Five things I’ll do differently in Season 2

Now that I have 10 podcast episodes under my belt, I’m thinking about what I will do differently in season 2. Season 1 was a learning season for me, so I was constantly changing things and having to go back and update prior episodes in order to get them all to a certain level of consistency and quality. I’m still working on that! I figured that I’d share some of the top things I’m going to change for season 2.

1 – Get show notes info immediate after recording

One of the delays I’ve run into is getting bios and additional information from guests once I’m done editing. The editing process often happens a month or two after recording – so time has passed. I ask all guests to review and approve their episodes and then complete the show notes form. However, this has become a delay in my process. By the time I’m done editing, I’m eager to get the podcast episode out. I will often get approval to post pretty quickly, but I lack the information I need for the show notes and show information. A change in my process for season 2 will be to send out a request for show notes information and a bio along with a thank you note immediate after recording.

3 – Streamlining my editing process

Shortly after creating the infographic on my production process, I started streamlining. I realized that I was using too many tools, such that I had to transition my files multiple times. I’ve learned that Buzzsprout uses Auphonic as its Magic Mastering tool. That means I can purchase the add on Magic Mastering instead of purchasing credits at Auphonic. This will save me a step in the production process as it will reduce the tools I need to use. For the short term, I’m going to keep with Auphonic because I have credits and I don’t want to spend more money on the podcast unnecessarily.

I’ve also learned to use more of the features of Adobe Audition, such that I no longer need to use Audacity. This saves me a step as well, and it means one less tool. I’ve also learned that it is easier for me to edit my transcript in Echo360 before exporting. The added bonus for that is that I can get a timed version for YouTube. These changes mean that I’m using Zencastr, Adobe Audition, Descript, Echo360 and Buzzsprout in production of my podcast. I’ve included the updated infographic below.

Note that some of the links provided are affiliate links – which helps me pay for the podcast. Using this link for Buzzsprout let’s Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support our show.

4 – Keeping my episode to the 15-18 minute sweet spot

Looking at the detailed listening stats, I discovered that most people stop listening at about the 18-20 minute mark. I recall that TED talks are 18 minutes for a reason. I have some great content that runs longer, so I’m going to break it into multipart episodes so that I can keep the episode length within the sweat spot range.

5 – Give each episode an interesting title

I’ve started to re-title my season 1 episodes based upon an interesting quote from the show. I think these titles help increase interest in the episodes, plus they are a whole lot less boring than titling everything “what instructional designers do”.

I suspect that I’ll have more tweaks to my process as I start preparing episodes for my season 2 launch. I will also write about the other parts of the process in another blogpost.

How do you streamline your podcast production process? What tools do you use?