From tech frustration to podcasting success: a #MadewithDescript Q&A

Tell me what your podcast is about.

What’s This Place? goes behind the bricks and mortar of sustainable businesses. Transitioning to a degrowth business model is challenging, but there are a lot of businesses embracing a lower carbon footprint through simple practices: sourcing raw materials closer to home, using less packaging, zero waste groceries, thrifted and upcycled materials, etc. I love shopping but I hate the guilt I have about creating a huge carbon footprint, so I discover retailers that genuinely use less waste or are turning something old into something different. I get to practice degrowth without losing my style! It’s my mission to bring this aesthetic to listeners around the world.

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How do you use Descript to make What's This Place? 

I record both live, in-store as well as virtually. When I’m in-store, I use my Zoom H4n and a mic. This is very challenging for me to edit because I’m not very tech savvy. In fact, I am known as someone who hates tech! But I struggled and fought and didn't give up — and then I found Descript! 

Seeing the transcript made my process so much easier than looking at sound waves. I can’t believe it, but with my old software I used to have to look for the shape of someone’s verbal tic (some use um, some use like, some have a mouth click) and edit like that. 

Can you see what a game changer seeing the words was? Massive. When I found Descript I would be at the dinner table at the end of the day with my family and just say “I can't believe this Descript.” “This Descript is changing my life.” “Guys, I might cry at how grateful I am for Descript.” It was the pandemic so crying was always on the menu. But this was good crying! 

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Tell me how you made the episode How to Create a Legacy. 

This one was hard because I wasn’t prepared to record an interview. I thought I was just having a meet and greet with the founder. But as she started talking I realized this is the interview. So I got my phone out and recorded like that! I had never done that before and had no idea if the sound would work out. She introduced me to about 10–12 people. It was about 2 hours of audio that I had to edit down to 30–40 minutes. 

I uploaded all my audio and on the first pass I just listened and highlighted things that stuck out as a “good listen.” Then I just took a walk and let what I heard kind of marinate in my brain. 

It’s my strong belief that you need to do more than just hit record then publish. Listeners need a story. 

Once I have the story then I edit out everything that doesn't really fit with the narrative. Only then do I edit out the ums and pauses. Those ums and pauses can sometimes be very telling — there can be a lot of emotion behind them. So just editing them all out with one big brush misses the nuances. This way of podcasting is time consuming!  But I think I have a more luxury product in the end.

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When working in Descript, do you have any technical hacks that save you time? 

Highlights! I use highlights all the time…sometimes in multiple colors. For example, in What Is a Bespoke Tailor, I interviewed an 80-year-old Italian tailor. He had three parts to his story: growing up in Italy, immigrating, and becoming a bespoke tailor in Canada. 

But in the interview, each of these stories were scattered within each other. I listened to the raw audio, got the three story points, then highlighted them in three different colors. Then I copied the highlights to a new doc and that was pretty much the meat of the pod. I just had to go in and add my audio transitions/explanations for each part of the story. Again, time consuming, but instead of a meandering interview you get a great story that people want to listen to. I know people like to listen because my listen-through rate is about 80–85% (averaged out for all episodes). This means people are engaged.

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Where do you go for ideas when your creative well runs dry?

I go for a walk and think about a problem I need solving. For example, my child is going to need new sneakers soon. I need to figure out a way to get them new sneakers that doesn't create new waste or rely on slave labor that most of the big children's sneaker companies use. If I have this struggle, then I know my audience must have it too. Deep down, no one wants to be draining our resources, they just don't know any alternative. I also can't spend a million dollars on the best, most ethically sourced kids’ shoes they’ll grow out of in eight months! So what’s the solution? Let’s go inside and find out.

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Have you discovered a useful way to use Descript that you think more people should know about? Share it on social media with the hashtag #MadeinDescript, and we might feature you in an upcoming newsletter!‍