Prologue
Why I Lost a Major Podcast Opportunity (and How to Make Sure It Doesn't Happen to You)
A couple of years ago, I had a big podcasting opportunity come across my desk. A friend from NPR thought I'd be a great match for a project happening in Nashville and got me connected with the production company.
I've been self-employed for 20+ years. I wasn't looking for anything like this, but when I saw who I'd be working with, I agreed to a meeting with the production company.
My personality and knowledge was a perfect match. And the work was something I could do without even thinking about it – I'd done exactly what they were asking me to do hundreds of times before.
But the "job" they wanted me for wasn't a hosting position and I ran into a snag when one of the people I had to go through thought that I was trying to get myself on the mic.
"We already have a host," she told me.
The Downside of Being Known as a "Radio Host"
When you're best known for your work on the mic, a lot of people will think it's all you do, because they have no idea of the behind-the-scenes work that it takes to do radio or podcasting. And for some reason, a lot of people think hosting is the "holy grail" of working in radio or podcasting and can't imagine why anybody would be satisfied with a production or non-mic role.
But the truth is, I'd rather be a producer than a host. The only reason I do as much hosting as I do is because, when the projects I've worked on were created, I was the only one available who could do the hosting.
A Warning to Podcast Hosts
If you're like me, and find yourself hosting on most (or even all) of the projects you work on, you might want to consider seeking out some non-hosting roles to help showcase your non-hosting abilities.
Let me be clear – I'm not saying to "play small" or do work you don't want to do. If you want to be the host, go for it. But if you want to be known for more than hosting, you'll find it helpful to do non-mic work using somebody else to host, so there will be a clear demarcation point as to what you're doing behind the scenes.
You can knock it out in 24 hours!
KCRW's Radio Race can help you add something great to your professional reel in just 24 hours. More below...
Podcaster Opportunities
"Radio Race" – 24-Hour Podcasting Challenge
Whether you’re a pro or a newbie, there's a place for you in KCRW’s 24-Hour Radio Race.
How it works:
- The task: You make a non-fiction radio story of 4-minutes or less.
- Saturday, November 13th at 1PM Eastern, you are given a theme to base your audio piece on.
- You spend the next 24 hours (solo or with a team) brainstorming, interviewing, recording, producing, and editing your piece.
- Sunday, November 14th before 1PM Eastern, you submit your finished piece.
You're probably familiar with this concept, doing a complete work within 24 hours, as it's common among filmmakers and musicians. It's a lot of fun and a good opportunity to see how you work with people as well as test your production and decision-making skills.
If you decide to do it, let me know and I'll be following some for of the participants to showcase them on my own podcast.
Podcast Production
Minus is the anti-Twitter that grants you 100 posts for life
Minus is a great opportunity to practice decision-making skills when it comes to communication and recording ourselves.
We used to have to do this all the time, due to the limitations of technology (tape length, pages, film, tracks to record on, etc.) and even limited access to these things.
We did it with creative work, news, and also personal communication.
Now, anytime somebody has a passing thought, it gets posted online, or texted, or via whatever the latest way for us to feel "connected" is. Many have lost the ability to skillfully edit themselves. Even the edits that are made today have a do-over button (Ctrl-Z), so they don't require the decisiveness they once did.
At the very least, sign up and reserve your username.
Wrangling Stories With a Focus Sentence
This is huge and will help you with any podcast episode your produce, whether it's an interview, a monologue, or a documentary.
It will help you with the KCRW Radio Race.
It's so simple, and so obvious, you won't believe you haven't already been doing it. Unless you are already doing it, of course.
Need New Episode Ideas?
If you're doing a lot of podcast episodes, you need a lot of ideas for relevant topic.
And if those podcast episodes involve interviewing people, you need a great guest for each one of them.
How many times have you been on a podcasting forum and seen a podcaster caught in a pinch, desperately trying to find somebody to interview. You don't want to be in that situation. You also don't want to run out of good ideas for your podcast.
This article will make sure you have plenty of topic ideas, not just for your next episode, but for your podcast in general.
Podcasting Deals
Shure SM7B Broadcast Microphone - On Sale (This RARELY happens...)
This is one of two mics you'll see in a broadcast radio studio. Electro-Voice RE20 is the other.
This RARELY happens, so if you've been thinking about upgrading to this mic, now is a good time to do it.
Note that every major mic company has its own version of a "broadcast mic." On the radio, I use an RE-20. For my podcast, the BP40 by Audio-Technica is my primary mic.
If I were to buy a new broadcast mic right now, Electro-Voice RE20 is what I'd get, but you can't go wrong with the Shure, especially at this price!
The Wrap Up
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My goal is to better empower podcasters to be more successful spreading their messages and make more money with their podcasts.
I'd love it if you'll help me spread the word about this newsletter by sending your podcasting friends to bigpodcast.com/newsletter.