Behind the Scenes: Crafting a Podcast Episode from Start to Finish
Want an inside peek into my episode planning, recording, editing and sharing process? In this episode, I’m sharing a behind the scenes peek into my tools and strategies that streamline podcast production while ensuring each episode is aligned with my brand and goals.
As someone who values creativity, strategy, and authenticity, I highlight the importance of finding the right balance between planning and spontaneity and utilizing tools like ChatGPT and Descript to enhance your workflow. This episode is packed with tips to help you optimize your podcasting process and keep your content engaging and impactful. Whether you're a seasoned podcaster or just starting out, you'll find valuable insights on brainstorming, scripting, recording, and promoting your episodes effectively.
Brainstorming & Planning: The Foundation of a Great Episode
The first step in creating a podcast episode is brainstorming and planning. I discuss how I use tools like ChatGPT to help generate episode ideas that resonate with my audience and align with my business goals. This stage is crucial for ensuring that your content is not only engaging but also strategic.
Understanding your audience and having a clear purpose for your podcast are key elements in this process. I also share how I integrate these ideas into my content calendar using tools like Notion, ensuring that each episode contributes to my broader business objectives.
Outlining & Scripting: Finding the Balance Between Structure and Spontaneity
One of the biggest challenges in podcasting is finding the right balance between having a structured plan and allowing room for spontaneity. I recommend creating a flexible outline rather than a rigid script to keep your content authentic and conversational.
Incorporating storytelling into your episodes is another powerful way to engage your audience. I emphasize the importance of having a bank of stories ready to weave into your content, which can transform your episodes and boost listener engagement.
Recording: Setting Up for Success
Recording is where all your planning starts to come to life. I share my recording setup, which includes a trusty USB condenser microphone and tips for creating a comfortable recording environment. My focus is on delivering great content rather than striving for perfection.
I also talk about the mindset I adopt during recording—imagining that I'm speaking directly to friends or clients, which helps keep the tone relaxed and personal.
Editing: Making It Easier with Descript
Editing can often feel overwhelming, especially if you're handling it yourself. I introduce Descript as a beginner-friendly tool that simplifies the editing process by allowing you to edit directly from your episode's transcript. This not only speeds up the process but also ensures a polished final product.
I also discuss the importance of getting your audio right during recording, which makes editing much easier. Tools like Descript’s Studio Sound can enhance your audio, making it sound professional with minimal effort.
Show Notes & Promotion: Streamlining Your Post-Production Workflow
After the recording and editing are done, the next crucial step is creating show notes. I explain how I use ChatGPT to draft my show notes, which serve as a central hub for all promotional activities related to the episode. This includes preparing social media captions, blog posts, and email newsletters.
Having a comprehensive plan in place for promotion is key to maximizing your episode's reach. I also share tips on using templates and systems to streamline this process, making it efficient and less time-consuming.
Bringing It All Together
Creating a podcast episode is a blend of creativity, strategy, technology, and heart. By planning ahead, using the right tools, and maintaining a balance between structure and spontaneity, you can produce content that is not only aligned with your brand but also deeply resonates with your audience.
If you’re intrigued by this process and want to dive deeper into podcast planning and production, consider joining my Strategize and Shine Membership. You'll gain exclusive access to tools, live masterclasses, and direct support to elevate your podcasting journey. Join here.
The Transcript for Podcast Your Business:
193: Behind the Scenes: Crafting a Podcast Episode from Start to Finish
[00:00:00] Have you ever wondered what goes into creating a podcast episode or even how you can improve your current podcast episode creation process? Well today, you're in for a treat. I am pulling back the curtain to show you exactly how I craft each episode from the initial idea to hitting publish. And I really hope that this helps you streamline how you create your podcast episodes each week.
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[00:01:07] Hello, everyone.
[00:01:08] Welcome back to the podcast. We have been just full on in school mode, getting back into the activities. Uh, starting to feel a little fall alive. You're in Colorado and I'm so, so tempted to pull out all the Halloween coffee mugs, but I'm trying to resist. Trying to resist until at least September. So a problem that we solve this week. I wanted to share and get a little vulnerable with you for a minute, because I think it's really important as leaders in and visionaries and coaches and consultants that we talk about. Our journey as well, and not just, you know, Putting out this facade that we have it all together. So I have been a really struggling with what the [00:02:00] next steps for my business are.
[00:02:01] If you have been listening to this podcast for any length of time, you know, that I've kind of been in a, like a big year of transition. And I know there are a lot of business owners out there who are going through the same thing that I am. You know, what worked two years ago doesn't necessarily work today, or we need to shift how we think about marketing, all of those kinds of things. And I've been on a journey, I've joined a group.
