#38: Shout out our podcast editing work from the rooftops (or balconies, terraces, etc)
resending due to technical issues yesterday
Global Podcast Editors is a global podcast editor community where we dive into the successes and growing pains of being a freelance podcast editor, running a small podcast editing business, or transitioning between the two like I am!
NEWSLETTER SECTIONS
-Client Attraction & Communication
-Podcast Growth (for your clients)
-Podcast Editing Community
-Storytelling (content)
-Technology
-Storytelling (sound)
Global Podcast Editors (GPE) has:
a twice a month LIVE Global Podcast Editor Chats on YouTube
a private LinkedIn group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12589124/
this newsletter, where I share podcast editing technical and freelance/small business tips, resources, and conversations mixed in with my own struggles, successes, and projects.
My current tools:
-Audio podcast editing: mostly Hindenburg & rarely Audacity
-Video podcast editing: Reaper and Windows Video Editor
Date: Thursday, April 21, 2022:
Location & Such: I’m writing this issue from Split, Croatia, where I got my first two vaccination shots in 2021 and my booster shot a couple of weeks ago. This country will forever hold a special place in my heart for helping us nomadic souls during the pandemic.
If you’re interested in learning more about me, check out this guesting episode of Harry Duran’s Podcast Junkies from 2021. https://podcastjunkies.captivate.fm/episode/247-stephanie-fuccio-ex-pat-pro-pod
Global Podcast Editors (GPE) Calendar: (this might be more for me than you):
April 28: LIVE Global Podcast Editor Chats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBht9fE8C6c
May 5: GPE newsletter
May 12: LIVE Global Podcast Editor Chats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjvtgCNKJGc
May 19: GPE newsletter
May 26: LIVE Global Podcast Editor Chats:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnBM9SXYqNU
Affiliate Links:
There are affiliate links throughout this newsletter. What this means is that if you purchase their product/service then I’ll get a small commission. These items are listed in the newsletter because I’ve tried or heard amazing recommendations about them. I’ll never list anything just for the money: that’s of zero value for you, the hard-working podcast editor.
CLIENT ATTRACTION & COMMUNICATION
ATTRACTING THE RIGHT CLIENTS: Don’t just connect: reconnect.
We’re so focused on making new connections sometimes that we forget to follow up on ones we already have. Over the past year of digital nomading, I’ve started to turn flight time into reconnection time, without even being online.
SHORT TERM MEETING FOLLOW UP
We’ve had so much country shifting over the past two years that I’ve gotten into the habit of saving some tasks just for flight days. I think because of the excessive sensory overload that being in an airport and flying is, I find focusing on a detail-oriented task helps lessen the load. The one I want to share with you today is cleaning up my Google calendar, especially the meet and greet calls I’ve been doing.
As a QC (quality control) step to my daily/weekly/monthly tasks, I review the items in my calendar often. I am that weird person that deletes a meeting a few days after it happens because that’s my way of knowing that I did the action items that we talked about or that I made notes about during the call. But this QC task is fairly new. I’ve still got about a year’s worth of meet and greet calls still in my calendar waiting to be reviewed in June, my next flight.
LONGER-TERM FOLLOW UP
But there’s a bigger problem. Deleting the calendar item is my way of making sure that I’ve done any immediate follow-up tasks (sending them links to websites that they’d like, podcasts I recommend, or connecting them with someone I know they’ll adore), which I don’t yet have a system for longer-term follow up. I have an awful memory and so I can’t rely on that to keep up with what folks are doing after I first meet them in these calls. And this is the exact realization that I came to as I was making serious progress on my 2021 meet and greet cal clean-up during our flight to Split, Croatia about 2 weeks ago. How do I plan longer-term follow-ups with these folks? Here are 2 key things I’m going to do to try and remedy this. I’m detailing them here because I think they can help you too.
THE PROBLEM
All too often we think we need to meet someone new to find new clients. But just like word of mouth is still the most powerful recommendation force in podcasting itself, word of mouth from people you already know is also powerful. But they need to know what you’re doing in order to recommend you.
DISCLAIMER: BE GENUINE PLEASE
Please don’t mistake what I’m saying. There’s nothing more annoying than getting an email from someone out of the blue only to read one sentence that seems personal and well-meaning and the rest to be all business and self-promotion based.
Please do NOT do this.
I’m talking about making real connections. Following up with people that you truly want to know what they’ve been up to and that you truly think would like to know what you’ve been up with This means lightly sprinkling in your updates not doing a sales pitch. The best way to do this is the most inefficient way, I believe. Write each email/DM separately. Don’t use a template because they’ll know. It’s so easy to know.
