5 Lessons I Learned From Podcasting Every Day for 30 Days

Hey creator,

Recently, I joined my buddy Chris on a podcasting journey, and we challenged ourselves to produce 30 podcast episodes in 30 days.

The challenge was not easy, but I made it happen. In this newsletter issue, I want to share the five lessons I learned from it.

Let’s dive in!

Start With What You Know

If I had given you a pen and paper to write podcast episode titles, you would probably have a couple right away. We assume the podcast is about a topic you know much about.

You would probably not have thirty, no matter how many immediate ideas you have.

And that’s okay. Part of the challenge is to exercise ideation, and I wasn’t as good at it as I thought I would be. I thought my book would give me all the needed titles, but that didn’t pan out.

During those 30 days, I learned to start with what I know and continue from there. Sometimes, I committed to talking about a topic in the next episode, which helped me figure out what the next episode would be about.

It’s still not as easy, though, so start ideation today if you are planning a podcast. Even if you aren’t filming yet, do the work. Knowing what needs to happen and when will give you so much mental energy.

Stationary Equipment Helps a Lot

One of the biggest motivators in this journey was how easy it was to press record. If I had to set up all my equipment every time I wanted to record a podcast episode, I wouldn’t have made it to 30 days.

It’s just there. You start the camera, start the recording software and boom—you’re rolling.

There are some drawbacks. I couldn’t watch TV while doing this challenge. Not that I watch a lot of TV anyway, but still. The light was in the way.

Easy to Use Editing Software is The Way to Go

For this challenge, I used Descript. It’s software that allows you to record video and audio and then transcribe it so you can edit the video by editing the transcription.

It’s pretty magical. It’s been a little frustrating that Descript never realized the name of my podcast is The Oren Cohen Podcast and always transcribed me by saying it as “The Orange Coin Podcast,” which is funny as hell.

Aside from the transcription errors, editing and exporting a video file, audio file, and captions file has been pretty easy.

I uploaded files to YouTube and Transistor each day. That’s the power of using software that knows what it’s doing.

Having a Friend to Work With is Highly Motivating

This section is a perfect place to thank and kudo to my friend Chris from the Bits of Chris Podcast, who was instrumental in motivating me during this challenge.

He liked every post, asked questions, and gave the type of feedback you want to receive when you’re creating something for the void of the internet.

Thanks to Chris, I knew someone was listening. And it kept me going.

Hopefully, as the challenge progressed, Chris felt I provided him with the same support and feedback.

Completing a Challenge Motivates You in Other Areas of Your Life

I felt accomplished and tired when I completed the challenge and published the 30th episode.

Making these episodes every day hasn’t been easy, and I look forward to getting some well-deserved rest. However, completing the challenge helped me realize I could do these things.

Even during a time in my life that is considered pretty stressful, I still managed to do something, and it made me very proud of myself.

What Next?

Now I’m working on my Interviewing course. Let’s see where that leads next.

Thank you for reading, and as always, let me know if you have any questions or feedback.

Much love to you,
Oren