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Starting a podcast is easy, but becoming better by following

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self-serve learn at your own pace.

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Materials will only get you so far.

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Sometimes you need specialized curriculum to make you a better podcaster.

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Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.

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Writing Podcasting for Dummies back in 2005 was one of the

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greatest experiences of my life.

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No joking.

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I'll go so far as to say that were it not for that experience, I probably

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wouldn't have a full-time career in podcasting this many years later.

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But I'll also say that midway through writing Expert Podcasting Practices for

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Dummies, arguably the worst book title in the world, I had the opposite feeling.

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To be blunt, I actually hated it.

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I hated the experience of writing that follow-up book for one simple

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reason it was a fool's errand.

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Going from beginner podcaster to advanced podcaster wasn't then, and

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it certainly isn't now, a linear path.

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It's thousands of different paths that wind around and in and out of each other.

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Advancing in podcasting is very much like a choose-your-own-adventure

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except there's no script for it, for a lot of these things.

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Anyone selling you a masterclass in podcasting is probably selling you

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a masterclass in how they podcast.

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So today, I'm going to break down five educational resources and one bonus

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that I recommend you investigate to see if your path is aligned with theirs.

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Now, as with yesterday's show, this is by no means a comprehensive list,

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just some that I can and do recommend.

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The first are the workshops offered by Transom.org.

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I mentioned HowSound on the program yesterday, and the host

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of that show, Rob Rosenthal, is an instructor at the Transom workshops.

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Now let me be clear, Transom's goal is to make you the best storyteller you can be.

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That's key in podcasting, but also in other audio formats.

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I'm looking at you, radio.

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Now, the other bad news is that the workshops, the series are on

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hiatus through the end of 2021 because of, you know, all of this.

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But that's okay.

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You probably need to save up your pennies to do this because it's not inexpensive

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to attend these very good workshops.

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So start saving now, or if you are working with a company,

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get it in your 2022 budget.

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You can find out more at transom.org, and then click on Workshops.

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The second is a book you can read.

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It's called Out On The Wire, written by Jessica Abel.

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I don't normally recommend books written in - I think this was written in 2015?

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- but this book is solid.

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This is very much not a do-this-immediately-followed-by-this-and-you'll-find-success

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book.

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That's not it.

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It's not filled with worksheets.

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It's not actionable takeaways.

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This is putting you in the world of what it means to make great audio stories.

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Yes, for the radio, but it's not about the production process in the studio or radio.

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It's about gathering tape.

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It's about doing good quality edits.

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It's what works in that particular environment.

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Also, weirdly, this book I'm recommending is in graphic novel format.

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I know, it's totally weird.

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And because of those weirdnesses, not everyone loves the book, but I did.

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And I think it's a key book that you should read if you really do

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want to make excellent podcasts.

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You can find Out On The Wire at JessicaAbel.com, and just click on Books.

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And, of course, there'll be a link to all of this in the episode details.

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Number three is something that is put out by NPR.

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This was recommended by Andrew from the Motoring Podcast.

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Thanks, Andrew.

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It's from NPR, and it's a series of training that they put out for free.

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Yes, this is for radio, but again, a lot of the articles are

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on topics that podcasters like you and me need to care about.

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Especially podcasters like you and me who want to constantly get better.

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Things like how to perform an edit.

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I'm not talking about editing audio.

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How to get accents just right.

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A 35-point checklist for getting the best, and publishing the

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best, interviews possible.

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It's a huge treasure trove of information that's all available for you right now.

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Totally worth a regular visit to see what they're putting out.

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You can get all of it online at training.npr.org.

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The fourth resource I want to mention is called Polymash.

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Polymash is a website run by a friend of mine, Juergen Berkessel, which I can

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never pronounce his last name properly.

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Sorry, Juergen, if I totally butchered that.

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Polymash is very much focused on the marketing side of podcasting.

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By the way, if you've been to podcastpontifications.com and you

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like the way that that site looks and flows, you can thank Juergen for that.

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I modified a concept he provided into what you're seeing today.

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I mean, I paid someone to take the concept that Juergen put forth,

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and make it into my website.

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But it was the framework outlined first by Juergen that got me really jazzed

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about what I could do with the website.

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And if you want to learn more about the higher level marketing and

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optimization strategies that will also apply to podcasting and other

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things in life, Polymash has that.

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It's really detailed into the podcasting space.

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And yes, I warn you when you do go there, you will find some 101 level courses.

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But you can actually skip through that pretty quickly and drill down

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on just what you need to learn.

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Check out all of those offerings at polymash.com.

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The fifth resource is The Podcast Academy, or TPA.

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The TPA is not the first organization that's tried to wrangle the

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diverse and wooly group that is podcasters under one roof.

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And the TPA gets its share of detractors on it, but I've got

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high hopes for the organization.

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Honestly, I think they are taking, in my opinion, very measured steps rather than

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just simply throwing a bunch of stuff out there and saying, "This is the way."

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Now, in the past I have been critical of the group.

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I've been critical from the inside.

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I'm a paying member I paid last year and I just re up for my

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dues for this the second year.

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I'm excited this year because they're focusing in on mentor groups where

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existing podcasters, although there are some brand new ones as well where

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existing podcasters can meet and collaborate in ways that in theory are

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going to propel that specific mentor group forward in the ways that that

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groups need to be propelled forward.

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You've been on the fence.

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I recommend signing up for membership@thepodcastacademy.com.

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Okay.

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Now for a quick bonus number six bonus episode, a coming soon thing

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from a friend of mine, it's called podcast audio labs by Marcus DePaula.

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Now Marcus is super smart with lots of expensive gear and software

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that really the newbies aren't going to use all that much, but he

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knows how to make amazing audio.

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Now right now, you can get some replays of some of the livestream

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Marcus was doing earlier this year as he was testing this whole thing out.

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But very soon I'm told he'll have much shorter, much more focused training videos

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that are designed to solve some very specific challenges faced by podcasters

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who need more than just the basics.

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You can find Marcus as content at podcast, audio labs.com.

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Now I know I missed a lot.

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This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of resources.

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I'm not writing a listicle, but I hope gets picked up for SEO purposes gross.

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But if you want to send me some more ideas, if you have some things you

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think that I missed, then please add them to the comments of the webpage.

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DM me on Twitter or better yet share them with a few hundred, well, maybe a

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hundred other podcasters who also want to get better in the Advancing Podcasting

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community@advancingpodcasting.xyz.

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But start with all of these.

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I'll have clearly notes links in the episode notes whatever you're listening

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to also in Podcast Pontifications.

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And if you found any of this at all, helpful, or have been inspired

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to invest in your own education to become a better podcaster,

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please return some of that value to me@podcastpontifications.com slash.

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Tomorrow, I'll wrap up this mini series with some pro-level tools and services

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that will make you a better podcaster on yet another Podcast Pontifications.

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Cheers!

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Podcast Pontifications is written and narrated by Evo Terra.

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He's on a mission to make podcasting better.

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Links to everything mentioned in today's episode are in the notes

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section of your podcast listening app.

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A written-to-be-read article based on today's episode is available at

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podcastpontifications.com where you'll also find a video version and a corrected

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transcript, both created by Allie Press.

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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media.