Introduction to Podcasting Tools

Eleven Labs 0:00

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Intro 0:56

You hit record, you nailed it, and then you froze. Because now editing, scheduling, publishing, the part nobody warned you about, the part that kills more shows than fan audio ever did. Today we're fixing them. We're building the workflow that keeps your show moving. Even on the hard weeks. Welcome to this episode of the podcast about podcasting. Today we are talking about building a podcast workflow and why having one will help you keep your show on track and

Understanding Podcasting Workflows

Intro 1:29

away from the dreaded drop-off. Let's dive in.

Gabe Leal 1:34

Hey everyone, and welcome back to the podcast about podcasting. I'm your host, Gabe Leal. And if you've been following along, you already know, you know, that we're on a mission here, and that is to help new and aspiring podcasters build shows that actually last. Last episode, we talked about how to record. So we walked kind of through the different softwares and the processes of recording, and hopefully you took out a lot of good information. Now we're going to do a separate dive on most of those tools because in this world of podcasting, the ever-changing world of podcasting, there's always new tools, new features being introduced. So we will eventually go back and revisit a lot of those recording tools. You know, and that's the thing we've also covered in past episodes, you know, developing your show, what your kind of like your show format, deciding whether or not you wanted to go along the lines of doing a solo, a co-host, an interview style podcast. We we discussed those. And then our first episode, we talked about the whole process of getting started and using content pillars. So those are what we've kind of gone down, and that's the foundation. Just knowing, you know, you're going back to what you're going to have to say and having a system that never lets you run out of ideas. So we got some good feedback and we want to keep that going. So today we're going to go a little bit further. In this episode, we're going to sit down and talk about where that where a lot of podcasters hit that wall. I think a lot of podcasters get to that point of deciding to give up or walking away from podcasting because they don't realize how much work is actually involved in

The Importance of a Podcast Workflow

Gabe Leal 3:21

doing that. So we know we've talked about the recording, you know the content of there, but it's the process, it's the editing, it's the scheduling, it's the publishing. It feels like a mountain every single time. And when it feels like a mountain, you slow down, you skip a week, then two weeks, and before you know it, you've got three episodes out and the show goes dark. Trust me, you can go find those and just any of your random podcasting platforms. So today we're going to fix that. We're going to be talking about how to build your podcast workflow. Now we're going to have on other guests, other podcasters who are going to share a little bit more about understanding and developing what a podcast workflow is. But simply put, it is a re it's a repeatable system for everything that happens after you hit record. The editing, the scheduling, the publishing. We're getting into the mechanics of this. So let's dig in. So let me start with this. A podcast is a product, and like any product, the quality of what you put out is only as good as the process behind it. I've talked to hosts with like 700 episodes, thousand episodes, twelve hundred episodes under their belt. You know what every single one of them has in common. They don't figure out what to do