MY POSSIBLE SOLUTION: Connect Google Doc with my calendar
So my next step is to add a “follow up” item to my cal for each person I want to follow up with. I know that there’s software that I can buy to keep track of this and that would save me time. But much like complicated tax software, my business is far too small at the moment to warrant anything like this. Yet. For now, this is a manual process. So I’ll start manually and work my way up. Contact by contact.
Who might you reconnect with soon? I’d love to know.
Newsletters: A deeper, slower client building method
To get meta on you, I LOVE writing this newsletter because it’s a more gently paced, more breathable, less in your face way to connect with folks interested in podcast editing than social media.
I’m starting a podcast editor newsletter creation course in the Summer of 2022. The point is this. You’re already writing and sharing content on social media. All you need now is a quick way to repackage it in a narrative way to send to your followers in a newsletter. That’s what this course is going to help you do!
More details AND a discount offer are available here: https://forms.gle/Lwu4jVtdFV89NCXD7
PRICING YOUR SERVICES: I want this service
Can someone in podcast editing please start this service, please? I don’t want to do it but someone who is good at pricing should. Please? Now?
I want a service where you can pay someone to tell you the range you can charge for a certain collection of services for a client.
I’ll be your beta client, happily and I bet there would be heaps more folks who would use your service regularly. I’m sick of figuring this out only to be wrong. Every. Single. Time. Enough with wonky pricing. Help us, please!
PODCAST GROWTH:
Lauren Passell recently started a podcast collab swap website that’s super clean and easy to use.
From her email announcement about it:
“Today I launched a podcast swap database, where people can search shows with tags for partnership opportunities. You can read about it in my recent issue of Podcast Marketing Magic. The more people that know about it / fill it out, the stronger it will be.
You can view the database here. Submit/view here.”
If your client is interested in doing promo swaps, this is a great way to do it.
Oh, and if you’re not following her on Twitter or via her newsletters, get on it!
PODCAST EDITING COMMUNITY
LIVE GLOBAL PODCAST EDITOR CHATS:
We’re chatting with Podcast Editors like YOU every twice a month.
Our next chat is on 28 April 2022 at 10:00 CET, which is
1:00 San Francisco, California, USA
3:00 Mexico City, Mexico
15:00 Bangkok, Thailand
16:00 Manila, Philippines
20:00 Auckland, New Zealand
ALL our live events are recorded in Streamyard!
https://streamyard.com?pal=5673660346007552
Be a guest!
If you’d like to be a guest in our Global Podcast Editor Chats, complete this form: https://forms.gle/XcVZp9Fhf7qELkX28.
TIMEZONE alert: Keep in mind the times listed in Central European Time (CET) cause that’s where I’m living. Please adjust to your time zone. Thanks.
LESS REPRESENTED VOICES (LRVs) in Podcast Editing/Audio:
Okay, podcast editors, there are amazing things happening in the land of podcasts and your clients might very well want to get involved and/or get inspired by the creativity and vulnerability of these creative folks. Is it cheesy to say that all too often, especially in business (where many of our clients come from) we might try too hard to hide the characteristics that make us unique: make us who we are? Here are some projects that I’ve heard about recently that have inspired me. I think they’ll inspire you and maybe your clients.
LVRs IN PODCAST EDITING PRESS RELEASE PROJECT
And here’s a project I’ve been working on in the Global Podcast Editor community.
Getting mentioned in the press is a nice way to attract more attention to your business but far too often, a lot of us less traditional podcast editing folks don’t get asked for our input on everything from industry trends, new products, or the future of podcast editing.
Let’s get more of our less represented voices (LRVs) out there.
Maybe you’re part of a BIPOC podcast editor, maybe you’re from a country far away from the United States (podcast editing, like podcasting, is an online space, after all!), maybe you’re an LGBTQ+ podcast editor. It doesn’t matter.
If you’re frustrated by being passed over for press opportunities, we want to help!
Phase 1: Creating the list (completion deadline May 5, 2022)
Thank you to everyone who added actionable, search-oriented ways to find less represented voices in podcast editing to our group spreadsheet. I’ve got a one-sheet nearly ready and will be publishing it on Substack by April 21, 2022. Moved countries and go my booster so it’s been delayed a bit. Apologies. Can’t wait to get this going!
Phase 2: sending the list out (need help)
Once the one sheet is ready, what do we do with it? I’m not in Public Relations nor am I very familiar with press releases. If you have time or suggestions to help spread this around, please fill out this brief form:
https://forms.gle/VR4zFwnSUsVTAAfV6. I appreciate your time and help with this. We all do!
