NOW is the Perfect Time!
I was recently talking with someone who is in the middle of preparing to publish her first podcast. The first episode is already recorded and ready-to-rock. But lately - she’s had a lot of back-and-forth thoughts about whether or not she really liked the way the first episode sounded. Should she re-record? Should she just publish things? What about the trailer? We still have to record that! Actually - she may need more time to prepare and write the script for the trailer … after that, maybe we will re-record the first episode. Oh - wait! What about the artwork?! We can’t publish an episode without podcast artwork!
“Don’t let perfection turn into procrastination.”
Do you see a pattern? Can you feel the stress yet? There was this never-ending feeling of needing to get things “just right” and delaying other items while things were re-evaluated. It must be perfect! At least that was the initial thought. After talking with this soon-to-be podcaster, she was able to reach her own conclusions about just needing to move forward. I attempted to ease her mind a little by reminding her that we ALWAYS have the ability to go back and re-record things later, but sometimes it’s important to just keep moving. Don’t let perfection turn into procrastination. That’s something many people struggle with, so if you’re reading this and in the middle of “getting things perfect” before your big podcast release - be careful not to let fear make you stuck in indecision. It happens all the time to people - and it’s certainly understandable. Here’s the dirty secret though: No matter how awesome you feel your first episodes are right now, you will probably look back someday at your early work and cringe a little! That’s okay! It’s normal. The hope is that you will grow and evolve your own style as you publish more episodes.
If you have a favorite podcast artist that you listen to, go back and listen to their their earliest episodes. I’d be willing to bet it’s a wee bit cringy. But like we just said - that’s normal! The most important thing you can do is to ACTUALLY DO something. Write that script. Record your audio. Add those sound effects. Don’t be someone who only talks about the podcast they’ve been working on for the past few years … be the person who actually hit “publish” and put something out into the world. It’s awkward. It’s a little scary. But at the end of the day - it’s yours. Your work can be out there for people to enjoy, but they’ll never hear it unless you actually go do it!