Editing Workflow Essentials

Gabe Leal 4:40

next. They already know what to do next. It's automatic. It's a system. And that is what we want to get to this point of really talking about it and having real talk for new podcasters. Because most new podcasters spend more time thinking about their podcasts than actually building it. And I get it. There are a lot of moving parts. But the answer is not to work harder every episode. The answer is to design a workflow once and then just execute it. When you have a workflow, every episode follows the same path. Record, edit, schedule, publish, done. No wasted energy, no reinvent reinventing the wheel, no burnout. So let's talk about that path. Because I think when you talk about podcasting, everybody gets the grand idea. But this is the real magic behind building a sustainable show. This is this is the part that's going to carry you during those times that you feel like giving up. Like, I don't know if I want to do this. So having a system in place is only going to help. So let's talk about the first one. This is one of the harder ones that people ask probably the most questions about. And it's the editing workflow, right? So step one, editing. This is the one that stops the most people cold. Either they spend way too long on it, like perfecting every little pause and breath, or they get so overwhelmed. They don't edit at all. And the quality suffers. And you have two different schools of thought out there. I've had podcasters on with very lengthy episode catalogs who said, I don't edit at all. Then you have some who really stringently worked, work their system to really spend a lot of time in the editing process because they want to create a quality product. Okay. But here's what I want you to understand: good editing isn't about perfection. It's about clarity and flow. And I think that's what I've taken from most of these conversations. So when you sit down, set your editing standards before you even open the software. This is one of the hardest ones that I think a lot of editors and podcasters who sit down really throw their hands on their head or put their heads down because they know what they they don't know exactly what they want to create when they sit down and edit it. And editing is part of the storytelling process of what we're doing here. So I want you to ask yourself three questions before you edit a single episode. One, what's my baseline quality? Simply meaning what must be removed every time? Dead air over two seconds, major flubs, background noise interruptions. These are non-negotiables. Write them down. Figure out what those are for you. There, again, there are some, and this is a stylistic thing for each individual podcaster. But you gotta develop the system of what's gonna work for you. So remember that. These are you write them down for yourself. These are gonna be your non-negotiables you're gonna work with every single time. So number two, what's my nice to have list? Let me say that again. What's my nice to have list? Things like trimming filler words, tightening up rambling sections. These things improve the episode, but they don't break it if you if you skip them when you're short on time. So it's it's nice to have again if you can take out all the filler words, if you can clear out all the rambling sections, tighten up your episodes, but it's it's a bend don't break sort of thing. It doesn't break it if you skip it. Because there are times you're gonna find yourself life just as a podcaster, as an editor, you're gonna find yourself in moments where you're short on time, life is tough. You got it's a circus, you're juggling four different things. So be forgiving to yourself about that. And number three, when am I never going to touch? Excuse me, let me say that again. Number number three, what am I never going to touch? Some hosts keep all their ums and their stumbles because it's authentic to their brand. Again, this is with it's this is the particular part that settles well with who you are. So they keep the long pauses because it adds to their narrative style. Know what's intentional in your show so you're not over-editing the personality out of it. Don't take what you feel is the best part of being genuine out of your episodes. So, again, real quick, what's my baseline quality? Number two, what's my nice to have list? And number three, what am I never going to touch? Once you have these three things answered, you've got an editing checklist. And here's the trick use it every time. Consistency over perfection. Now, once you know what this workflow is later on down the road and it is ingrained in everything that you do, and it's the pattern for yourself, then maybe that's the time you play around and you might tinker with it. But in the beginning, so you don't overwork yourself, these are the things that you're gonna use to build your workflow. Now, tools. I'm not here to tell you what software to use because that's a whole separate episode. Like you can go back and listen to what we talked about in our last episode. But I will say this pick one, learn it well, and stick with it. The best tool is the one that you're actually gonna use. So this is why we cover some of these things because you need to know what's gonna work for you. What interface works best for you? What are you able to do so well that you can you can again use it multiple times and it easen and it eases the resistance of what you're trying to do when you get into the editing process? A lot of new podcasters love the script right now because it lets you edit your audio like a text document. I'm using the same thing, and it's the same process that I'm using inside of Riverside. You read the transcript, you delete the words that you don't want, and the audio flows. It's a game changer for people who feel lost in the traditional audio timelines of editing. These are things that are going to make it easier for you. So I want it to be able to be something that's manageable. So batch your editing. This is big. This is another one. Don't record an episode on Monday, then try to edit it Tuesday, then record again Wednesday. You're constantly switching modes. Instead, record in batches, edit in batches. Give yourself dedicated editing days so you're in the headspace fully to be able to edit. And you don't find yourself frustrated. And you don't find yourself short on time, and you don't find yourself, you know, prounding the desk because you don't know exactly what you want. Like it's why it's why important to build these workflows. But the easier that your path is to record, to edit, to distribute, the easier it's gonna be, it's gonna be for you to batch record, to push out, to promote. These are steps that are gonna help your workflow. They're gonna help you sustain a very, very good show for a very long time. Last thing on editing and the

