When the Podcast $h!t Hits the Podcast Fan
This installment of the newsletter is brought to you by my wife’s and my recent travel experience. San Diego flooding and fog, Philadelphia (not so much) Flyers 🏒, Amster-damn delays with our luggage still en route to Madrid. But through it all, we’re safe, healthy, and grateful.
This series of travel conundrums inspired me to the topic of ways that we can fail-safe our podcasts when the weather gets rough.
Gnarly-audio blues: No matter what primary method you use to record your podcast, please run a backup. This could be QuickTime Player, GarageBand, Audacity, or even your phone’s voice memo recorder. You never know when your main audio-recording software/hardware may give out or glitch.
Equipment on the fritz: Similar to point #1, you never know when your physical equipment (mic, audio interface, etc) is gonna go wonky. Have backup options ready and on hand.
The guest that never was (or at least not right now): I’ve seen this scenario plenty of times: Host schedules an interview with a guest just a day or two before the episode publish date. Guest doesn’t show up. Host is left in a scramble to get an episode out. Please have a backup episode plan in mind and try not to schedule an interview within a week of when the episode is to go live.
Pushin’ da deadline: Similar to point #3, we can’t predict when we’ll get a cold or some big life event will come up. Staying at least a couple of weeks ahead of the deadline and even having a backup episode or two in the can will make a world of difference if these tough situations arise.
Tongue twister of doom: It’s important to keep in mind that post-production editing exists, and for good reason. If you or a guest gets stuck in a tongue twister or a tangent leading to nowhere, you can always start the sentence/thought over, and your editor can chop out the ugly bits. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
The scrambled egg episode: Ever recorded an episode and afterward not felt great about it? It may not be a bad idea to get a second or third set of ears (and eyes in the case of video episodes) on the episode. Make sure they are honest eyes and ears. You may be surprised to find that the episode is actually immensely value-packed, even if the cadence is a bit off.
👹 The PodFade Monster: Looking to a wider scope, have you ever felt that your entire podcast is just floating along because…you’ve had this podcast running for years, and it just seems wrong to stop now? In other words, you feel like the pod has sort of lost its way? Stand back, re-analyze your “why” and write down all the reasons your podcast serves you and your biz. Do the reasons outweigh the doubts? Another trick of the PodFade Monster to watch out for is overwhelm.
Internet woes: If recording an audio-only episode, turning off video can significantly increase the audio quality and overall stability of the connection. Remember - recording locally (recording audio straight to GarageBand, Audacity, QuickTime Player, etc, and video straight to your smartphone, DSLR, etc) is going to eliminate audio and video quality issues, and will render better overall audio/video quality.
In 15+ years of editing podcasts and 5+ years since expanding services by launching The Podcast Man, I’ve seen plenty of podcast blunders. Many are avoidable with correct preparation, but sometimes the podcast $h!t is gonna hit the podcast fan. I hope these nuggets of wisdom live in your subconscious, just in case that time comes.
Your Pod Pal,
Zack
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