3 Benefits of Evolving Your Process
Hello Data Friends,
I apologize for the vague title of this blog, but it is going to be a little personal - at least in terms of how I view my professionalism. They do not exist in separate worlds as one might believe. In fact, a lot of the events that have happened in my professional life have profoundly affected me personally. If I had to take a gander, I’d say that most of you feel the same.
Every episode of #DataFemme prior to the most recent one: “A Data Lover’s Domain”, was edited in a very similar fashion. I imported all the guests’ tracks individually into my software and played with them: a little puzzle that always resulted in a streamlined product. But lately, I have received feedback from my guests that instilled in me a need to change my editing process.
I had been prioritizing the quality of my podcast’s audio over the authenticity of the content. I didn’t realize I was doing it. I thought that whatever edits I made to refurbish the content overlain by background rustles was equivalent to the significance of the original. I thought that re-recording my questions to lead into the “cleanest” parts of the recording were still authentic. And if my guests hadn’t pointed out that they felt misrepresented by my methods, I might have continued to produce episodes that while being more tailored down, sacrifice the overall dynamic of our conversation.
So here’s 3 tips that I have gained since I decided to start with a composite file as a base for editing instead of individual tracks as puzzle pieces…I hope you can apply them to the inevitable trade-offs we all face when pursuing our careers:
Always experiment with new approaches to your routine…
Why wait until your methods become obsolete? The clear solution is to always be questioning. That way, even if you do stick with your routine, you’re always in the mindset that you could and should be improving with time. And in my case, I realized that starting with a composite mix of all the tracks does in fact allow for a better and more authentic product overall.
Give your raw material a real chance…
I never thought to check out the “mix” that my recording software makes of all the individual tracks. My software records all guests’ streams on the cloud, so even if there is a bad connection, any guest’s file will still upload eventually in a concise manner. For some reason, it never occurred to me to check out the quality of my software’s in-house mix of all the final tracks. I assumed that it would be a pile of mush. But it’s really not. It gives the opportunity to capture the organic conversation. Maybe there’s some sacrifice of optimal audio quality, but compared with the relatability of group dialogue regardless of its possible feedback or overlap, that sacrifice begins to seem trivial.
Always gauge your willingness to share…
In marketing, we’re always measuring a given customer’s “willingness to pay.” As a content creator, I’ve learned to pay attention to my gut feeling in terms of how proud I am to share what I’ve just produced. If I sense any reservation on my part to share my content with the world, it’s a clue that I’m not quite done with the process. Yes, sticking to a schedule is important. But from my experience, especially as a solopreneur, it’s better to take the time to make sure you’ve crafted as powerful a product as can be. This includes not just my own editing, but allowing for feedback from others as well, even if they take a few days to respond.
If you have any stories about your content creation process that you want to share, feel free to email them to me at dikayo@dikayodata.com. There’s no shame in admitting our need to grow and evolve. In fact, that’s what we are supposed to be doing in work and in life overall! As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts.