Adventures in Podcasting

In today's episode, Don Voltaire shares how he started podcasting with his son, and why he decided to produce his own show "Work from Home Forever". He shares the joy he's found in both podcasts, how he finds guests for the show and the impact of remote work on people's lives.
For extensive show notes, check out https://www.adventuresinpodcasting.com/ep-71
Summary and links, below.
Don's initial experience as a podcast guest, leading to the creation of "The Middle School Mind" with his son during quarantine. His journey into podcasting, including learning from online resources and utilising existing hardware.
Mention of ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASMR
08:15 mins
Don's passion for audio leading to the inception of a podcast focused on remote work. Challenges in finding guests, leveraging LinkedIn and online communities, and managing recording schedules.
18:20 mins
Introduction of podcastguests.com for sourcing guests, preferences in selecting guests, and insights into remote work's impact on different demographics. He mentions this episode: https://wfhforever.com/2-10-building-confidence-working-from-home-with-disabilities-with-chris-mitchell-chief-empowerment-officer/ Also, the process of preparing for recordings and managing unedited conversations.
31:45 mins
Don's editing process using Audacity, his meticulous approach to sound quality, and content creation for blog posts and social media using ChatGPT.
LinkedIn newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7100966581337292800/
Mention of Babyboomer.org's interest and the broader implications of remote work. Final thoughts on expanding the podcast's scope to include diverse careers and a call for stories about remote work experiences.
Get in touch with Don: https://wfhforever.com/tellyourstory/

If you're thinking of starting your own podcasting adventure, I recommend Buzzsprout as host - click here for my affiliate link, which also gets you a little discount, and Riverside FM for recording, which you can access through this other affiliate link.

Michele Ong, is the host of Steam Powered and she joins Pilar all the way from Australia.
She started podcasting because she wanted to get a better idea of what women were doing in the STEAM fields. She knew many women doing incredible things in their work and their lives, and wanted to share their stories with others.

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics/ medicine, but Michele talks about STEAM, as it includes “art”, which is key when interacting with technology and engineering.

Michele asks people to guest on her show after reading their research or coming across the work. Sometimes the women don’t accept, but this doesn’t surprise her. What did surprise her were those people who replied saying they didn’t think they would make good guests because their work was boring. This kind of mindset was a surprise to Michele - and to Pilar as she heard Michele's story.

With this example we can see the importance of podcasting in giving attention and reassurance to people who think their work is not interesting to anyone. Some people simply don’t want the attention and just want to get on with their work, but others underplay their contribution to the field. Sometimes we need someone else’s perspective to understand the impact and scale of our work.

Apart from getting their ideas out there, there is a benefit to guests by simply creating the space for them to reflect on their work for about an hour, to talk without an agenda, with no KPIs in mind: they’re simply talking about what they love doing.

19.00 mins

Michele has a release form for her guests making the copyright clear, after hearing from other podcasters that they’d had problems with some guests. As Michele wants to be able at some point to repurpose her content, she thinks it’s better to be prepared. You can find the Guest Intake Form, with the Release copy at the end here.

Michele is in charge of the whole production process from beginning to end, and it’s pretty much self-taught. She’s summarised everything she’s learned and shared it with the world in The Rail Yard section of her website. She has documented everything she’s learned along the way and shared her resources. Do check it out, as well as a space full of resources that might be useful, it’s a great example of how to showcase your podcast. www.micheleong.com/rail-yard/

Michele looks for ways to cover the costs of the show by setting up affiliate links, for example, she’s also set up Patreon and Ko-fi, although she hasn’t been active about promoting these links. It’s a fine balance to try to figure out how to support the project without feeling like you’re constantly asking for money for it. (Pilar also forgets, so don’t forget that you can support this show if you sign up to Buzzsprout through this link.)

Michele uses the Davinci Resolve to edit video, and she tried to fix the audio there too, but eventually she purchased Isotope RX. (Pilar uses Audacity and Auphonic.)

In the end, you need to understand the environment you’re working in and find something that works for you. It’s an iterative process.

Michele has some advice for new podcasters: just do it.
Three of her favourite podcasts:

You Ha

If you're thinking of starting your own podcasting adventure, I recommend Buzzsprout as host - click here for my affiliate link, which also gets you a little discount, and Riverside FM for recording, which you can access through this other affiliate link.

In the third day of NaPodPoMo, I talk about why I started 21st Century Work Life and how it has evolved in format and content.

If you're thinking of starting your own podcasting adventure, I recommend Buzzsprout as host - click here for my affiliate link, which also gets you a little discount, and Riverside FM for recording, which you can access through this other affiliate link.

After about a month, Pilar has got back to recording with other people.
She reflects on how much fun it's been, and how the conversation with the first guest in Management Café with Tim has reminded her of what a powerful medium podcasting is.

If you're thinking of starting your own podcasting adventure, I recommend Buzzsprout as host - click here for my affiliate link, which also gets you a little discount, and Riverside FM for recording, which you can access through this other affiliate link.

While on her break way from base, Pilar ponders on the nature of podcasts as "personal chronicles".
I hadn’t planned a show for this week, but I made an effort to keep to a regular schedule. I’m actually not at home, so the audio will sound different and the set up is not as comfortable.
The trigger for jumping behind the microphone was listening to Daniel Aragay in Haciendo el Sueco, where he talks about his time in Sweden. Recently he commented on a Twitter conversation, after a person shared a strange experience when he stayed with a Swedish family a long time ago.
As podcasters, we have the opportunity to set the record straight when people are talking about something with no access to the context - in this case, Spanish people talking about life in Sweden. In some cases, we can act as “culture bridges”, giving access to people from our country of origin to another culture.
We decide how much of ourselves we bring into our podcast, although it’s a shame when some hosts decide to leave most of themselves out of the conversation. Podcasting is such an intimate medium, that it seems like a missed opportunity. But there is no right or wrong.
Listeners also have a preference, with some enjoying those shows where they really feel like they get to know the host, while some prefer to get the information in a straight forward way.
By the way, my friend Simon and I are putting together an audio course. We’ve been working on the material as a text-based programme, but when we got to record some additional audio for it, we ended up with something that sounded more like the audio version of the course. We realised that the material would work as an audio-first course, delivered by both of us together, so we’re giving that a try.
Going back to the theme of podcasters bringing a lot of themselves and their lives to the show, I’ve recently come across Beyond Retirement, where the host started the podcast when she was about to retire, and now she’s retired. She’s talking to people at the same stage of life as she is in, and with a similar mindset. (I really like in her show how she has an interview with a guest in one episode, and then releases a solo episode with reflections on the interview.)
A podcast can be a “personal chronicle”, a kind of memoir. This show is a bit like this, and it also gives me the opportunity to talk about podcasting.
When we bring ourselves to the show, our listeners get to know us, and this is an example of “asymmetrical intimacy”, where listeners feel like they know us very well but we don’t really know them.
And don’t forget to let listeners know how they can get in touch with you! You can get in touch through the contact form here.

Get in touch if you would like some coaching and advice yourself or connect on Twitter @Inpodcasting
If you want to support this show and are looking for a media host: I recommend Buzzsprout, and for web hosting, I recommend

If you're thinking of starting your own podcasting adventure, I recommend Buzzsprout as host - click here for my affiliate link, which also gets you a little discount, and Riverside FM for recording, which you can access through this other affiliate link.