[00:02:24] I did some mentoring with one coach. I joined some programs and I really just felt like I needed somebody to help me take it to the next level. It's really hard to see things from your, you know, when you're looking at everything, when you're in it, it's really hard to see what's really going on. And I know for me, it's been really difficult to say, you know, what's not working, what is working.
[00:02:48] Like, I had a sense for it, just like with podcasts, like he may have a sense. But it's hard to know when you're stepping outside of your comfort zone or trying something new. So I did [00:03:00] decide to hire a business coach and I'm working with her for three months initially. , but I can already tell you it's been so impactful.
[00:03:07] I imagine that we will do another three months together. But what's been so great about this is having someone with an outside perspective. And as many years in businesses I have as well. If not more and being able to look at everything that I'm doing. And, you know, talk about where I want to go, what my goals are and really like what we've been able to do. Is pare everything down, focus on.
[00:03:34] What's really important right now, so we can lay a better foundation. For what I want to do in the future. And it's working and it's things are happening and it's very exciting. I always tell people like it's okay to ask for help, even if it's an hour long call. Even if it's an audit, even if it's a new tool. I feel like any time I've asked for help, it has propelled my business forward in a [00:04:00] way that I didn't necessarily know could happen. And so I just wanted to share that with you all.
[00:04:06] I think it's such an important piece to talk about. Sometimes we all just need a little help. And if you're feeling lost or stuck in your business or your podcast, Definitely do not hesitate to get that help so you can take it to the next level. And I'm really excited because the plans that we have and what we're working on. I can see that this is going to be something that's going to really work for me down the road. And also it's going to allow me the opportunity to build something that I have been wanting to build for the last couple of years.
[00:04:41] And haven't quite figured out how to get there and just needed some help with those next steps. And she is helping me take them. So. That's the problem I solve this week. I hope that this encourages you to seek help when you need it and not be afraid. Two. Get an outside perspective and get that help.
[00:04:59] So [00:05:00] you can move forward in your business with your podcast, whatever you need to move forward with.
[00:05:05]
[00:05:06] So today I'm going to give you a behind the scenes peek into what it takes for me to produce. One of my podcast episodes process is something huge that you really need to work on for yourself. And it's something that I always work on with my clients. And whether you're a podcast newbie, or you've been doing it for a while, I'm going to share all the steps, the tips, and the little secrets that really help me create episodes. Just feel so aligned and so special. And so, yeah, let's dive into it. The first thing I do always is coming up with an idea, right?
[00:05:45] The concept for my episodes. And planning. So, if you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen me share a reel where I mentioned how I was using chat GBT to help me do this. And this [00:06:00] absolutely has been something that has been a game-changer for this process. But I'm going to give you a couple ways to do this one with chat GBT and one without. Here's the thing. When we start to think about brainstorming topics that are going to resonate with your audience. And align with your strategic goals. You have to really understand the purpose of your podcast and who your audience is.
[00:06:24] And I'm not going to dive too deep into that because I feel like I've talked about it so much on this podcast, but that's really where it starts. So I will think about, okay, what do I have going on this month? This quarter for my business. How can my podcast support that? And how does this all work together to help me reach my overarching goals? And I will think about what that might be.
[00:06:48] What people have been talking about in my realm, what my clients are saying, what my leads are saying and discovery calls, all of those things. And they will start creating ideas for podcast episodes. [00:07:00] Now what's really great is if you're using a tool like tattooed beauty, you can give chat GBT all of this information and ask it to come up with some podcast ideas for you. I actually created a custom GPT for this, which is what I shared on Instagram. And I really tailored it to the strategy that we use to create episode ideas and episode outlines. And so if you want access to that, you have to join my membership. That is a custom GBT that is available to them. But if you are not in my membership and you just want to try this out, like literally you can go into chat GBT and say, Hey. I needed some help with some podcast, episode ideas.
[00:07:39] Here's my ideal client. Here's what I'm promoting this month. Ready to go and see what it comes up with. And it really is a great place to start brainstorming. and to start coming up with those ideas, because we really just want to get some ideas. I will actually take them and plug them into a calendar. Right now I'm using something [00:08:00] called notion. And I have a notion board that I have created that I'm in love with.
[00:08:04] And what I do is I go ahead and plug all of those episode ideas in.
[00:08:10] And then. What I will decide is okay. Does this make sense for me? Do I like the flow? Do I want to move some things around? I may play with that. And then from there we go into scripting. So I don't write a script for my episode, and I really don't recommend you write a word for word script and read it. It will sound robotic.
[00:08:32] And one of the things with how we create podcast episodes is we really want them to feel like you've been invited. Into somebody's space. You're sitting down, they're just talking to you about the thing. And you don't always get that feel with a script. So I love tout line. My episodes. Now I have a template for this as well.
