Have you ever checked out the special features on a DVD you purchased or rented? Many of them come with some form of commentary which allow you to listen to the Producer, Director or Actors — or a combination thereof — talk about how the movie was put together.

This is my first attempt at delivering a special feature commentary of my own and comes on request from Daniel Johnson Jr. to provide commentary on the Social Media Breakfast podcast I produced called Making online video interactive.

If you would like to hear commentary on a particular episode I have produced, send me an email (markblevis@gmail.com) or call my community hotline (+1.206.350.6487) and tell me which one you’d like to hear.

 

 Producer's Commentary - Making online video interactive [19:47m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Just One More Book children’s book podcast will publish its 400th episode this evening, and on Tuesday will celebrate its second anniversary.

How is it possible that a hobby podcast has the momentum to hit these milestones in such a short time? It’s not just because Andrea and I publish four shows a week.

There are two magic ingredients: passion and partnership. Andrea and I are both very passionate about children’s books, promoting great books and literacy in general. Some might say we’re obsessed about the cause. We may be. And, while passion alone may be enough to drive the momentum of Just One More Book, the show would never succeed if it weren’t for the way Andrea and I share the funload and activities that go into each show. We’re very invested in the project and can’t imagine giving up what we do.

Most important, we have fun doing it.

What drives your velocity?

(tip of the hat to Neil Gorman for the post title)

I produce a number of different podcasts. Each one is different from the others in content, delivery and style. Today, I learned something about doing different multiple, unique shows.

It had been a while since I recorded a new interview for the Portrait format of Electric Sky. My approach is very much ingrained, though, and I did my usual research for what is typically a 10-15 minute interview for a final edit of 9 minutes (give or take 15 seconds). Great.

Then, I went to do the interview.

For Portait, given its very tight format, I’ve developed a specific flow and interview approach that works well within my production framework. What I learned is that when you take a break from that approach (it’s been nearly nine months since my last fresh interview for the show) you realize during the interview that you’re out of practice and the way you’re leading the interview is going to mean a lot of fancy editing.

That means, for the first time in about 40 episodes of Portrait, I’m going to have a measurable amount of editing to make it tight. Don’t misunderstand me. My guest was brilliant. I’m just out of practice with my questioning to keep things focussed for a 9 minute final cut and that resulted in about 26 minutes of audio to work from.

Your podcast is a muscle. Exercise it!

Based on a number of conversations I’ve had recently, I’ve decided to host a webcast on audio mixing.

This webcast will explore:

• audio mixing for creative effect
• how audio frequencies can impact your mix
• using your ears to mix for your listener

Instead of demonstrating and supporting specific software packages, I will be discussing concepts and providing overall guidance.

The event is free and limited to 15 people. Because space is limited, be sure to attend if you do register.

Click here to register.

Please let me know if there are any other topics you’d like to be considered for future webcasts.

I just turned off a podcast interview I was listening to after offering the host about 10 minutes of my day (the interview was apparently 30 minutes long). I shut it off because the host broke what I believe to be a very important rule of interviewing: respect. In my opinion, the host made a number of significant mistakes that broke this rule. Here is the summary of the mistakes and how they apply to the ‘trifecta of interview respect‘.

RESPECT FOR YOUR GUEST

Presumably you invited your guest to your show because you want to hear him or her say something and you want to share it with your audience. That makes the interview about your guest, not about you. If you have a book coming out, or an event you’re hosting or participating in, offer those points in your show intro or extro. Don’t sell yourself during the interview (and no, this was not the famous Sarah Lacy incident from SXSW).

RESPECT FOR YOUR LISTENER

Don’t breath on the microphone — even if you have a cold. If you’re using a headset, position the mic away from your face just above your mouth and out of the path of your nostrils. If you discover that you were ‘breathing on your guest’ during the interview, don’t release it. Drop the interview or ask your guest to re-record it.

Also, if you’re doing an interview in a professional and niche space, cut to the chase. Starting the interview with three minutes of joking around on a topic not related to your podcast wastes your audience’s time. You have the opportunity to trim this out before releasing your interview. Take advantage of that time.

RESPECT FOR YOURSELF

Don’t laugh as you ask your questions (at least a majority of them). Be confident in your style and your questions. Laughing out of context diminishes your credibility as a host, interviewer and expert in your field. I also recommend that hosts don’t use ‘we’ and ‘our’ when describing the production team of a podcast that ‘they’ produce on ‘their’ own.

Before I published this post, I listened to two more episodes of the podcast in question and discovered that this is a pattern.

Unsubscribed.

In the spirit of “a watched kettle never boils” and “ignore it and it will do better“, disciples of Neil Gorman’s Your Podcast is Not a Fucking Toaster movement have been dealing with new possibilities as described in some recent marketing speak from toaster maker, Hamilton Beach.

A recall announcement released by the company on March 7, 2008, reads “The toaster may remain energized after popping up and could possibly ignite any flammable materials left on top of the unit, posing a fire hazard”. Though the release was not explicit, many consumers have recognized that it is in fact the toast that is flammable.

For podcasters, this discovery has led to a better understanding of Neil Gorman’s message about the production of audio and video content. It’s not just about the energy expended to produce your program; your content remains energized once in the wild. Fortunately, your podcast is not flammable — in the traditional sense.

