WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:03.600 Why and how to use podcast chapters. 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:12.719 Thank you for joining me for The Audacity to Podcast. 00:00:12.719 --> 00:00:13.679 I'm Daniel J. Lewis. 00:00:13.914 --> 00:00:16.475 I have an exciting announcement, which I'll share later in this 00:00:16.475 --> 00:00:18.795 episode. Here's a sneak peek. 00:00:18.795 --> 00:00:21.914 Podchapters.com is now open for you. 00:00:22.234 --> 00:00:26.410 Podcast chapters allow your listening audience to get extra 00:00:26.410 --> 00:00:30.970 context during your podcast or more easily take action and jump 00:00:30.970 --> 00:00:32.810 to spots in your episodes. 00:00:32.969 --> 00:00:35.130 So are chapters right for your podcast? 00:00:35.450 --> 00:00:38.649 I know there might be some immediate negative feelings about 00:00:38.649 --> 00:00:42.994 supporting something that could allow your audience to skip parts 00:00:42.994 --> 00:00:44.034 of your episodes. 00:00:44.195 --> 00:00:47.634 But please give me a chance to convince you why chapters can do 00:00:47.634 --> 00:00:53.234 more, but that even allowing skipping is actually a good thing. 00:00:53.660 --> 00:00:54.940 But let's start at the beginning. 00:00:54.940 --> 00:00:57.500 If you'd like to follow along in the notes for this episode, they 00:00:57.500 --> 00:00:59.020 are tap or swipe away. 00:00:59.020 --> 00:01:02.620 Look at the chapters too, or go to the audacity to 00:01:02.620 --> 00:01:08.795 podcast.com/chapters. Number 1, what are podcast chapters? 00:01:09.034 --> 00:01:13.674 A podcast chapter is a marker placed at a time within an episode. 00:01:13.834 --> 00:01:17.594 There are currently 3 technological standards for making podcast 00:01:17.594 --> 00:01:18.314 chapters. 00:01:18.474 --> 00:01:22.394 Embedded chapters stored inside the m p 3 or other media file, 00:01:22.689 --> 00:01:26.129 often called m p 3 chapters or legacy chapters. 00:01:26.290 --> 00:01:30.450 These have been supported by many popular podcast apps for many 00:01:30.450 --> 00:01:32.530 years. This is not a new thing. 00:01:32.689 --> 00:01:37.944 The other standard is podcasting 2 cloud chapters stored as JSON. 00:01:37.944 --> 00:01:42.344 That's a special JavaScript format inside a separate metadata 00:01:42.344 --> 00:01:44.825 file linked from the RSS feed. 00:01:44.825 --> 00:01:49.140 Most podcasting 2 apps support cloud chapters, and even Apple 00:01:49.140 --> 00:01:52.819 Podcasts will be supporting podcasting 2 Cloud Chapters. 00:01:53.140 --> 00:01:57.460 And then the third format is PodLove simple chapters stored as 00:01:57.460 --> 00:02:00.740 XML inside the podcast RSS feed. 00:02:00.740 --> 00:02:06.875 Oddly, Spotify chose to support this nearly dead standard instead 00:02:06.875 --> 00:02:09.275 of the other more popular standards. 00:02:09.275 --> 00:02:12.875 I don't know why Spotify did that, but Spotify does weird things. 00:02:12.875 --> 00:02:16.314 So I guess it makes sense that they would make the weird decision 00:02:16.314 --> 00:02:16.555 here. 00:02:16.819 --> 00:02:21.700 All 3 chapter standards support the same core functionality of 00:02:21.700 --> 00:02:23.780 what a chapter can do. 00:02:24.099 --> 00:02:28.180 That is display a title, optionally display an image, and 00:02:28.180 --> 00:02:30.260 optionally link to a URL. 00:02:30.625 --> 00:02:34.784 Those 3 things are the core functionality of a podcast chapter. 00:02:34.944 --> 00:02:38.465 Podcasting 2 point o's cloud chapters also add the ability to 00:02:38.465 --> 00:02:42.305 include a location and to hide a chapter from the table of 00:02:42.305 --> 00:02:45.425 contents so that it can't be jumped to and won't display in a 00:02:45.425 --> 00:02:45.905 chapter list. 00:02:46.330 --> 00:02:50.250 I'll tell you more about what chapters can be later in this 00:02:50.250 --> 00:02:54.330 episode, as well as what I hope they can be in the future, not 00:02:54.330 --> 00:02:57.449 just what they can be in podcasting 2, but what might be coming 00:02:57.449 --> 00:02:58.169 in the future. 00:02:58.169 --> 00:03:02.715 But for now, keep in mind that chapters are basically titles or 00:03:02.715 --> 00:03:07.355 headlines and optional images and or optional links. 00:03:07.514 --> 00:03:11.594 And this information is placed at certain times in the episode, 00:03:11.594 --> 00:03:15.050 so podcast apps will display that chapter's information when the 00:03:15.050 --> 00:03:19.610 playback reaches that point and until the chapter changes. 00:03:19.770 --> 00:03:23.770 So if you have a title for 1 chapter, that remains the title for 00:03:23.770 --> 00:03:26.810 that section until the next chapter is reached. 00:03:27.185 --> 00:03:29.025 Same thing with images or links. 