[00:08:52] And I also have a built chat GPT to help me with this as well. But what I will do is I will use [00:09:00] this as. A formula for each episode. So I know like what my segments are going to be, how I want to weave into the main idea, the points I want to make in the episode. Right. So I'm really outlining it very, very well.
[00:09:16] Before I sit down and record. One of the things they always make sure to include is. Also, you know, can I tell a story? Within this episode, storytelling is such a powerful, powerful piece of long form content. And we've actually been talking about this a lot. With my members and clients, and just this idea of keeping a bank of stories that you can tell are always having in the back of your mind. Like, I need to incorporate a story somehow into this. I will tell you right now that like, When my content felt like it was in a slump and I started working on this template for my members and using it myself. It really changed. My [00:10:00] downloads, it changed my content.
[00:10:01] My content, I feel like has become so much more engaging. And so I really like, I really want to encourage you. You don't necessarily need to script, but I don't want you to sit down and riff either, like find a middle ground where you're creating an outline, you're following a template and just recreate it for each episode.
[00:10:19] So I mentioned all those episode ideas they put into notion at this point, I'm going to set aside time to script out. Four, if not more of them. So that way they're fully scripted. The script is in my notion. And so now, whatever I need to do whenever I have time to record, I can easily sit down and record.
[00:10:41] More than one episode, if I need to.
[00:10:42] And so that brings us into the fun part recording. So let's talk a little bit about setup and then we'll go into editing a little bit and I'll share some of my process. I have actually been using my, podcast to also [00:11:00] post on YouTube. And the way I'm using it as a little different than I have in the past. But the one thing I am always trying to do is make sure that I'm recording the video. So I have a webcam that I will sometimes plug in, actually, right now I'm just using my, FaceTime camera on my Mac because my webcam is being a little funky on me. But the main important piece here is my microphone.
[00:11:26] So I have a USB condenser microphone, nothing too terribly fancy it's on an arm, so it's not sitting on my desk and it has a pop screen. I get amazing sound from this. It's my favorite microphone I've ever owned. I also have a couple of blues that I use to decorate my office. But this, this is a workhorse.
[00:11:48] This microphone does exactly what I needed to do. When I record. I do not focus on perfectionism. So I have my outline in front of me as I'm recording. I have it on [00:12:00] my computer right behind the screen that shows me and what I'm recording. And so I'm really, it's very easy for me to be able to scroll through it and look into it. And I don't have to worry too much about losing my place again.
[00:12:12] Like I am not focused on perfection. I'm focused on creating amazing content. That's what I focus on. I just sit down. I get a drink. And I record and I always try to imagine that I'm just sitting down and I'm talking to some friends or some clients or some of my members, like that's the feeling I want it to have. Once I record, then we go into editing. So editing can feel like a beast, especially if you are D I Y. So I want to share a couple of things that has really helped me. Make things move faster and edit in a way that feels really good. So if you are a beginner, one of my favorite tools is descript. And why I [00:13:00] love descript, especially for my solo episodes is that I am able to edit directly from the script. So, what it does is once you import your audio, it's going to show you the transcript from the podcast episode. And you can literally just go through it and choose what to cut.
[00:13:18] If you need to cut anything, you can highlight it. Delete. I always listen to the cuts that they make to make sure it sounds okay. The other great thing. And like, this is an important thing to remember. If your audio is better on the front end, it's going to be so much easier editing, right? So that's where like having a really great microphone comes into place.
[00:13:39] And I will link all of my favorite tools in the show notes. So if you want to go check them out, you can. But this microphone gets me some really great sounds but microphones. Aren't perfect. And what I love about descript is it has a filter called studio sound. Now studio sound again, not perfect, but it really [00:14:00] does work really well for enhancing audio.
[00:14:02] That's already kind of okay. And just making it sound even better. So, if you're looking for a really good DIY like tool, something that's going to make you sound good, that's gonna make the editing. Easier and very easy to do. Definitely try to script. Another thing that I do that is really important.
[00:14:21] And key for me is having all of my pieces already cut exactly how they need to go or having some kind of template that I can just copy and paste from. So for instance, my intro and outro they're prerecorded already music is placed. I can just drag those into my project and play somewhere. I need to. If I have any music, transitions, which I do have one in my episode. I will literally just copy and paste that from a previous episode. And now sometimes you do have to watch out then make sure that it still sounds good, but we definitely, you know, do it, make it as easy on yourself as possible and have all those things [00:15:00] ready to go. So the editing, like I always try to tell my clients, I don't want this to be taking you forever. Obviously we want the editing to be good.
[00:15:10] We want to sound clean. We want to sound professional, but if you're spending two hours editing a podcast episode, that's way too much. Listen. I know I've been podcasting for a very long time and I have a lot of editing experience. So for me to be able to edit an episode in 15, 20 minutes. One of my episodes, granted, you know, that's no problem. But I know that for some people, it doesn't come as easy and he will tell you that all of this definitely comes easier with practice. Okay.
