Five Ways to Simplify Podcasting

Podcasting requires attention, but not your full time. This blog features five ways to help you simplify podcasting so you can create more and stress less.

My podcast, You Are a Lawyer, will reach its sixth anniversary on April 16, 2026. Six years is 15 seasons, 240 podcast guests, and a few bonus episodes sprinkled in there. I am extremely happy to celebrate this. This was a huge milestone for me. The first tip for managing a podcast and having a life is to work ahead.

When I say "work ahead," many people think of batch recording. The first tip being, work ahead is that anything that you can do ahead, you should do ahead. At any given time, I will record a couple of episodes in a week. I will ensure I have episodes ready for editing, scheduling, and release. There were many things that could distract me from podcasting. I was expecting my first child, and we were in the midst of a worldwide crisis. I was working remotely. A lot of things were brand new. My husband and I had been married for less than a year, so I wanted to be prepared for it. The best way for me to prepare was to record in advance. My due date was in June 2020, so I made sure to edit and schedule episodes to get me through July, since I'd never had a baby before.

I had no idea what it would be like. I had no idea how much time and attention or whatever would be happening. But outside of that, I always have at least four episodes recorded and waiting. Waiting to be edited because I edit my audio myself. The podcast episodes are released every two weeks, so if I schedule three episodes, that's six weeks that I don't necessarily have to think about the podcast. I just need to plug in the social media post and then I can be away, and nobody even knows. There is a better way to simplify podcasting by anticipating the length of the episodes.

Another important consideration when managing your time is knowing how long you want the podcast episode to be. On average, the You Are a Lawyer podcast episodes are twenty minutes long. Occasionally, there'll be a thirty-minute episode. But I used to record with guests for an hour and a half, and then it was very hard to narrow down everything they said, everything we said to twenty-five minutes. 

It was uncomfortable to omit entire portions of our conversation because I thought everything was relevant.

I started scheduling 45-minute recordings to produce a 20-minute episode. Another practical tip is batch recording. Batch recording means recording multiple pieces of content at once. I will record multiple episodes in a day because I needed to get into a rhythm. I needed to get into a flow and a system of, okay, just talked to them and that was good.

Now, go talk to the next person. Can you see your progress? I needed the constant practice. I needed to practice multiple times a day, talk to people on Zoom, look at them, stay focused, avoid distractions, and ask the right questions. I really needed that. I needed the practice immediately. Now that I am about to start the fourth season of the podcast, I can record almost once a month because I have recorded so far ahead. My time management and early preparation have led me to where I am now, where I look forward to recording. It's a treat that I don't have to do it multiple times in a day because I can replicate that energy, that excitement, that feeling when I talk to each guest. 

Another really good tip to make podcasting easier and give you a life is to email the guest a week before the episode airs. Hey, it was wonderful to record with you. Your episode will be released on this date. I will share the episode on these social media accounts. The episode will be released on these 15 platforms, including my website urlawyer.com. I will provide all the details and attach our graphics for you to share the podcast. You never want your guests to have to search for information. You want to make it easy for them to talk about the podcast. I always include the graphics that I'm going to use, the same ones that I create on Canva or wherever, and I attach those to the email.

Please share the podcast with your friends and family. I don't believe guests are unwilling to discuss the podcast; often, they have concerns about how their voice sounds. 

But you took the forty-five minutes, you spoke to me, I edited the episode, I edit my music and this and that. Please share it with people. Let them hear your story. Maybe I asked a question, and you shared a snippet about yourself that nobody knows. Let the people know. I make it easy for guests, and I always include details on where they can listen to the podcast, the release date, and the graphics I've created to share it. I ask the guest to share the episode, as it helps. They might forget or they might be like, Oh man, should I share it or does she just want me to listen? No. Please tell everyone you know.

Every single person that you know. I want you to tell them. Another thing you can do to help manage your podcast is automate as much as possible. There are two things that I do that really help me manage my time. The first one is I send out a pre-recording questionnaire where I ask guests a few questions to give me a bit of background information and submit their bio.

I have upgraded from Google Forms to a Honeybook contact sheet and it works brilliantly. I am always record four months in advance, but when I open my calendar, it is fantastic to see guests signing up on their own. Let’s look at how I would sign up guests three years ago:

• Guests can sign up. 

• When I receive responses to the Google Form, I can see their city and image, and they authorize me to use it. 

• Once I receive the questionnaire and details, I send an email with my Calendly link. 

• Calendly is an app for scheduling meetings. 

I have it linked to my Zoom account, so a guest can log in and schedule a time that works for them.

One of the things I really love about working with Calendly is that if a guest has a conflict, they can reschedule right in the app. They don't even have to send me an email. We go back and forth between, are you available here? What about this? You got thirty minutes here? It's all right there. They can reschedule as needed. Finding ways to automate is another step that will help you become a more efficient podcaster and keep podcasting from taking up your entire day. 

Currently, I also use Honeybook to schedule guests. I can connect my contact sheet to my calendar and the guests are able to choose a date and time, reschedule, and receive email and text message reminders. I have my reminders scheduled to be sent one day before, and one hour before the recording, which has really cut down on guests forgetting to join.

I hope you enjoyed these tips. I hope you found a new tip you can implement in your podcasting process to ensure you're not spending your whole day or week on your podcast. I will see you in the next episode. Make sure you check out the You Are Lawyer podcast and leave a comment if you have a podcast that somebody else should listen to. Let us know the topic or theme of your podcast.

Until the next newsletter!

Kyla