Scheduling Your Podcast

Gabe Leal 11:49

last thing on editing, give yourself a turnaround window. Say you need 48 hours max from recording the finished edit. Now this keeps the mem the momentum going and stops episodes from piling up in your to edit folders for weeks. Trust me, that pile will haunt you. So you got to give yourself time to edit these episodes. So give yourself a turnaround time. Give yourself the ability to go back and edit and listen and create the the kind of quality product that's really gonna speak to who you are as a host. So that's what I'm gonna say about editing. Give yourself a little time to edit. Again, and I know it's gonna be difficult in the beginning because it's gonna be weird. You don't have a workflow in place. You're developing the structure. But trust me, these are these are trusted tips and tools that a lot of the again, the seasoned veteran podcasters that I've had on really do talk about and share. So let's go to the next one: a scheduling workflow. So, you know, let's talk about scheduling. And I mean two things here: scheduling when you record and scheduling when your episodes drop. So let's start with the recording schedule. The recording schedule, excuse me. The podcasters I've interviewed who've built real longevity all have, again, one thing in common. They protect their recording time like it's a business meeting. It's on the calendar, it's a commitment. It doesn't move unless there's a real emergency. And I've had to do a few rescheduled conversations because I've had things on my end and my guests have had things on their end. But we go back, we touch base, we reschedule, we make the commitment. And this is the thing, this is a commitment. You have to treat it as such. If you're gonna build something that's consistent, you have to show up constantly. You have to make this a priority. Or again, you're gonna fall to the wayside, you're gonna become one of the statistics. So a lot of beginners record whenever they feel motivated. Motivation is great, but it's not reliable. You want a system that works even when you don't feel like it. Again, I've had podcasters who said I felt like quitting, but it's sometimes because of the system they put in place and the accountability of scheduling these things that keeps them going. So block out your recording time. Pick two or three time slots per week that work with your life. Again, your life, and put them in a calendar recurring every week. Unless you're just a permanent uh content creator and that's all you do, and you have the time and the ability, and this is your career field. Most podcasters who start out doing this, they have another nine to five. They have another commitment they have to, again, do to pay the bills before they start doing this. For most podcasters, this starts out as a hobby and turns into something more. But we're trying to give you the structure to how to develop it into something that becomes more than just a hobby. So now that you know that, now that you have your recurring moments to record, release your schedule. Now here's the question: how often should you release? And the answer isn't as often as possible. The answer is as often as you can consist consistently and sustainably do it. You know, one episode per week is the gold standard for a lot of shows. But if one per week means you're burning out, skipping weeks, and putting out rushed content, that's not gonna help you. Better to be every two weeks, show up every single time and always deliver quality. You don't, again, comparison is the thief of joy. Don't compare your podcast and your show and your standards to those of a of other podcasters, because again, they could be in the podcasting field and that's all they do. So they have the time and the ability and the and maybe a team to put out a podcast regularly and very consistently. Where if you have to, you know, fit it into your schedule of your everyday life, then yes, I would say then maybe you the commitment slows down. You do a bi-weekly. I know some podcasters that do it once a month, 12 episodes a year, because they know you know that's all that they can possibly handle, but they still want to be committed to doing this. So it doesn't have to be, you know, once a week. Now I have the ability to do this twice a week. I'm able to put out two episodes every week. That is a very high output. But again, this is a very unique situation. I have the background, I have the ability, I have the workflow in place to be able to do it. But for most new and aspiring podcasters who have the motivation and want to get started in doing this, you gotta understand you don't want to burn yourself out and you can do this very quickly. It can happen. It creeps up on a lot of a lot of podcasters. So remember that. And just think, you know, whenever you choose, publish on the same day every week or every two weeks. Listeners build habits around your show. Tuesday morning commutes, Thursday gym sessions. You want to build that consistent date on their calendar. And I think that's the big one here. You the magic word in that in that phrasing there is consistency. And they'll know when you're there, when you because if you show up constantly with always publishing your episodes at the same time, they'll know to look for it. You'll start garnering an audience. And again, the secret weapon here is your content bank. We talked about this. That's why we talked about it before you even get started hitting record. You know, remember when we talked about the brainstorming, the 20 to 40 episode ideas. Here's where it pays off. When you have built that bank, you can record ahead.

