When the pandemic just getting started almost a year ago, an existing client introduced me to an associate of hers who was looking for a production partner on a new podcasting idea she had. While the company already had some internal competency in podcasting, two things were  clear: 

1. The standard business podcast format wouldn’t be sufficient
2. I’d need some help! 

So I reached out to Sam Walker, veteran podcaster with BBC chops who moved to Phoenix literally on a whim two years ago. We presented an idea that didn’t perfectly fit the “branded content” mold either. We knew the branding would be incredibly light, but we knew the success of the show would ultimately be graded on its ability to drive business outcomes. We also had a strong mandate and an opportunity to make a show that would be appealing well beyond the target demographic. So we crafted a unique approach that would bring compelling stories to the episodes and a narrative arc to the six-episode first season in such a way that the secondary and tertiary demographics—people who are customers of and have experiences with companies, so that’s kind of everyone!—would be intrigued and might sample. 

We also knew we needed to approach perfection in the quality of that audio, a lofty goal made more complicated by the pandemic and a guest list that demanded the most out of in-home recordings. So I turned to exceptional sound engineer Marcus dePaula, who I’d been wanting to work with on a project for more than a year now, for the incredibly important yet often overlooked task worthy of a podcasting project of this scale: mastering. 

Marcus took the commissioned theme music and added it to the mix, using isolated riffs and secretions from the trucks and building loops to create give character, texture, and emphasis to the spoken words, drawing the ear’s attention back to the main points made by the guests and host. And he worked hard—like, incredibly hard—to clean up some 20 different less-than-perfectly-recorded conversations with people (not podcasters) all around the world so that the natural differences in those recordings weren’t so noticeable to put casual listeners off the show.

And wow, did that work pay off! 

Without further ado (because that was a lot of ado), I present to you season one of ExPEERience, hosted by Paula Hanson, Chief Revenue Officer for SAP Customer Experience. 

I hope you’ll give it a listen. I think you're really going to appreciate what we accomplished from a content-creation point of view as a podcaster. But I also think you’ll like it as a listener. It’s packed with solid insights we can all relate to as customers. And you’ll probably find plenty of takeaways for how you might improve the listener experience of your own podcasting efforts. 

-----

A written-to-be-read article and a full transcript of the audio of this episode can be found at https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/making-bigger-better-podcasts-by-sharing-the-wealth

Follow @EvoTerra on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your...