This announcement has greater implications for podcasters.

When asked about the announcement, Just One More Book!! producer and host, Andrea Ross said “Just thinking about my podcast while working in the kitchen has been known to ignite any flammable materials”.

Photo: burnt toast by Kalpita

I get the strangest looks when I tell conference organizers that they should give their content away, for free, as podcasts on the Internet. Some of the looks are intrigue, most are horror.

I suppose that each community is different. My experience with conferences that I have organized and those for which I have been contracted to provide audio coverage is that making content available — for free — can create momentum for subsequent events. I have experienced this first hand and believe it to be true because of my philosophy about conferences. Let me explain.

I believe conferences sell three things:

• content
• time
• connections/interaction

Conferences have historically considered content to be their number one (and most valuable) asset and they’ve marketed themselves around the speeches and the innovative material that will be presented. Content is only one third (if that much) of what conferences sell. More significantly, most of the content that is available at any conference is similarly available as research papers, white papers, printed or electronic books, audio books, video programs, classes, etc… Knowing that to be true, why would anyone want to attend a conference, spending lots of money on registration, travel, accommodations and meals? Read on.

Many employers expect their employees to advance their knowledge and skills as part of their job, yet few offer the time and conditions in which to do this effectively. This is an even greater problem for contractors and consultants who must advance their skills to remain valuable to their clients. That means people must set aside time during their evenings and weekends — their “me time” — to self-learn. Life isn’t only about work. People have other responsibilities, such as family, which significantly reduces the available time, setting those people even further behind. Conferences offer dedicated and uninterrupted time to their communities, allowing them the opportunity to absorb and understand the material that is being presented. So, if you can’t read the book, the conference will provide you with a digest of the most significant information and perhaps the foundation to support self-learning. And because conferences are typically away from home and work, you don’t have to worry about your phone ringing, making dinner and mediating your fighting children.

The greatest asset of a conference is the gathering place it offers, a space that facilitates connections and interaction. Communities of interest are able to discuss and debate the presentations. This is an opportunity for speakers, subject matter experts, experienced professionals and newcomers to expand their networks. New conversations, relationships, projects, opportunities and even businesses are conceived and launched because of conferences. Minds, notebooks and address books fill up. And… since many conferences have communities made up of members of varied disciplines, the discussion is the opportunity to make the content that much more valuable.

To recap, I consider content to be the catalyst of a conference, time to be the value-add and the connections/interaction to be the main asset. Once you look at conferences through that lens you realize that giving away the content is your marketing strategy because what you really want is to give people a reason to attend that puts the value in an area they can’t create themselves.

Don’t market your event around your content,
market your event using your content.

Having said all of that, I don’t know that publishing the content verbatim is always the best idea. It’s certainly the easiest which is why many conferences (TED.com, meshconference.com, podcastersacrossborders.com, podcamp.org, etc…) take that approach. There are many ways to share content for free that isn’t just a verbatim recording and I have covered some conferences using those approaches both as a hobbyist and a journalist/audio producer. Those approaches include interviews with the presenters, audience and exhibitors, and journalistic reports of the conference sessions which include excerpts of the sessions. If interest is high, I’d be happy to talk/blog more about these approaches and offer some samples of work I’ve done to illustrate some options.

I believe that any conference would be crazy to NOT give away their content freely on the Internet. There’s a world audience and with it a world of potential conference-goers waiting for a reason to go to “your” event.

When you think about it, storytelling is a constant in any form of media including audio and video. Even when the content is meant to educate or convey a procedure, there’s some method to the delivery that can be identified as storytelling. The fact is, information is easier to remember when the consumer can relate to the content and the use of stories is an amazing way to make that connection for your audience.

Your challenge this week is to think carefully about how you present your content and find ways to enhance your message through storytelling. Remember the best stories have a beginning, middle and an end — three acts if you like — and they don’t clutter the story with unnecessary details.

If you have any questions feel free to email me, markblevis@gmail.com. Your next challenge will be available next week at markblevis.com.

 

 Challenge number 4: Use stories [1:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today, I put together a podcast using a piece of audio received in mail and a voice over I recorded in a train station.  I edited the five minute show together on the train, uploaded it using a wi-fi service on the train and published it before the snack cart went by.  (Click here for the result)

By the way… ping me if you’re on VIA train 648 en route to Ottawa.

Though I don’t have the facts and figures in front of me, I’ve been told and have experienced for many years that the winter months are mentally and emotionally hard on a lot of people; the reduced hours of daylight, the long stretches between holiday weekends, the increased workload and the absence of neighbours (people you see regularly during the summer months).

Similarly, in social media, there’s frequently long periods of silence on blogs, podcast and social networking sites that can wear us down. Sometimes those silences can be understood. In most cases they happen for no apparent reason.

Your challenge for this week is to accept these periods of quiet as opportunities to take pressure off of yourself instead of stepping it up. And, knowing that those silences can be deafening, take a few minutes to comment on one blog you follow closely and another that you’ve just discovered. Make the comment strong and on topic to make the site’s creator feel that their content means something to you.

If you have any questions feel free to email me, markblevis@gmail.com. Your next challenge will be available next week at markblevis.com.

 

 Challenge number 3: Take advantage of the silence [1:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download