110: Podcast Listeners Will Stop Listening To Your Show Unless You Fix This

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Okay, so I recorded this episode driving in my pickup truck on the way to Denver.

And the issue I’m going to cover was so much on my mind, I decided it was worth recording with substandard audio… on the go… which is kind of ironic considering what I'm going to talk about.

GOOD QUALITY AUDIO!

In this episode I cover why audio levels are SO important, how you can fix them easily (or for free) and what's going to happen to your podcast if you don't.

Main Points : Turn Away Listeners

[1:18] The story behind this episode has to do with “Masters of Scale”

[3:22] NEVER miss leveling and compression. Here’s why

[5:29] A very simple way to deal with this issue

[9:00] The slow road to the bottom happens just like this

[9:55] People are starting to make choices based on audio quality levels

 

Featured On This Episode

• www.AudacityForPodcasting.com

The story goes like this…

When I drive places, especially somewhere that's going to be just me in the vehicle driving alone for a number of hours, I binge listen to podcasts.

I download lots of stuff. And I listen one after another after another to both increase my learning also just to pass the time.

Well, in one of my recent trips to Denver, the very first podcast I listened to was one of my favorite shows. It's called Masters of Scale, hosted by the founder of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman.

It’s a truly great show.

The production value on this show is what is amazing. They do all kinds of sound effects and different voices and interview clips mixed in with narration. It's just a really great show, you should listen to it.

But that day - the one where I was driving in my pickup - I was listening to episode number 10 of season number two. And something happened that brought this issue to my attention - again.

Because YOU are a person who's podcasting and a person who wants your podcast to serve your audience well - so you HAVE GOT to be aware of this issue.

Audio quality - in particular, audio levels.

The reason I became aware of the issue this time is because of the way that the people behind Masters of Scale do their podcast.

• Narration - which is usually Reid Hoffman himself, trying to tell a particular story.
• His narration is integrated with clips from interviews he’s done with the people involved.
• The MOS team mixes that in with sound effects, music, and all kinds of really cool stuff.

Because all of that is done, it's absolutely vital that one step in the audio post production process is never, ever missed - leveling and compression.

And on this particular episode, apparently it was missed.

Your podcast listeners care about this stuff - for this reason

I can tell you why I was able to notice this so easily on this episode.

Remember WHERE I was when I was trying to listen? I was driving in my pickup truck.

I was driving along, I had in earbuds, and Reid’s voice sounds great. The level is pretty normal.

But the first time that an interview portion comes on, it's a much lower volume level. So much so, it was hard for me to even hear it - especially since there was a little bit of road noise.

Loudness levels...