Publishing Your Podcast Effectively

Gabe Leal 17:27

You're not recording and releasing the same week. You always have a few episodes ahead of the release schedule. That buffers everything. It takes the pressure off. If life happens, illness, travel, a busy week, your show keeps going. Your audience never notices because you've planned ahead. That glitch never shows up. They have no clue because you've planned it out well enough. So build a buffer of at least two to three episodes before you launch and maintain that buffer as you go along. Don't let it catch up to you. That's the secret. So remember the content pillars, the bank that we talked about in the beginning, this is where it all plays into it. Okay, now let's talk about our publishing workflow. Okay. So now you've recorded, you've edited, you've got your release date locked in. Now let's talk about publishing. And I want to break this down into a checklist because there, this is where the details live. Every episode that you publish should go through the same checklist, every single one. And here's what it looks like. Step one, finalize your audio. Export your final edited file. I recommend uh MP3, 128 KPS stereo for most podcasts. It's a good balance of quality and file size. Label your files consistently, you know, whatever it is, like something like mine is TPAP, the podcast about podcasting, and then I'll put the episode title. So your library stays organized. The better organized you have this information, the easier it is and readily available it is for you to find to locate when you go to the next step. So step two, write your show notes. This is something a lot of podcasters skip or rush, and they really shouldn't. Show notes are how new listeners find their way through search. There's also a lot of resource for your existing audience. Keep them simple: a two or three paragraph summary, key talking points, any resources or links you mention, and a call to action. That's it. And look, I'm here to tell you in this era of how we record, a lot of the new features that are being added give you the ability to, based off your transcript, to build show notes for you. So again, it's all about the workflow, how you're going to be able to manage it, picking the right tools that are going to fit into your particular lifestyle. And then sometimes if you have your own notes, a lot of podcasters do the lot of the research and have their own show notes. But whatever you do, write them down. Have them readily available for you. And in step three, create your title, your episode title and description. Again, your title is the first thing someone sees. It should be clear, specific, and ideally hint at the value someone's going to get. Episode 14 tells no one anything. How to build a podcast workflow and sticks in six steps tells people exactly why to click. So if you're just simply titling, titling your episode, episode 14, they don't know what that is. But if you're titling how to build a podcast workflow and sticks in six steps, that tells people exactly why they should click and listen. So this is why it's good to have your episode title and description as part of it. It's the hook that's going to get people to want to listen. And then step four, design your episode art and graphics. If you're going to do social promotion, and you should, you want to be, you want to want a visual, a visual asset for every episode. It doesn't have to be too elaborate, a simple branded template with the episode title on your show logo. Again, tools like Canva make this fast. Build a template once, swap it out with every episode, five minutes, boom, you're done. Some of the distribution platforms have the ability to create the visual assets already inside of it. Some of your recording tools already have this ability. And if not, they're adding them all the time. So they're trying to simplify the process for you. They're trying to help your workflow because they understand why it's important and why it's vital. So this is why this again talking about the tools, figuring out all this information ahead of time, it only makes it easier and quicker for you to be able to record and distribute. Step five. Schedule in schedule in your hosting platform, whether you're on Spotify for podcasters, Buds, Buzz Sprout, Podbeam, Lisbon, wherever you upload your, wherever you upload and wherever you host, wherever you fill in your met your metadata and set your release date and time, schedule it. Don't hit publish manually on release day. Have it automated. Most of these tools have it available. They help you schedule it so that if you schedule, say, your podcast to go out on a Tuesday at 4 a.m. in the morning. Because that's when you want it to go out. Say you have international listeners or whatever the reasoning is behind it. These tools now are readily available that'll help you schedule a published will help you publish your episode on a scheduled timeframe. So use the tools that are available for

