Behind The Scenes: Reflections On My First Podcast Video Series

PLUS a free spreadsheet for planning your own podcast series on Substack

In this newsletter I am going to do my best to share my reflections on starting and creating my first podcast series; exploring behind-the-scenes challenges, triumphs, and everything in between. If this podcast series and newsletter has delighted you, would you send it to a friend?

“It’s all an experiment. I don’t know what I’m doing. This is all an experiment. I don’t want anyone to think that I have any grandiose plan of what I’m doing here. I’m just having fun.” -Chanel Riggle

You can expect to read about the following:

1. Why this project happened

2. How it became a podcast

3. First steps: the guests, topics, organization, and programs involved

4. Where we go from here

Why is this important?

First, this is all an experiment and there have been no failures, just lessons. Second, right before releasing this podcast series I announced I wanted to free up the archives of Motherhood Minute to make every piece of content available to you, readers.

If Motherhood Minute is going to continue to be a place where mothers can grow a digital community in this space, then space must be made for consumption without customers.

I strongly believe in paying writers and creators for their hard work, but for this space, I ask you to fund this project out of partnership. I will not deny you access without payment.

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With most topics in Motherhood Minute, I’ve written about things I struggle with in real-time. I consider it a strength that when most people may simply bottle up the struggles, I have often asked what is there to do? That is how this newsletter came into being, how I slowly started and experimented with the “In This Season” podcast, and how I began the Nurturing Spaces series.

I had battled with severe depression for many years and only recently have found joy again. Yet, my community in motherhood has drastically reduced (if it was ever really there, to begin with). I was itching to have a conversation with women about what it looked like to build community but how could I do it?

Substack has introduced me to a plethora of women and mothers. When my own words fell short on the topic of building community in motherhood, I knew others needed to join in.

After all, how could a community discussion only involve one voice?

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Pulling it all together

After announcing my idea for Nurturing Spaces as a podcast series, I was surprised to receive over ten emails from readers, followers, and mothers proposing their ideas for the podcast. (Note, step one is announcing you have the idea and you need your community’s help to make it happen!).

I then went about creating a basic spreadsheet on Google sheets that helped me keep track of the guests I had felt were the best fit for the series, the survey sheets I sent, the dates needed, and guests who might be better suited for future ideas.

To save you the time it may require to create your own, I’ve offered this spreadsheet for free, that you may make a copy of and edit to your delight.

This spreadsheet is organized by:

• Instructions of use

• Contacts (guest info)

• Content calendar

• Newsletter content planner

I used this Podcast Series spreadsheet to not only organize the guest’s information, but created a digital calendar, and Substack newsletter planning station, in one place. Please leave a comment or share if you found it helpful!

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Recording and Editing Software

The other program I decided to invest in after researching podcast platforms was Riverside, and HD podcast and video software. I invested $25 per month (they have a free version with a 2 hour limit without the 4k video) to use this platform and I have not been disappointed. Here is what I’ve found:

Cons:

• Took a good week (or two recording sessions) to learn the platform.

• The AI tools offered are not as intuitive as I had hoped and rely on the original full recording. I wish I could use those tools for the edited version I created.

Pros:

• The audio and video is recorded locally, which means a video might look blurry for one person or the audio could be too quiet, but the final version exported to your email is clear and crisp! I haven’t found another platform that compares.

• Audio!!! Seriously good tool for technological mishaps. For example, in one interview, I could barely hear my guest (and I was terrified) but after exporting the final version was beautifully balanced.

• Video isn’t necessary. You can export it as an audio podcast only.

• There is NO 40 minute race against the clock on how long you can record (hmm technically it’s around 5 hours but we’ll leave that be). Free, it’s 2 hours.

• Split Screen Video options mean I can export a version of videos side by side or use the 16:9 tool that stacks the images.

• Branding and accessibility tools! Making this series accessible where possible felt important. In this season, I don’t have the time or capacity to listen to much audio. Riverside allowed me to easily create captions, edit those captions, and add my brand’s logo.

• Editing, editing, editing. I really love how easy it was to edit captions, cut and split audio, and more.

• Transcripts can be downloaded from edited versions for easy sharing.

• AI tools for creating show notes and sending calendar invites saved me a lot of time.

If you have any questions, please email hello@chanelriggle.com or comment here and ask away. I will do my best to share my experiences with you!

Substack Podcasting

I chose to stick with Substack as my main host instead of Spotify because I wanted to build the podcast with the community and build the conversations on this platform. Overall, I’ve had a great time connecting with readers and I like the guest writer feature for the newsletters, but there have been some difficulties with this process.

My main problem was that Substack did not forward my episodes to Apple podcasts or Spotify, even after I tried numerous ways to solve the problem. I eventually decided to manually add these myself to those platforms.

This certainly has not stopped me from using Substack for podcasting, but I hope they make it easier.

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Where do we go from here?

I certainly did not set out to start a whole podcast series this year, nor did I expect the overwhelmingly positive feedback from listeners/readers who hear the stories shared. The answer is “I don’t know what is next.” This is not a podcast first, this is Motherhood Minute, a newsletter that offers quick reads on serious topics.

Besides, I’m not really a podcaster. I’m a writer. A blooper from my interview with

Danusia Malina-Derben

will show my case in point. (My computer decided to die without warning and I had to pop on the Riverside app to finish the interview, not knowing if I was still recording or if the audio and video would be destroyed).

My goal for 2024 is to build this community out wherever it goes. If you have an idea for how it can serve you, this is your invitation to suggest ideas. Please think of this space as your own space, to visit and be heard. (Seriously, someone help me out).

Thank you for supporting this project, my writing, and expecting nothing more than good conversation on how to build community in motherhood. I thank you, endlessly.

Yours, Chanel Riggle