PODCAST EDITOR OR PODCAST MANAGER?
Have you ever wondered what else you could be doing with your knowledge of podcasts post-production? Do you like to strategize and organize? Maybe you’re meant to be a podcast manager instead of a podcast editor. There is plenty of overlap in these two roles but there are also distinct differences. And there is no one better to explain it to you than Lauren Wrighton.
FREE: Podcast Manager Show (podcast):
FREE: Podcast Manager Mastermind Facebook group
PAID: Podcast Manager Program:
Even if you’re not tempted to lean into the podcast manager side of things, her content will complement your podcast editing services.
GLOBAL PODCAST EDITORS LinkedIn Group:
In our private LinkedIn group, we’re now composed of 259 global members who have quite different and impressive backgrounds.
Here’s a recent poll I did in the group. What do you think of these results? It’s a small sample but do you think it’s representative of the podcast editing space as a whole? Would love to know your opinion on this.
In this group, community members share hardware and software questions and tips, client issues, and more. Here’s a recent post I added while my computer was rendering yet another client video. The 14 replies (so far) have been really helpful to see if/when others have gotten a backup computer for their editing work. Have a look at the specifics here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6919236555022680064
This is a private group but it’s FREE and OPEN to any podcast editor to join. I hope you’ll check us out. https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12589124/
If you’re enjoying our newsletter, please let Substack know. Thank you!
Carrie Caufield Arick likes the newsletter. She wrote us to say:
“It's juicy. I read the whole thing. Something I could sit down with a cup of hot coffee and enjoy, think about, and savor the time with your thoughts.”
GLOBAL PODCAST EDITING COMMUNITIES and RESOURCE LIST:
I’ve been compiling a list of podcast editing and adjacent audio communities and resources for a while now. Recently, this list was moved to Substack to make it easier to access. Here it is. DO let me know what other online global podcast editing communities or resources are missing. I’m happy to add them! Thanks.
https://globalpodcasteditors.substack.com/p/online-podcast-editing-communities/comments?s=r
PAID PODCAST EDITOR COMMUNITY: Podcast Editor Academy
If you’re quite serious about getting into the podcast editing community, and professional development with tech AND business aspects of this adventure, I highly recommend The Podcast Editor Academy. Steve and Mark go out of their way to make this community-friendly, useful and cost-effective. I’ve more than gotten my money’s worth in tips, tools, and job leads.
https://www.podcasteditoracademy.com?aff=stephfuccio
STORYTELLING (content): Audio Drama & storytelling resources that are also valuable for other types of podcasts that you edit
#1: STARTING AN AUDIO DRAMA resources (for your potential clients)
Lindsay of JarnsaxaRising shared these audio drama resources recently in the Podcraft community. If you’re editing or wanting to edit audio dramas, https://podcraft.thepodcasthost.com/c/audio-fiction/an-off-the-cuff-audio-drama-resource-guide
#2: AUDIO DRAMA PODCAST EDITING TIP: layering outtakes
In our last issue, we mentioned Tal Minear’s new newsletter, Podplane and now we want to share one audio drama podcast editing tip she shared with us:
“Layering outtakes from voice actors (like laughs or breaths) into the episode as reactions when other characters are talking does a lot to make a scene feel real!”
Check out the gazillion things that Tal does at
#3: LEARN HOW TO EDIT DIALOGUE with Carrie Caulfield Arick
In this workshop, you'll learn...
What skills you need to do your job well (like how to read a script)
A workflow your producers will love AND that benefits the audio team
How to use Descript to simplify your job
How to assemble and manage scenes in any DAW
The low tech ways to stay organized
Read more and sign up HERE. Replays will be available.
#4: STORYTELLING WORKSHOPS from Salt Institute of Documentary Studies
Maine College of Art & Design: virtual workshops this spring and summer:
Sliding Doors: Sonic Strategies for Merging Worlds
May 16, May 18, May 20, 6 — 8 PM, Virtual
You’ll gain an understanding of boundary-pushing conceptual frameworks for audio storytelling and technical skills for artfully manipulating audio.
June 19 — 25, 2022, Salt at Monson Arts
We’ll cover strategies for structure, project management, working with collaborators, navigating power & relationship dynamics in the creative process, and how to give great feedback.
You can learn more about all of our upcoming workshops here, Thanks to Carly Peruccio for sharing this information in the LADIO group.
