Riverside.fm Tutorial: How to Record, Transcribe, and Automate Podcast Production with Otter.ai, Calendly, and ChatGPT

"Most podcasters make a crucial mistake: they wait weeks to promote an episode, only to find their guest has moved on and forgotten about them. I used to do the same—until I found a system that lets me record, transcribe, and publish engaging content immediately after the interview."

Let me ask you something—how many great podcast episodes have you recorded that just sat there waiting to be edited? Maybe you promised your guest it would be out soon, but life got in the way. Weeks passed. By the time you finally published, your guest barely remembered the conversation, and the buzz was gone.

That’s the biggest pain point for podcasters like you. The recording is the easy part—it's what happens after that creates bottlenecks. Editing takes too long. Social media posts feel like an afterthought. By the time you finally publish, engagement is dead on arrival.

But what if you could flip the script? What if you could walk away from a recording session with a full episode, a ready-to-post social clip, and a LinkedIn post already done?

That’s exactly what I do with Riverside.fm, Otter.ai, and ChatGPT—a workflow that eliminates post-production headaches and gets my podcast in front of more people, faster.

Setting Up a Foolproof Podcast Recording Workflow with Riverside.fm

If you’ve been using Zoom to record your podcast, you’re leaving a ton of quality on the table. Zoom might be fine for meetings, but for podcasts? It’s a nightmare—compressed audio, laggy video, and worst of all, a single track that makes editing a headache. That’s why Riverside.fm is a game-changer. It records high-quality audio and video on separate tracks for each speaker, making it easier to edit and polish your episodes like a pro.

"With Riverside, you have these… they call them studios, and I just name it like the name of my podcast. And what we can do is we create a studio, and then you log in and you see the recordings from what you previously recorded."

Why Riverside.fm is the Best Podcast Recording Software

• Separate Audio & Video Tracks – No more struggling to clean up interruptions or cross-talk.
• Higher-Quality Video – Unlike Zoom, which compresses video to save bandwidth, Riverside records locally in up to 1080p.
• Consistent Meeting Link – You don’t have to create a new link for every guest. Instead, you get a permanent studio link you can reuse—perfect for scheduling with Calendly.
• Instant Guest Management – If a guest is late, you can invite them on the fly with just an email.

How to Set Up a Recording in Riverside.fm

1. Create a Studio – Name it after your podcast or guest.
2. Adjust Your Settings – Pick the right camera, microphone, and speaker setup.
3. Use a Static Link for Easy Scheduling – Pair Riverside.fm with Calendly so guests can schedule themselves.
4. Manage Your Guests Seamlessly – If they’re late, send a quick invite from the studio.
5. Hit Record – You’re ready to roll with high-quality, multi-track recordings.

"The way that I set this up is… this link does not change. So anytime someone gets this link, they can hop into your meeting room. And so I use another service called Calendly, where someone can choose a time slot to meet with me and record our podcast."

How to Automate Transcription and Repurpose Content with Otter.ai

Recording a podcast is only half the battle—the real work begins when you need to turn that raw audio into usable content. Manually transcribing your podcast? That’s a time sink. Editing without a transcript? That’s painful. And trying to remember key moments after the fact? Forget it.

This is where Otter.ai changes the game. Instead of wasting hours on transcription, Otter takes your one-hour podcast and transcribes it in minutes—giving you a full, searchable text file. No more guesswork. No more scrubbing through audio. Just instant, structured content you can use right away.

"I recommend getting an account at Otter.ai... Click on Import, browse files, and then I will upload this podcast recording. And it will take a while, because it is a one-gigabyte file. The upload is done, and it will be six minutes until that 30-minute podcast episode is transcribed."

How to Use Otter.ai to Streamline Your Workflow

1. Upload Your Podcast File – Otter can handle even large, one-gigabyte recordings with ease.
2. Wait for Transcription (Just a Few Minutes) – A 30-minute podcast gets transcribed in about six minutes.
3. Identify Speakers Automatically – Otter detects who’s talking, making it easy to format your content.
4. Highlight and Edit in Real Time – Got a false start or an awkward pause? Just highlight and delete it from the transcript before editing the audio.
5. Export in Multiple Formats – Download as a text file for show notes or an SRT file for YouTube captions.

Using ChatGPT to Generate SEO-Optimized Show Notes and Social Posts Instantly

Once you have your Riverside.fm recording and your Otter.ai transcript, the next big hurdle is writing all the content that comes with it—show notes, SEO titles, social media posts, LinkedIn captions, and more. Instead of manually crafting all of these, you can feed the transcript into ChatGPT and generate high-quality, engaging content instantly.

"I go to ChatGPT.com and I have a custom GPT set up, actually called ‘Podcast Repost.’ And if you send me a message, I’ll actually give you this prompt."

How to Use ChatGPT to Automate Podcast Marketing

1. Upload Your Podcast Transcript to ChatGPT
2. Use a Custom Prompt for Perfect Show Notes
3. Generate SEO-Friendly Titles and Descriptions
4. Create Social Media Posts Instantly
5. Personalize and Refine

Maximize Your Podcast's Reach

Let’s go back to the biggest problem—you record a great podcast, but then everything slows down. Editing takes forever. Show notes feel like a chore. Your guest moves on, and by the time you finally publish, the excitement is gone.

That’s exactly why this workflow works. No more post-production bottlenecks. No more lost engagement. Just a simple, repeatable process that lets you record, transcribe, and promote your podcast instantly.

If you’re ready to take your podcast from frustratingly slow to effortlessly streamlined, start implementing these steps today.

About Robert Plank: Podcasting Made Simple

Podcasting shouldn’t feel like a never-ending editing nightmare—but for many, it does. Robert Plank is a podcasting expert and automation strategist who helps entrepreneurs streamline their content creation process. With over 1,000 interviews and a proven system for recording, transcribing, and promoting podcasts efficiently, he eliminates the bottlenecks that hold podcasters back. Through DFY Podcast, Robert’s team handles everything—from high-quality recording to social media marketing—so you can focus on your message, not post-production headaches. Want to grow your podcast without the stress? Visit dfypodcast.com to learn more.