3 Things I Learned About Podcasting From FinCon
I'm excited to present this guest post as part of our new Podcastingseries. This blog is brought to you by Danielle Desir, founder ofThe Thought Card, and co-founder of WOC Podcasters.
With eight podcast episodes published to date, I am a proud podcaster. As I produce, edit and promote my show The Thought Card, I’m constantly seeking new ways to level up my game. However this has been years in the making. After two years of stalling, I finally decided to push my fears aside and I created a 2-month launch plan for summer 2018. I later published my first four episodes and I’ve been podcasting ever since. Although podcasting may seem like a solo endeavor, I’d be lying if I said that I did it alone. In addition to insightful Facebook groups like WOC Podcasters, Podcast Movement Community - For Podcasters, and She Podcasts which are all incredible communities where podcasters can ask questions and share resources, I’ve found attending conferences extremely helpful.Most recently I had the chance to attend FinCon a 4-day conference for personal finance content creators, brands and media. At the conference not only did I meet my favorite personal finance podcasters but I also attended some of their workshops.Here are my biggest podcasting takeaways from #FinCon18. 
Tips New Podcasters Can Implement Right Away
Create Templates
Although you’ll undoubtedly learn new skill sets while podcasting, it’s unlikely that you’ll have hours to spend recreating the wheel every episode. In the FinCon session titled, “A Dead-Simple Podcast Production System for Newbies” Pete McPherson the host of Do You Even Blog Podcast shared simple ways to optimize your workflow and increase productivity in less time. First and foremost, he recommended creating templates for the tasks that you find yourself doing over and over. In one example, Pete suggested a shortcut for adding intros and outros to new episodes.
- Step 1: Create a template in your editing software called “Podcast Template” which includes your intros and outros.
- Step 2: When you’re ready to edit new episodes all you have to do is upload the new audio in the “Podcast Template”.
- Step 3: Position all of the clips where you want them and hit “Save As”.
- Step 4: Name the new file something like “EpisodeXX_Draft””.
Pete also talked about creating an easy archiving system for your audio files and a checklist so you don’t miss any important steps. Overall I walked away from this session with a newfound appreciation for having a mind for optimization.
Content Matters
At #FinCon18 I learned that above all else, content matters. Some even say that for podcasts, content matters more than audio quality.With that being said, content matters because listeners tune in to hear what we have to say. According to Edison Research Infinite Dial 2018, 80% of listeners listen to all or most of each episode. At the end of the day, listeners are looking for entertainment, education or inspiration, so create content that engages but don’t forget to be yourself. Brad Barrett and Jonathan Mendonsa hosts of the podcast Choose FI encouraged us to come prepared and over deliver on our promises.
Find the Story Within the Story
Another thing that I embraced at this session with the hosts of Choose FI was that as podcast hosts our job is to create an experience for our listeners. To do this we need to create a framework for our show. Essentially we have to add value, ask questions and share the story within the story.If you interview guests on your show, during the interview help guests craft their message by guiding them with thought provoking questions and statements that explore specific topics. While listening to their story be sure to connect the dots by finding the story within the story. For each guest spend some time prepping before the show and ask yourself what do I want my listeners to get out of this episode? What are three things that listeners can implement right away? To do this, don’t be afraid to ask your guests after a segment, “Did we miss anything?” This makes your guests feel like they do not have to be perfect (which honestly they don’t). You may even be surprised to hear that they have something new to share that they have never shared publicly before. And if things go terribly wrong, the beautiful thing about podcasting is that you can always edit things out after the fact. Have you attended a conference lately, what’s one thing you learned about podcasting?
Danielle Desir is a travel finance strategist, writer and podcaster based in Connecticut. She's the founder of The Thought Card, a blog and podcast about affording travel, paying off debt and building wealth. She has traveled to over 24 countries and teaches people how to become financially savvy travelers. Danielle is also the co-founder of WOC Podcasters an inclusive community of women of color podcasters from over 25 countries around the world.