David Hooper's Blog: Build A Big Podcast, page 36

How To Screw Up Your Podcast Audio Quality

I finally (!!!) finished recording and editing the audiobook version of Big Podcast – Grow Your Podcast Audience, Build Listener Loyalty, and Get Everybody Talking About Your Show.

Then I ran into an issue...

Because I was punching in and editing some of the pauses, some of the "breathing noise" got chopped. And that sounds weird.

I knew it might be an issue, and it probably wouldn't have been a big deal had this been a book for people with a "normal" understanding of audio. But you're a podcaster and you have a more advanced ear.

So I've got a little bit more work to do on this...

I thought I might be crazy, so I sent a clip to Dave Jackson from School of Podcasting to get his opinion. He sent back the clip after running it through a "debreath" plugin, which did get rid of the breathing sounds, but took a little too much out.

In this episode, I play "before" and "after" clips and let you judge for yourself.

LESSON LEARNED: You can only do so much with your audio once it's on tape, so make sure you get something great on tape. Don't rely on automation of fixing things after the fact, because you may not have what you need to work with.

Don't Let Your Podcast Be Ignored - Download my free "Audience Attraction Cheat Sheet" to get 25 podcast episode (and segment) templates.

           

Thinking About Writing A Book?

It's common for podcasters to tell me, "I've been thinking about doing a book."

And that makes sense. As a podcaster, you have a message and a lot of ideas around it.

But writing a book can be a lot of work. I know, because I've done a few of them. The more recent one, a book on podcasting, took about four years. 

Grant Baldwin of The Speaker Lab Podcast just released a book on speaking. His approach was different than mine. On this episode, you'll hear from Grant himself about how this book came together and learn about an option for getting your book out.

Don't Let Your Podcast Be Ignored - Download my free "Audience Attraction Cheat Sheet" to get 25 podcast episode (and segment) templates.

           

Big Podcast Holiday Extravaganza

Happy holidays!

This episode contains a few thoughts on how to make your podcast (and connection with listeners) better in the upcoming year and decade.

Don't Let Your Podcast Be Ignored - Download my free "Audience Attraction Cheat Sheet" to get 25 podcast episode (and segment) templates.

           

AND WE'RE BACK!

Back in the air chair... I had planned to take a few days off after the 30 episodes from last month, but here we are, three weeks later.

Strangely enough, I've had a few people reach out to me over the last couple of weeks to ask about "how to come back" from a podcast that's on hiatus. That's the focus of this episode.

Don't Let Your Podcast Be Ignored - Download my free "Audience Attraction Cheat Sheet" to get 25 podcast episode (and segment) templates.

           

30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge - Conclusion

The 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge is done, but you are not done – your podcasting challenge is just beginning.

This series was designed to give you a jumpstart into the world of solo podcasting. What happens next is up to you...

To make sure you don't miss any of these special 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge episodes, go to bigpodcast.com/subscribe and subscribe now.

           

Day #30 - Your Podcast Billboard

Your podcast, especially if it's solo, is a billboard – it lets people know everything they need to know about you (or at least what you want them to know about you).

So what do you want to be known? That's what this episode of the 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge is about.

To make sure you don't miss any of these special 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge episodes, go to bigpodcast.com/subscribe and subscribe now.

           

Day #29 - Where To Get Unlimited Podcast Ideas

One of the most common questions people ask me about solo podcasting is, "Where do you get ideas for episodes?"

In this episode of the 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge, I talk about this and give you a very specific exercise to make sure you never run out of podcast episode ideas.

To make sure you don't miss any of these special 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge episodes, go to bigpodcast.com/subscribe and subscribe now.

           

Day #28 - All Podcast Hosts Have Secrets

All podcast hosts have two things:

Things we want people to know about. Things we hope remain secret.

Some secrets are scandalous. Or we think they are. 

Some are a big deal. Or we think they are.

This episode is about secrets and what we choose to share (or not share) with listeners.

To make sure you don't miss any of these special 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge episodes, go to bigpodcast.com/subscribe and subscribe now.

           

Day #27 - How To Build Your Reputation Via Your Podcast

Most stories in the media, at least when it comes to celebrities, don't just happen. When you see somebody "famous" getting positive coverage on big media, there's a good chance it happened because a publicist (or even the person himself) asked for it.

When it comes to getting attention for yourself, your podcast, and the business behind your podcast, you need to let people know the kind of attention you want.

The same is true for your reputation. A good reputation doesn't just happen – you have to let people know the type of reputation you want, then act accordingly.

What do you want your listeners to know about you? How can you let podcast listeners know these things within the podcasts you're doing? That's the subject of this episode.

To make sure you don't miss any of these special 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge episodes, go to bigpodcast.com/subscribe and subscribe now.

           

Day #26 - Your Toolkit

Listeners are attached to you. Because of this, they love "behind-the-scenes" info. One of the best ways to ease into this and provide something of value that's related to your podcast topic is to share the tools you use to do your job (related to your topic) and your work process.

The tools I used to make this podcast episode:

Audio-Technica BP-30 microphone Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Audacity

Something that I didn't mention, but was also used in the creation of this episode is Auphonic, which is post-production software that touches up your raw audio to make it sound better.

To make sure you don't miss any of these special 30-Day Solo Podcast Challenge episodes, go to bigpodcast.com/subscribe and subscribe now.