talking.

Some light compression is a good idea.

Consider a hint of reverb.

Limiting may help but look at what you have first.

Normalize to -0.3 dB. This will not clip even for MP3.

Typically a large diaphragm condenser mic will be your best choice for recording voice overs or podcasts.

And use a room that is acoustically treated. I hate podcasts that sounds like people are in a bathroom.

gswitz
Use a low cut on the EQ below eighty if you are a man and higher for women.

What if you're not sure yet which one you are? 

+1 to a large diaphragm condenser mic. If you have not used a condenser mic before, you will need phantom power and get familiar with your environment as they are sensitive. If your environment is ad-hoc, this may cause you more grief than you want, so an SM-57/58 may be a better choice (you need to evaluate your own setup here... please consider this step carefully).
 
Noise reduction algorithms are a great thing, as you can remove consistent background noise from a recorded track. Audacity has free one, as does ReaFir (I believe that is the plugin name). You will know early on if you need to look into this. Adobe Audition and Izotope RX products have some great noise reduction tools, but these are not free (and possibly unnecessary... just notes for future reference for you).
 
As far as mixing, as you have X3d listed, you may have bought X3 at a time when XLN (Addictive Drums) was offering a free copy of Izotope Nectar Elements. If so, you will have a redemption key on the bottom of your XLN profile page (where you see "my products" listed).
 
As a side note, be sure to update your system to the X3e patch if your signature is accurate (X3e was the final patch release for X3).