Creating a Content Calendar

Gabe Leal 22:33

you. And then step six, prepare your promotional content. Before the episode drops, have your social media post ready, a caption for Instagram, a teaser clip if you've got one, a post for your community. Get it queued up the day before. So release day is just press go and put it out into the world. That's your six-step publishing checklist. And I'm going to say what I say about everything on this show. Write it down. Make it a literal checklist in a document or a project management tool. Every episode run through that, every episode runs through that checklist. Every single time. When it becomes muscle memory, that's when podcasting starts to feel easy. Once the repetition starts happening, once you get all these things set in place, once you have the structure, it starts to feel easy. Then you're it's the small nuances in that you're really working on. So those are the six steps. And now we're going to tie it in together with your again, your content calendar. So if you're going to be promoting, which you should, let's tie this thing all together with your content calendar. And this is your bird's eye view, a simple spreadsheet or a calendar document where every episode is mapped out. Episode number, title or topic, pillar it falls under, recording date, editing deadline, scheduled release date, and status. Doesn't have to be fancy. I've seen people do this in Google Sheets. I do I do mine in in another software called Monday.com. Like I can build people use Trillio. There's different tools to help you do this. It help automate. So it's, you know, it doesn't have to be super fancy. You don't have to pay for it. Like I said, some people do it for free. When you get started, this is probably one of the best things for you. So you have an update on every single episode that you whether you're recording, whether you need to edit, whether it's about to be released, whether you need to promote it. Like this just only helps your workflow as a host. Because, like I said, in the beginning, unless you have a big team behind you to do all this stuff, to have an editor, to have a re a recording, excuse me, to have a scheduling assistant, to have all this stuff available to you. It costs a lot of money. And most of the podcasters getting started don't have that luxury. So I've seen people use again Notion, Trello, Asana. The tool doesn't matter. What matters is that you have one place where you can look and know exactly where every episode is in the pipeline. My friend James, he uses Notion. I do a separate live stream we do together. It's once a month, but he updates all the information, the show titles, the thumbnails. I mean, it keeps everything logistically easier for you to maintain. So when you've got your content calendar built out with four to eight weeks of content plan, something shifts, you're ready. You stop being a podcaster who reacts week to week. You become a podcaster who operates, who plans, who builds. And here's what I'll leave you with. The podcasters who make it past 50 episodes, past 100 episodes, past 200 episodes, they're not more talented than the ones who've quit. Yes, they may have talent, but it's not the talent alone. They just built better systems. They took the time up front to create a process that could carry them even on the weeks when it's very hard. And let me tell you, you can do the same thing. It starts today. We're gonna walk you through this process from A to Z. We've talked uh again, go back and listen to the last uh couple of episodes. We every Tuesday we drop an episode that is about your podcast workflow, your your content, your structure, your recordings. Thursdays, I release most of my episodes to talk with seasoned podcasters and creators who share their journey. They share their tips, their hacks, their experiences, and why most of the stuff that we're talking about is important. So what I'm sharing here is compiled knowledge and research done through conversation from learning with other podcasters and applying the things that I've learned myself. So let's do a quick recap before we wrap up. Today we talked about building your podcast workflow across three core areas editing, scheduling, and publishing. So the editing, again, set your editing standards before you touch the audio. Know your non-negotiables, your nice to have, and what to leave alone. Pick one tool and learn it well. Batch your editing sessions and set up a 48-hour turnaround window. Now for the scheduling, protect your recording time like it's a business meeting. Choose a release cadence you can sustain. Publish on the same day every week. Build a three to four episode buffer before you launch and maintain it. And then with the publishing, run every episode through a six-step checklist. Finalize your audio, write show notes, write your title and description, create your graphics in your hosting platform, and prep your promotional content. And then tying it all together in your content calendar, one document, a bird's eye view of everything in your pot blind. So here's your homework for this episode. Take the next 30 minutes and do this. One, write out your editing checklist, three categories, must remove, nice to remove, and leave it alone. Number two, look at your calendar and block out your recurring recording times for the next four weeks. And then number three, set up a simple content calendar, even if it's just in Google Sheets with episode titles and dates. Those three things alone will change the experience of doing your podcast. And if you haven't gone back and listened to the episode number one with Janeta Med or our latest episode, because everything we've built here works together. The pillars give you the ideas, the workflow gives you the system to execute on them. That combination is what build the show that lasts. And as always, if you're getting value from what we're doing here, please take a second and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It means the world. And it helps other podcasters find this show. You can go subscribe to our YouTube channel and keep your eye out for some blogs and resources we're building along as we as we go and everything that we cover. So a lot of these notes and stuff that I'm building and putting together, I will be publishing them out there for people to use as a resource because that's what we're all about here. I'm not about gatekeeping. We're here to help each other develop and grow as a podcasting community. So thanks again for tuning in. I'm your host, Gabe Leel. We'll see you next time on the podcast about podcasting. That's a wrap on another episode of the Podcast About Podcasting, the show where we bring in podcast experts and hosts every single week to help you build, grow, and sustain your show. If you found today's conversation useful, do us a huge favor and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It truly helps us reach more podcasters just like you. New episodes drop every Tuesday and Thursday, so make sure you're subscribed and we'll see you next time.

Outro 29:47

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