Category: Podcasts

I’ve been moving right along with my podcast this past month. My first episode was published on December 29, 2013 and as of today, January 29, 2014 I’ve published five episodes. The fifth one, which I just published is my very first episode with an interview.

If you’ve listened to my podcast intro, you know that talking to and about the people in our industry has been a goal right from the start. That being said, I wanted to see if I could make shows by myself at first to see if I was really going to do this thing. From now on, I plan to mix up the kinds of shows as I find the right topics or guests to suit one style or the other.

In Episode 5, I knew from the start that I wanted to have a guest. Like a lot of podcasters, I planned on using the guests in a very selfish way. Sure, I’d be making the podcasts for the listeners, but at the same time I wanted to pull double duty and learn about things that I’ve always been curious about.

As I thought about topics to discuss, the first one that jumped out at me was Aspect Oriented Programming. I kind of knew what it was about, but I really wanted to know and understand more. As soon as I finished recording Episode 4 of the podcast, I used my podcast endorphins to take a risk and send out an email to the guy who literally wrote the book on Aspect Oriented Programming.

Matt was gracious enough to give me some time and talk about the topic, some of the frameworks you’ll encounter, and his book. He even provided a promo code for my listeners, so I couldn’t have been happier with him as a guest. He made it very easy to talk about this topic and he really knows the landscape. Check out the episode and definitely use the promo code to buy the book if your interest is piqued by the discussion.

I also learned a few tips and tricks that I’ll have to put into play next time when recording and mixing two disparate tracks and I’m thankful for the opportunity to get to keep doing this, to keep learning and trying to get better, and to work in a community where people like Matt are who are so willing to come and make time for a lowly podcast with literally TENS of listeners per episode.

Great big thanks again to Matt and to all of you who listen to the show.

You can also subscribe to the podcast at any of these places:

Thanks to all the people who listen, and a special thanks to those who have rated me. I really appreciate it.

The episodes have been archived. Click Here to see the archive page.

The most difficult thing that I’ve found while doing my podcast is the whole “talking to no one” part. I already know that I talk very quickly, especially when I’m excited. I also now know from editing my podcasts that I tend to be sloppy in my pronunciation of a LOT of words. I’ve definitely been more focused on that.

What is getting me is being able to “fake” the vocal dynamics that happen as you are interacting with another human. Normally, you’d feed off their interactions and subtle non-verbal cues, but instead I feel like I’m an actor reciting an ad-hoc soliloquy and currently I’m just not that talented. I’m balancing that fine line between speaking at a good pace, speaking clearly and enunciating, and speaking with vocal dynamics that don’t sound fake and forced.

I’ve been trying to think of some good ways to “fake” this. One idea is maybe put a mirror in front of me and talk to the “other person” who is there. Another idea is to make my son or my wife sit there near by and I’ll talk to them. I do plan on having some interview subjects on soon, so those kinds of episodes won’t be an issue. I’m just more concerned and focused about my “verbal essay” (rant) style episodes.

Does anyone have any good practical tips that they’ve used when “performing for no one”?

My second podcast went out this weekend.

There is one section when I am talking about my own answer to “How do you stay current?” and I agonized back and forth a bit as to whether to leave it all in. The point was that I’m busy just like everyone else is busy, I still make time for everything that I do to stay current. I hope that it doesn’t come off as bragging or humble bragging or that I’m just a gigantic jerk. I wanted to really bring home the point that I go on to quote in the show that I once heard Leon Gersing make at the M3 conference that, “If you say you don’t have time for something, you don’t”.

I heard him say that at the lunchtime keynote and it really hit me about how much I had been slacking at that point. So, I cut out some useless TV and I was able to do everything else in my life and still spend several hours a week honing my craft.

As I said, I’m hoping that it comes off more as a way to shift priorities around to create a plan rather than “Hey, look at me, I’m perfect”.

That all being said, I’m off to CodeMash this week for my yearly dose of inspiration and to remind myself just how many smart people are out there and how much I don’t know!

You can also subscribe to the podcast at any of these places:

Thanks to all the people who listen, and a special thanks to those who have rated me. I really appreciate it.

The episodes have been archived. Click Here to see the archive page.

Well, I did it! I finished the first episode of my podcast this weekend and published it. I added a podcast link to the menu:

If you click on the menu item, it will take you to the Podcast’s web page.

I also got the feed published and accepted into iTunes as you can see below:

If you are interested in subscribing, but don’t want to go to the podcast’s page, here are the links below:

Thanks for everyone who participated in my survey and to everyone who is going to listen. I’m working hard on episode two now and I’m going to try to make it a little better every time.

Note: For those so inclined, I’ve submitted to the Windows Marketplace, but it hasn’t been accepted yet.

Last time, I blogged about a survey I was running to collect information to help me craft the podcast that I want to start. The responses seem to have tapered off, so I closed the survey and I’m going to consider this data final.

In the interest of giving back, I’m going to publish the results here to help anyone else who might be interested in the information. I got 28 participants and here were their responses.

Do you listen to podcasts regularly? (Once a month or more)
Yes – 53.57% (15)
No – 46.43% (13)

How did you discover the podcast(s) you listen to?
More than one answer allowed
I don’t listen to podcasts – 25% (7)
Blogs – 32.14% (9)
Other podcasts – 21.43% (6)
Recommendation from friends – 46.43% (13)
Reddit/Hacker News/Similar Site – 25% (7)
Twitter – 14.29% (4)
Other – 17.86% (5)
(Included “Other” Responses: iTunes – 2 votes, radio/internet, search engines, Interests: Sci-Fi/Star Trek/Walking Dead/Tv & Movie Reviews)

How many different podcasts do you listen to?(Only 27 responses because I added this question after the first person took my survey)
0 – 33.33% (9)
1 – 7.41% (2)
2-5 – 37.04% (10)
5-10 – 18.52% (5)
10+ – 3.7% (1)

What is an ideal length for a podcast?
Less than 15 minutes – 35.71% (10)
15-30 minutes – 35.71% (10)
30-60 minutes – 17.86% (5)
Over 60 minutes – 10.71% (3)

What format/segments would be in your ideal podcast?
More than one answer allowed
Current Tech News Discussion – 39.29% (11)
Guest co-hosts – 39.29% (11)
Interviews – 39.29% (11)
Opinions – 46.43% (13)
Recommendations / Interesting Things Found Online – 67.86% (19)
Technology review (one topic per podcast) – 57.14% (16)
Technology reviews (varied) – 32.14% (9)
Other – 7.14% (2)
(Included “Other” Responses: religious topics, philosophical ramblings)

How frequently would an ideal podcast publish?
More than once a week – 3.57% (1)
Once a week – 50% (14)
Once every two weeks – 14.29% (4)
Monthly – 3.57% (1)
Whenever the muse strikes – 14.29% (4)
I don’t care – 14.29% (4)

So, to me, I do consider this survey a success. Even with only 28 participants, there are some decisions that I feel that I can make about the podcast.

First, I should aim to publish weekly (50%). Secondly, I should aim to keep it under a half hour (71.42% combined). One thing that I found surprising was that 67.86% of people said they would like a segment with interesting things that I’d found online. I really didn’t expect that option to come in that high.

The one thing that the survey confirmed for me is that I really need to try to encourage word of mouth support for the podcast to get it going. Over 46% of people found a podcast because of friends and over 32% found them from blogs (very similar – still a personal recommendation).

I’m going to take all of this information to the lab and hopefully I will start publishing a podcast next month. A huge thanks to everyone who helped or participated!