The 4 Changes That Made My Podcast Workflow Way Easier

If you’re ready to make podcasting easier, start here.

Podcasting got a lot easier when I changed these four things. If podcasting has ever felt harder than it should, this is for you.

I’ve been podcasting since February of 2018 (with about six months of recording prior to the first episode’s release), and while I have learned a lot in that time, these key improvements stand out as ones that have really made the difference.

Batch Recording

The single most significant improvement I’ve made to my life as a podcaster is batch recording multiple episodes. These days, we record two episodes every single time we record. For a while, we did three episodes per recording. It is so much more efficient and significantly improves the way that I fit podcasting into the rest of my life.

Batch recording does require more frontend planning, and it can be exhausting. (For example, for our book podcast, we’re usually talking about at least five books within that batch window, which is a lot to prep and keep straight, but it’s totally worth it.) After years of doing batch recording, I now know there are ways to help myself make it more manageable. I try to make sure the rest of the day after we record is light because I’m usually completely wiped out by the time we finish, but it also feels great to know we’ve gotten all of our content taken care of for the upcoming month.If you have guests on for every episode, you’ll need to offer recording windows that promote batch recording. For example, maybe you only offer two to four days a month as recording possibilities, and each of those has two or three slots so that you can stack up recordings. It’s important to consider both your guests and your topics, though, as some conversations will be heavy enough or mentally exhausting enough to make it difficult to do more than one in a day. Even in this situation, you can consider batching by only recording one week out of the month or one day or another variation that helps maintain both your energy and your schedule.

Dynamic Microphone

While I am not someone who thinks you need a lot of serious tech to be a strong podcaster, having a quality microphone makes a big difference. And there are plenty of good microphones out there that would work perfectly well.

I did use a Blue Yeti microphone for a long time, and while there is a lot of criticism in the audio world about that microphone (which is a condenser mic instead of a dynamic mic), the truth is there are times where it is a very good fit. It’s also true that I used it for years and often got compliments about our sound. Specifically, it is a great option when budget, space, or other constraints mean that you need one microphone for several people. I’ve actually recorded an entire classroom conversation using the omnidirectional mode on a Yeti mic, and I’ve gotten better sound doing that than trying to use several dynamic mics with a mixer.If you’re looking for a sturdy, reliable, affordable dynamic microphone, the Samson Q2U and the ATR2100x are two great USBc mics that are simple to use. If you’d like a step up, Shure (which is a trusted upper tier brand in the industry) now has a microphone they’re calling a gaming mic, the MV6 USB model, which is a good option as well that can plug directly into a computer.

Quality Headphones

Investing in a pair of comfortable, professional headphones was a huge improvement for me. I have the ATH-M50x headphones from Audiotechnica, and I love them. However, I use them for editing as well, and a lower cost option that works perfectly for recording is the ATH-M30x. If you need to buy them, it is best to purchase “monitor” headphones (like the ones I mentioned), but honestly any of the corded headphones will work, even the ones they hand out on planes. It is smart to NOT use noise-cancelling headphones because it’s helpful to hear the sounds around you that the microphone could be recording, and corded headphones work best because bluetooth headphones can be unreliable and sometimes interfere with the microphone. If in a crunch with hosts or guests, I usually recommend no headphones with echo cancellation turned on over bluetooth headphones.

To expand on that, the truth is that these days, echo cancellation is getting so much better within recording platforms. Many serious podcasters still insist on wearing corded headphones, and it’s still the industry standard. I stand by the fact that this is best practice to avoid any mic bleed (where your speakers, when you are listening, get picked up by your microphone, and the other person’s voice shows up on your side of things… a REAL disaster when it happens…). However, more and more of my clients and their guests are opting to not use headphones, and it’s working out fine. If you’re going to wear them, investing in some comfortable, high quality headphones makes a big difference.One tip from me as a podcasting professional: do NOT use AirPods or similar headphones as a substitute for a microphone. In most instances, the computer’s built-in microphone is better than earbuds and will result in better sound quality.

Planning Ahead

This one may sound obvious, but it took us years to get into a cadence with planning for our episodes. These days, we try to plan a semester at a time. We pick our book club books for each month, and we fill in topics that complement what we’ve been seeing in the book world and that support our annual Unabridged reading challenge categories. Sometimes this semester approach is too ambitious and we need to simplify a bit, but other times we can fill out a few months at a time, which feels amazing.

Your planning ahead might look quite different from what we do with Unabridged, but it’s good to take time now to think about how you can plan more effectively and farther in advance. Having a clear, easy-to-access space to capture your brainstorming and guest ideas is an important first step. From there, tackle what you can as far as times you’d like to record and topics you’d like to cover. If you have guests, be sure to keep a running list of all the guests you’d like to interview, and save it in a place that is easy to access on the go. (I personally love Google Keep for random lists like that, but other notes apps work well, too. Just make sure you have something that syncs between different places.) I’m also a big fan of using the document tabs within Google Docs so that one doc has a lot of different things I need to access. In fact, I’m writing my draft of this post in a Google Tab right now.

The Bottom Line

These four anchors have made a big difference for me. Having the right gear when it comes to a microphone and headphones helps with sound and with confidence. Having a concrete plan when it comes to batching and to planning ahead makes all the difference when it comes to sustainability.

If you try one of these tips, I’d love to hear what changes for you. If you have suggestions for changes that have helped you, let us know in the comments!

[This post was originally published on Substack. Feel free to subscribe there.]