What Happened to That Podcast?

soundproofing wall

Once again, I am reminded that it’s good to make marketing and publicity plans, but one also has to be open to being redirected. You see, by now my re-launched podcast was supposed to be live.  (You may remember, I’ve mentioned it a couple of times over the past two months or so.) I imagine I’m not the only one who has set a date for something and then that plan gets disrupted…

Such is life.

Here’s the thing. Sound quality is extremely important, particularly for a podcast or a radio show when that’s what the audience gets from you — sound. There aren’t any non-verbal communications taking place to help share the meaning of what’s being communicated. Therefore, sound quality, how the host and guest use their voices…it all matters.

And for me personally, I suppose it’s my radio background that makes sound quality that much more important. That and having been forced to strain to hear and understand what’s being said during meetings when one or two of the participants were calling in on cell phones. Ugh.

However, a meeting is one thing, but if you’re doing a podcast and the sound is sucky, people can click out of there faster than just about anything.

So what happened to my podcast? I had a launch date, a studio, great equipment, a wonderful guest, etc. I did a test run and when I played back the recording, it became blatantly obvious what the problem was….

…Are you ready for this?

Soundproofing or I suppose I should say lack thereof.

I was shocked. The room is small. Good equipment. I simply was not anticipating this. Surprise!!

The studio has too much echo in it, so I began thinking about the possible solutions. It was clear what I needed…just what was the best way to resolve the problem? Get a room divider? Hang up blankets? Use egg cartons? Find another location, such as a closet? (Very few sound waves are going to bounce off the walls of a closet, particularly when there are lots of clothes in it–unless you’re Oprah Winfrey. She probably has a walk-in closet the size of a studio apartment, so it might not work for her.) Do the show with a blanket over my head. (No kidding. I’ve heard this has worked for some people, but I just didn’t think it was going to work for me.)

What else can reduce echo?

This.

Not that anyone here is keeping track of exactly when my podcast is launching, but just in case someone wondered, this is why there is a bit of a delay. I’m choosing to look at it as an opportunity for it to be better. Yes, life may have delayed the launch a bit, but that’s OK. I’m excited to get the soundproofing up to see (or hear) what a difference it makes.

The good news is that Media Polishing with Joanne McCall will be launching soon.

I just thought this was a good reminder for all of us that not everything happens at the exact time we expect it to. I think it gives us a chance to make our book, campaign, publicity, marketing outreach, or whatever it is, even better.

Have you been stopped by something recently? What did you do to resolve the situation? I’m always curious.

To your success!

Joanne

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