3 Ways That AI Can Make Your Podcast Better

Hey y’all,

Big announcement at the end of today’s newsletter so keep an eye out for that!

But If you've been following the internet lately, you've likely come across the concept of artificial intelligence. It seems to be integrated into every type of product, and everyone seems to have an "AI-based" version of their service.

But can AI really assist podcasters? And if so, how?

I've been pondering this question for quite some time now. And I'll begin by saying that I do believe that AI has the potential to become the Terminator and create everyone's worst nightmare.

Yes, I do believe that.

But I also believe that AI can make our lives even better in the same way that having the internet made things a lot faster in the world.?

Here’s the difference though: while the internet provided us with information, it wasn't always convenient or enjoyable to use. On the other hand, AI makes things easier and more efficient for us. Unlike the internet, AI has the ability to see and do things that are beyond our capabilities. And if we work together, the final product can be better AND DONE IN LESS TIME.

So when I realized that, I knew that I had to find a way to embrace this change – so I tried to figure out how AI could work for podcasts, and here’s what I found:

AI Can Help You Come Up with Content Ideas

Not everyone suffers from this, but many podcasters, especially those without cohosts or guests, struggle to come up with episode ideas. While you know your audience best, you can use tools like ChatGPT to generate ideas that your audience may enjoy. You can type in a simple prompt like “Give me ideas for a podcast episode that (your niche) would enjoy” and it will give you answers based on your specific show.

I typed in a request for my show, and here’s what it gave me:

But you could also make it more detailed like “I have a podcast about (your topic). My listeners are typically (your listener avatar). Our best performing episodes have been about (popular topics). What other topics might my listeners enjoy hearing an episode about?” This sort of extra information will give you different answers, and you’ll get different answers based on the different prompts that you’re giving it. Here’s what I got back when I added in some more details.

Disclaimer: Don’t just trust the robot. These suggestions aren't a surefire recipe for success, so don't blindly rely on them. Instead, use your own judgment and view them as a source of inspiration. Think of them as a jumping-off point and put your own spin or perspective on them to make them truly yours.

AI Makes Writing Titles and Show Notes Easier

What’s really cool about AI is becoming more advanced in its ability to understand the content of podcasts. Thanks to transcription technology, AI tools can analyze your episodes and pick out important topics, themes, and noteworthy moments.

A tool like Momento can recognize what your episode is about and generate titles, show notes, and timestamps that are both relevant and specific to your episode. This takes a lot of the guesswork out of creating engaging content for your listeners and frees up more time for you to focus on other aspects of your podcast.

Now full disclaimer, these tools aren’t perfect. But they can get you 80% of the way and then you can hop in and make any necessary adjustments to match your show's unique tone and style.

Good titles and show notes are crucial for the long-term growth of a podcast. It's worth investing time to ensure they're top-notch. A tool like Momento can help you enhance the quality of your "podcast SEO" without requiring a ton of extra effort.

AI Can Help Fix Some of Your Recording Mistakes

What’s also really cool (and potentially creepy) is that AI can now recreate realistic-sounding voices. With tools like Descript , you can upload your own recordings and the AI will learn your speaking style, pitch, and tone. This can help you clean up mistakes or add in new segments without having to re-record everything.

Additionally, Descript can generate speech from written text, meaning that you can use an "AI voice" to read out your words. These advancements in AI technology can be a huge help for content creators looking to streamline their workflow and improve the quality of their recordings.

Now another disclaimer: These things aren’t perfect yet either.

So start small. I wouldn’t recommend hopping into Descript and dropping your 3000 word essay into it and expect it to pump out a perfect solo episode for you. Instead use Descript's "Overdub" feature to touch up audio where you may have misspoken or need to change a word or two.

The artificially generated voices can also be useful for short voiceover segments, disclaimers, and even intros and outros. With time and practice, you can gradually incorporate more AI features to enhance your podcasting process.

My advice… Don’t try to fight against the wave, ride it.

Growing up in Southern California, I spent many summers at the beach learning a valuable lesson.?I used to try to "fight the waves" by punching, swinging, kicking, and yelling - but the waves always won.

It wasn't until I discovered body surfing that I realized the power of going with the wave. Instead of fighting it, I was able to use the wave’s energy to take me on an awesome ride.

So if you're unsure about embracing AI, my advice would be to approach it like body surfing - instead of fighting against it, try riding the wave and see where it takes you.

Now for the big announcement!

In honor of today’s episode, I’d like to announce that ‘Podcasting Success Secrets’ has officially partnered with Momento.fm to ensure that we can keep bringing you the best insights and tools to help your podcast succeed.

Momento is the same tools we use to write our show notes, create our repurposed clips, and post to social media. They just launched publicly, and you can try it out for free!

That’s all for today folks!

I’d love your feedback on today’s edition. Please leave a comment with your thoughts (and your criticisms) so we can make this the most valuable newsletter for podcasters who want to improve their show!

See ya next week y’all!

Hector