from crutch word to post production
͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ Hey friends, After 78 episodes and 1+ year, I finally ended season 2 to my podcast. I actually started podcasting many years ago but stopped after 5 episodes. My co-collaborator dropped out as he has a full-time gig to focus on and I'm not able to cover the production costs. Technology has evolved since then. With the microphone that I bought for Zoom calls (I use a Samson Q2U), I decided to give it a go. Hosting is now free (on Anchor) and you can do easy post-production with Descript (comes with free version). Since everyone is stucked at home, getting guests to participate is significantly easier. 2021 alone I produced slightly more than 1,000 minutes of content. Here are some things I learned along the way: 1. 🔨Just do it - Before I start my current season, I went into perfectionist and procrastinating mode. I jumped into many rabbit holes to find the BEST way to do a podcast. But ultimately, no amount of learning from reading (or watching) can beat the kind you can from doing. 2. 📈 Things get easier over time - My earlier editing work was tough as I cringed listening to my own voice. But after about 6 episodes, I got used to it and it did not bothered me since. There will always be some discomfort on any new attempts but once the muscles are built, things will magically become easier. 3. 💖 People are generous - Not in the monetary sense but not a single guest rejected my invite. The willingness of many busy professionals are amazing. It is easy to be droned on and on by the monkey brain that things will fall apart but until you try, you wouldn't know. 4. 📃 Keeping it real - On one episode, my guest scripted out his entire response. We have to stop recording and start again as it was too robotic. Subsequent conversations went much better. I also had another guest whom I totally forgotten to prepare (I usually script out a few guiding questions) and it turned out to be the best conversation. Authenticity > preparedness. 5. 💰 Content = opportunities - My podcast journey has gotten me a job (although I left it in Dec), writing assignments, sponsorships and new friendships (that are priceless). Content remains a great way to publicise what you do and reap all the intended and unintended benefits that come with it. 6. 🔊Acoustic expert - Although you are only controlling for audio, the kind of microphone (wired, directional preferred) and where you do it matters a lot. I do my recording on my bed because the cushions and mattress absorb sound and that prevents reverb. Hard walls tend to reflect sound and make things hard during post production. And mic can be sensitive. Any pen clicking, paper swiping etc can be picked up and those are almost impossible to edit out. 7. 🗣️ Erm, right, you know - I never pay attention to how much all these fillers get recorded until I replay my own recording. The experience makes me more mindful when I speak even outside of podcast recording. Good thing is the app I use to edit (Descript) can automatically recognise and remove such fillers. 8. ❓Asking great questions - The best thing I gained is knowing how to ask better questions and having better ability to generate follow-up questions on the fly. Especially for guests who are succinct, it is important to ask questions in a different manner in order to tease out the answers you are looking for. Here is the page that houses all my podcast episodes. Have a great week! Adrian 🎧 New PodcastsRick Hammell is the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Elements Global Services. He has extensive experience in HR having served as a Director of Human Resources and Chief Operating Officer before launching his own business. Under his leadership, Elements Global Services has pioneered a new business model for the global employment industry and has become one of the fastest growing, risk diverse and high profit Employer of Record in the sector. Rick is shepherding Elements Global Services through its transition from start-up to scale-up by further diversifying the company with innovative and custom-built HR technology platforms and e-commerce products. Bjorn Lee is the Founder and CEO of MindFi, a corporate mental wellness company. A serial entrepreneur and technology executive with experience in Asia and the US, he has a strong track record of building businesses and products globally. Previously, Bjorn served as the Head of Product Innovation at Zopim ($ZEN) in 2014. Prior to Zopim, Bjorn was cofounder of Stickery, an educational games startup in San Francisco that was funded by Google Ventures.
📝 New ArticlesIf you’re among those WFH workers, using the Pomodoro technique can help with your work and overall productivity in daily life.
📱Software/app RecommendationsA typical meeting arrangement will result in a 5 mins email ping pong just to get the slot aligned. If you do 5 meetings a week, the 5 mins really add up. Save those time with an appointment scheduling tool like Appointlet. It integrates with your O365 and Google Calendar and presents the available slots via a publicly available landing page. The other party can then just pick the preferred slots and calendar invites will be sent automatically. You can even define the time that you want to make available. So if you want to practise no-meetings Friday, just block off every Friday and it won’t appear on your landing page.
📢 Announcements
🔗 My New Course I hit 30k connections on LinkedIn recently and reflected on what it brought me. That would include my past two jobs, recognition as one of the global HR Tech influencers and many commissioned work and sponsored posts. Beyond that, I have a huge network I could potentially tap on to sound out for advice and get feedback on any new ideas that I have. It has truly changed my life. Would having 30k connections change your life too? I will be putting together an online course to teach anyone how they can also get their 30k connections. If you are interested, just reply to this email so I can put you on the waitlist. The course should be ready in a couple of months time.
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