[00:15:43] So once we've recorded, we've edited the episode. Now we're moving on to what happens. Afterwards. The very first piece that is so important that I will focus on. Is the show notes. So [00:16:00] besides like the audio and the editing show notes is so, so important. I do use a bit of chat GBT to help me write my show notes. I will, of course edit them. And update them. But chat GBT makes it so much easier and makes it go faster.
[00:16:18] So I'm not writing it from scratch. You do need to make sure that you are giving chat, GBT a template, and you're also giving it a transcript from your episode to get exactly what you need from it. What's cool is if you do this correctly and you use your Show notes as the basis for everything that happens with your podcast episode. It can serve as a type of hub, any can hold all of this information for you, right. So I will put what my Instagram caption is going to be, what my LinkedIn caption is going to be, what I'm going to post on threads about the episode. What I'm going to post on Pinterest.
[00:16:53] It's all going to be in these show notes. If you listen to my episode with Dolly Delong, she talked [00:17:00] about having a system for SEO. And one of the things I've done since that episode is take everything that she talked about and put it into my show notes. So it's all right there. So why this is so helpful as on the day that the episode goes live. I'm able to just pull up the show notes and schedule all of my posts, my email, everything promoting it. You know, I really want to make sure that like, I'm getting it to as many ears as possible.
[00:17:25] So having this plan in place. Is so helpful and makes the promotion aspect of it go so quick. Any graphics that I need to create their templates. I have them in Canva they're templates. I can just go in and change them. If I'm going to make some major tweaks to my graphics, I do it well before the podcast episode is going live so I can have that template ready to go for when I'm getting everything ready. So typically what I do. Is once I'm done editing and I will usually do this all in one sitting. , I'm able now at this point to sit and watch TV while I'm doing it. [00:18:00] I will sit, make the show notes, make the graphics. I get that all ready.
[00:18:04] Schedule the episode in my RSS feed, schedule it on my blog posts. Schedule all my social posts. Schedule my email and then I am. Done. The first few times you go through this process, it's going to feel like, oh my gosh, this is taking for ever, but I've been able to get it down to such a great routine and science that like this episode that I'm recording right now will be about 20 minutes long.
[00:18:30] Give or take. And then I'll probably work on it for about an hour and a half this evening while we're watching a movie eating pizza. And it'll be ready to go. I do want to like go back to something and just really mention how important and key this is. I mentioned that I have a notion content planner that I love. And I will try to show an example of what that looks like in the video.
[00:18:55] If you want to see what that looks like, head to YouTube and check out the video and I'll have it. [00:19:00] On my screen. Somehow. But what's so great about the way that I do this is I've got, like, I mentioned how I have episodes scheduled. Ahead of time. I have the scripts already in there. So this week was a little nuts.
[00:19:15] I was working on a lot of things beyond what I normally work on and they did not get to my recording. On the day that I normally would. Which is a Wednesday or Thursday, which means that. Now I'm behind. Right. But what's so great. They didn't have to panic about it. I didn't have to worry about when am I going to record?
[00:19:34] Because I was able to sit down. I already had my script ready to go. I knew what the episode was going to be about. I had thought through it. I had made some changes to my outline and gotten it ready last week. And so. It takes away the stress of actually getting the podcast episode ready to go. So if you're like me and you don't necessarily have time to batch. Having a system where you are planning and [00:20:00] scripting well ahead of time is going to be a game changer. For your process. So as you're listening to this episode, I want you to really think about like, where are some of the gaps and how can I make them easier and better for me? And if there's a tool that you need to introduce, I highly recommend doing it again, like moving to descript for my own personal episodes and using chat GBT has helped make the process so much smoother. And also frankly, much more effective. Because I'm creating amazing content.
[00:20:32] I'm not having to worry about it. It's going out on time and it's doing exactly what it needs to do for my business. So, if you're intrigued about what goes into deeper podcast, planning and production, and you want to get access to some of these tools and resources that I mentioned in this episode, the strategize and shine membership is open now for enrollment. I teach my members how to do all of this stuff.
[00:20:59] They get [00:21:00] exclusive behind the scenes content and access to tools. We do live masterclasses Voxer office hours. They get direct support. So that way they can craft a successful podcast episode each week. And I would love to have you join me. You can head over to my website wildhomepodcasting.com/membership to join today. And that is a wrap on how we create a podcast episode.
[00:21:25] You know, it's definitely a blend of creativity, strategy tech. But so much heart. And that's really what I want you to get out of. This is like using those tools can help you share your message in such an authentic and amazing way. And I really hope that this helps give you some insight and inspiration for your podcast journey. Keep sharing your stories, key connecting with your audience.
[00:21:49] And most importantly, keep being yourself. I will see you in the next episode.
