Michael Stein, host of Long Shot Leaders and The Stein Time Show, is no rookie when it comes to podcasting. With over 450 podcast episodes published under his two active podcasts – and a third one on the way – it probably comes as no surprise that Michael has got podcast production down to an art.
Through the use of automation and delegating work to virtual assistants, Michael has created a streamlined process that allows him to produce weekly episodes for his two podcasts with ease.
In this episode of Mics to Millions, host Sam Brake Guia chats with Michael about the tools and processes he has in place so you can learn how to create a system for your podcast that runs like clockwork.
Structures are the key to producing more podcast seamlessly
When starting something new for the first time, the beginning stages are often the toughest. But as you put the work in, you become more aware and capable of what you’re doing.
Michael gives context to this process by highlighting the four stages of competence – unconscious competence (ignorance), conscious incompetence (awareness), conscious competence (learning), and unconscious competence (mastery).
To achieve unconscious competence, Michael advocates that you need to develop processes that become second nature. “Everything is the most difficult in the beginning. So, once you build the process, you have your infrastructure; you have a system. It’s easy to duplicate the system.”
Once you’ve mastered a new process, putting out new episodes of your show or creating a new podcast will come naturally.
Having a clear interview format can help you become a better host
As a podcast host, you’re busy with 101 things on your to-do list. And as a business owner and multiple podcast host, Michael is no stranger to the reality of limited time. Because of this, he admits with a sense of confessed embarrassment that he doesn’t look at his guest’s bio until five minutes before the call.
While the thought of being this lax with guest preparation for your podcast might send shivers down your spine, Michael is still prepared with his own unique strategy.
As he puts it, “My story structure is: what’s the origin story? What’s the ghost of the person’s past? What’s the inciting incident? What was their moral need as they were coming up? What led to that? What was their dark night of the soul?” He adds that he aims to pick out “the major milestones and cut out the fat, that doesn’t matter, while seeking out the thumbprint of each person, of who they are.”
With this preset idea of what he wants to talk about and how he wants to interview each guest, paired with his experience as a host coming up with questions on the spot, Michael is able to deliver in-depth interviews without investing a heavy amount of time researching the guest beforehand.
Outsourcing the process makes everything smoother
Michael’s name might be in both titles of his podcasts, but he’s not a one-man podcast production factor. Nope, he’s got staff and automated tools helping him every step of the way. “When you set up a process in place , and you’re doing it yourself, sometimes that’s not sustainable.”
Michale states that he sets up systems using Google, Spreadsheets, Dropbox, and automation with tools like Calendly and Zapier. Then, virtual assistants take over the editing process and upload the files to his podcast platform, Libsyn.
This frees up his time, meaning he just needs to turn up for the interviews and can focus on big-picture projects for his podcasts and business.
🎧Check out the full episode to find out how you can make your podcast production run better than ever before.