TECHNOLOGY:
RECORDING:
On Libsyn’s The Feed podcast recently, Elsie crowdsourced a list of Android phone recording apps that podcasters could use in a pinch for quick, in-person recordings. Start at (29:34)
https://thefeed.libsyn.com/216-mind-your-ts-and-cs
MASTERING: The Podcasters Club (podcast)
What exactly is mixing and mastering? This is something I’ve wondered about for a while now. If you’ve read this newsletter before you know I start with experimenting and go with my ears. And then later on I learn the terms and sometimes more nuance in doing that technical thing. This podcast is a breath of fresh air. The episode is brief, to the point, and clear. The best 18 minutes I’ve spent on audio terminology in ages. I’ll be listening to more eps for sure.
https://thepodcastersclub.libsyn.com/masteringwhat-is-it-really-tho
DAW COMPARISONS: Waveforms
I keep having this conversation with people about Hindenburg's waveform. How it looks visually. And there’s always a shocking look when I state that it’s a half waveform. Mouths open. Gasps come out. The whole deal. And then they inevitably say, “Wait, what. What does it look like?”
So I want to visually show you what I mean once and for all.
Here’s a full waveform in Audacity.
And here’s a half waveform in Hindenburg. If you drew a line through the middle of the Audacity waveform and only displayed the top part, that’s what you’re seeing in Hindenburg.
Despite this half waveform, it is my main DAW and will be for some time. My work on it sounds really good with minimal effort. And the clipboard feature is amazing. But I hate the half waveform because it looks like there is too much excess noise at the bottom of the half form and it distracts me. And I find it harder to see words in the form. But that’s just me. Most Hindy users I talk to don’t mind this at all. I aspire to be like that cause I adore this DAW a lot otherwise.
Suggest a DAW comparison:
If you’d like to submit a quick DAW comparison with a brief explanation, email me your tip AND your podcast editing website or social media page link. OR you can leave a Speakpipe voice message on my CONTACT Page with the explanation and I’ll write it up. I know not everyone likes writing but I want to get this info into the world, so let’s do this together.
VIDEO PODCAST EDITING: Audio and video editing are TWO different edits
When I was trying to switch from Audacity to Adobe Audition in 2021, I had dreams of using Audition for audio and video edits at the same time. In hindsight, I’m glad that I stumbled and fell into using Hindenburg instead because contentwise, I’ve come to the conclusion that audio and video edits are two different edits.
Yes, I know, you can just do a video first edit and use that audio for the podcast version. And even if you’re skilled enough to use a DAW that can handle the video and multiple audio tracks at the same time, I hope you don’t. Why?
Here are my 2 main reasons:
Jump cuts: when you remove a part of a video there’s a visual time snap. You can use static images and other effects to hide this but if you’re doing a basic podcast edit, it hardly seems like a good place for the energy to be placed. So you end up keeping more tiny ums, ahs, and visually hmmmm moments in the video than in audio. Viewers are more forgiving of those sounds than audio listeners because there are visuals to keep them busy. But when you just use that audio for the podcast version, those extra sounds are super obvious and annoying to the listener often. They just don’t add value.
Visuals: when someone in a video describes what they’re doing, often they forget the audio-only listener at first. And then they usually backtrack and add a description of what was just shown or what just happened. Removing the visual from the podcast version is very helpful for this but you wouldn’t remove it from the video version cause it makes sense.
So what do you do instead?
For me, I work on the audio and video versions differently and usually a few days apart from each other. It depends on the workflow but for me, I spent the video editing time also thinking of a good SEO title for the podcast and also making some producer notes as well. Whereas with the audio version, I do more dialogue and sound clean-up, so it’s quite hands-on. Literally. But how you do it will vary depending on what services you’re providing to your clients. But I beg you to think of these as two different edits. The viewers and listeners will thank you.
STORYTELLING (sound): NPR training resources
I often see this NPR training site (https://training.npr.org/) recommended to people starting out in podcasting, but have never had the time to take a deep dive into it. Until today. And, as you may guess, there’s a lot to learn from it.
My favorite takeaway:
“Once you have a strong first draft, play the piece from every speaker you can find. Listen in the car, use your best and worst headphones, and send it to a Bluetooth device like an Amazon Echo. The frequency response is different on each, so testing will show you what needs correcting.”
Read the full article here: https://training.npr.org/2022/02/18/mixing-music-audio-stories/
DAWingly yours,
Guesting episodes:
https://www.podchaser.com/lists/stephanie-fuccio-guesting-spots-107aNEz7dI
Website:
https://www.stephfuccio.com/
Twitter: @stephfuccio
Instagram: @geopatscoffee
LinkedIn: @dstephfuccio