Episode 6: Lessons from Chapters 3, 4, and 5 of P. Teague’s How to Start a Podcast Book

I was more productive this week than I was last week and I’m feeling good coming out of it. I think that I made some headway but I still have a bit of work to do. Things should start picking up pace here or I might lose interest.

How to Start a Podcast – Reading

There were several things that stuck out for me in what I read of Teague’s book this week. Here’s a quick run down:

The Democratisation of Audio

I think that this is an important idea because the last tool that I know of that democratised the transition of knowledge and ideas was literacy. That it’s becoming increasingly easier to create and share a podcast is a good thing. This is important because it gives more people a voice.

All the Gear and No Idea

I tend to like toys. I find that I buy things thinking that I’ll find a use for them later. I have more than enough equipment to make a podcast, so it just comes down to me actually doing it.

Bootstrapping

This is the idea that you don’t spend any money until you start making money. I’ve spent some money but I won’t spend any more. So subscribe, or donate, so that I have money to spend. But, I need to come up with quality content before I purchase anything new.

Finding a Niche

This comes up repeatedly. A lot of advice says that you should find a specific topic that you’re interested in and one that has enough material available for you to use to make content.

I struggle with this because I tend to be all over the place. I think I’ve be able to narrow down my focus with the approach I’m taking to sharing my experiences with writing.

Write Down 10 Ideas, Then Write Down 10 More

This was a good exercise to help me figure out if I’ve found a niche that works for me. I was able to write down ten ideas, and then I was able to write down ten more.

A Format for Each Episode

I came up with something but I’m not sure if it’ll work. A format helps structure your show so that listeners have expectations that you’re able to meet. It’s important for there to be some predictability because it helps draw people in.

Don’t Script Your Entire Show

I found this one interesting. I’m not sure where I sit with this because I’m not always too quick on my feet. The idea of not scripting sounds like less work but maybe it’ll end up being more work if I have to cut together a lot of footage because I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to say.

Consistency

This is going to be a bit of a struggle for me, but it’s important because, again, your viewership has expectations that you need to meet. Putting out content on time is important.

Focus on the Quality of Your Content

This sentiment is a good summary of this week’s reading. Without quality content, the best equipment is no good to you.

PRX Episode 3

I enjoyed the exercise for week three from PRX’s Podcasting 101 series. Can you guess what it is that I’m doing just by listening?

What’s Next

I’m hoping that Teague’s book starts getting into some detail about how to create content. I’d like to finish the book this week and start doing some writing. It’s been about a month and a half now, which feels a little long to be sitting on this project.


You can find the podcast here and the vlog here.

You can get a copy of P. Teague’s book here.

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