A Guest Post by Leanne Elliott
A few months ago, I did one of those free online boot camps that got me all fired up about becoming a podcaster and I thought, how hard could it be to go from concept to broadcast? With 2.4 million podcasts in the world, and a whopping 75% launching in just the last three years, there’s got to be a low barrier to entry.
Enter The Closet
On a sunny Saturday morning in September, with my three kids and husband at the other end of the house, I hunkered down in my closet and started recording voice memos on my phone. In less than three hours, on a free app called Anchor FM, I uploaded a short episode, set a trailer to music, designed artwork, and launched a test podcast called, Girl, Heal Yourself. If you can get past the cringey name, you might be impressed that within a day, I had 7 organic listeners on Spotify.
I probably could have just rolled that way. It was so easy to simply record on my phone, allow the app to auto-level the sound, patch in the intro, and post to the podcast inter-webs. But to my ear, and my nagging perfectionistic standards, I knew it could be so much better. If I was going to put my name and brand on something it needed to be excellent content, and better than average sound quality, with a more polished production value. I had to do more than just concept to broadcast.
The Rabbit Hole
That’s when I set out to see how much more effort it would take to produce a podcast as high quality as possible on next to no budget. It wasn’t anything even remotely in my wheelhouse but, for some reason, it seemed like the next logical step after leaving a 20+ year career in hospitality. (Read more about How to Quit a Perfectly Good Job here).
To say I went down a rabbit hole is an understatement. For every answer to my question, there were ten more questions. There are apps, downloads, software, sound equipment, and pro-versions of everything that promise to make all of the issues magically go away for a monthly subscription or a financial investment.
It was very quickly overwhelming and expensive. But I knew that if I invested only a quick few hours going from concept to broadcast on a free app vs three months going the long way round in an effort for a better product, I was much more likely to suffer from what’s called Podcast Fade, which is what happens to 70% of podcasters after only five episodes.
Five episodes. Seventy-percent attrition. Those seemed like fairly easy odds to beat.
What Does Easy Look Like?
Easy, that is, until it came to sound quality and the technical back-end of recording and editing. What’s the best microphone? Where to record with a guest without a recording booth? What to do with the raw tape? How to patch in music? Where do you get the music in the first place? And once I have raw tape and music, how do I put it together? And once it’s together how do I host and distribute? Sound quality and editing audio is its own language and requires some high-level know-how before getting into the weeds of cutting, patching, leveling, and mastering. I began to understand that a good interview is not even half the battle. I began to understand that production value is not accidental.
I began to understand podcast fade.
But the heavens had mercy on me in a friendship with Yvette Keller. We go way back – same hometown, same high school, same graduating class as my husband. Go Dons! When I raised my hand on Facebook to announce that I was doing a podcast, her response in the comments was something like, “we should talk”.
The Talk
She knew already, about that which I didn’t have a clue. That all became apparent in our first phone call. She was gentle and encouraging. She started making me an action list I didn’t know I needed. She walked me back from the fun part of podcast concept, and began to assess where I landed on the spectrum of people who know things about audio editing.
The answer, she discovered with me, is zero.
I am a writer and former event planner by profession, which for me means I have automatic confusion around anything that has a button, dial, or plug. I always left that up to the tech people who seem to do that stuff in their sleep, and actually enjoy it.
Mentoring as a Superpower
Here is where I learned that Yvette has many superpowers, her patience being one of them. But also her real-world skills are in the arena of audio voice recordings. From her home studio Yvette’s silky, alto voice professionally records audiobooks and voice-overs (when she’s not self-publishing a book and walking map, and developing an app for a Douglas Adams walking tour in London).
Somehow in her deft way, and busy schedule, Yvette managed to untangle the many avenues by which I could record and take my podcast from concept to broadcast. Content wasn’t an issue, my readiness and passion were not an issue, but recording a quality sound and then subsequently producing a quality product was so far out of my wheelhouse, I didn’t even know where to begin.
But, Yvette did. Coaching me on everything from how to warm up my voice to speaking into the mic, to how not to blow out ears when I laugh with a guest. It’s an art I didn’t know I needed, but that Yvette lives and breathes daily. And then there was the magic she created in the editing booth. Sliding tracks around to create dramatic pauses, and shortened awkward silences. She cut out tangents and dead ends. She mastered an intro with perfect musical timing. She made me sound more experienced and less nervous on the mic than I was. She embodied an instinct and good taste you can’t teach, but that is everything you would hope to have from a sound engineer.
More Than Just Talk
Yvette will be the first to tell you she does not produce the podcast, “You’re Up First”. She will also tell you she is not a sound engineer. But if she tells you the same, don’t believe her. Without her, I would still be in the struggling first steps of how to plug my mic into the computer. Without her, I surely would have collapsed by now and given into a turn-key podcast app that was good but not great. Definitely not as great as a living person with a passion for quality and the know-how to lay down tracks you want to actually listen to.
One of the best compliments I get about the podcast is not only that the content is good, but it sounds amazing. I have heard that countless times since I pushed publish on the first episode. I wish I could take the credit, but back there behind the curtain, is the reason I’m writing this at all, and she’s worth her weight in gold.
Now, on the eve of publishing episode #8, I have officially crossed the dreaded podcast fade conundrum. At more than 125 downloads each week, that also lands the podcast in the top 50% of those that do not fade to black. The next milestone is 10 months away – at the one-year anniversary of episode one going live, I will enter the hallowed halls of the 25% of launched podcasts that make it past a year. Concept to broadcast? No problem. Let’s do this. With Yvette on my side, nothing can stop me now.
You’re Up First is a podcast of weekly conversations with experts, therapists, healers, and all-around badass women as they take a deep dive into all the stuff that has us stuck in our pursuit to improve health, career, and relationships. It’s all on the table and so is a better version of life that is just waiting to be claimed.
Leanne Elliott is a writer, podcaster, and insatiable wanderlust. She’s also a storyteller to anyone who will listen. Throughout her career in business development, team management, high-end event planning, or as a freelance writer and photojournalist, one common thread runs through Leanne’s creative process – telling the truest story in an effort to educate, draw us closer in our shared world, and lift us to a higher place. Listen to Leanne’s podcast and read her insightful blog essays at https://www.museonthemountain.com or wherever podcasts are streaming.
Yvette Keller is an audiobook narrator, coach, and the author of Douglas Adams’ London Illustrated Map from Herb Lester Associates.
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