00:03:29.025 --> 00:03:31.985 Those will display until the next chapter displays. 00:03:32.224 --> 00:03:35.025 You can do some little trickery where maybe you keep the same 00:03:35.025 --> 00:03:38.305 title, but you change the links or you change the images. 00:03:38.544 --> 00:03:42.270 So it will look like it's the same chapter, but then there would 00:03:42.270 --> 00:03:45.069 be multiple chapters in the outline unless you do something like 00:03:45.069 --> 00:03:48.430 the Podcasting 2 hiding it from the table of contents. 00:03:48.590 --> 00:03:51.709 But we'll get into some more of that stuff and how to do that 00:03:51.709 --> 00:03:53.069 later in this episode. 00:03:53.229 --> 00:03:57.064 Moving on to number 2, I want to answer this objection that 00:03:57.064 --> 00:04:01.305 chapters allow audiences to skip content. Yes. 00:04:01.705 --> 00:04:05.784 It's true that putting chapters in your episodes will allow your 00:04:05.784 --> 00:04:08.344 audience to skip content they don't want. 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:10.960 They might skip points in your episode. 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:14.479 They might skip whole segments of your episode, or they might 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:19.439 skip ads, but this all depends on how you use your chapters. 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:23.625 But even if they are skipping around, that's not necessarily a 00:04:23.625 --> 00:04:25.544 bad thing. Imagine this. 00:04:25.544 --> 00:04:29.064 Imagine you were looking for information and you found an article 00:04:29.064 --> 00:04:31.144 with 5 points in the article. 00:04:31.144 --> 00:04:34.105 You quickly realize the information you want is in the fourth 00:04:34.105 --> 00:04:34.425 point. 00:04:34.789 --> 00:04:38.310 But instead of letting you quickly scroll to get that information 00:04:38.310 --> 00:04:43.189 you need, the article forces you to view each point before the 1 00:04:43.189 --> 00:04:43.910 you want. 00:04:44.069 --> 00:04:49.110 Not only that, but the article forces you to read every word 00:04:49.235 --> 00:04:52.995 until that point that you want. Frustrating. Right? 00:04:53.235 --> 00:04:55.714 I'd probably give up and leave. 00:04:55.714 --> 00:04:57.395 Look for the answers somewhere else. 00:04:57.714 --> 00:04:59.795 That's what your audience might do. 00:04:59.954 --> 00:05:03.475 Thankfully, that's not how most websites and browsers work. 00:05:03.850 --> 00:05:07.210 And that's not how your podcast episodes should work either. 00:05:07.290 --> 00:05:11.930 But let's be honest, that's kind of the way that we're making our 00:05:11.930 --> 00:05:16.824 audience engage with our episodes, at least sometimes. Yes. 00:05:16.985 --> 00:05:20.585 People might skip to what they want from your episode. 00:05:20.824 --> 00:05:23.865 But don't you want them to get what they want? 00:05:24.185 --> 00:05:29.225 And don't you want them to get what they want from you instead of 00:05:29.225 --> 00:05:31.225 being frustrated and looking elsewhere? 00:05:31.660 --> 00:05:34.459 If you follow me and The Audacity to Podcast for a while, you 00:05:34.459 --> 00:05:37.819 might recognize that this is the same argument I make for 00:05:37.819 --> 00:05:41.420 providing thorough show notes or episode notes for each episode. 00:05:41.579 --> 00:05:42.060 Yes. 00:05:42.060 --> 00:05:46.139 It means your audience might jump to a section to get what they 00:05:46.139 --> 00:05:46.300 want. 00:05:46.654 --> 00:05:50.095 They might not consume all of the content because they're just 00:05:50.095 --> 00:05:53.775 after certain information, but wouldn't you so much rather be the 00:05:53.775 --> 00:05:57.615 1 providing them that content that they want and allowing them to 00:05:57.615 --> 00:06:01.629 get it quickly so that they can get it from you and appreciate 00:06:01.629 --> 00:06:05.550 you for that, then forcing them to consume it in a particular 00:06:05.550 --> 00:06:06.189 way. 00:06:06.269 --> 00:06:09.550 They get frustrated, and then they turn away and go somewhere 00:06:09.550 --> 00:06:12.589 else. I'd so much rather they get the information from me. 00:06:12.589 --> 00:06:15.904 I would so much rather you get the information from me. 00:06:15.904 --> 00:06:18.944 Maybe you've skipped around the chapters in some of my previous 00:06:18.944 --> 00:06:21.665 episode. That's fine with me. 00:06:21.665 --> 00:06:25.105 It's not like I'm telling a story here that you absolutely must 00:06:25.105 --> 00:06:28.009 consume in a particular order, although I present the information 00:06:28.009 --> 00:06:31.529 in a particular order that I hope you consume it completely 00:06:31.529 --> 00:06:36.889 chronologically within that episode, I try not to assume that is 00:06:36.889 --> 00:06:38.009 how you do it. 00:06:38.329 --> 00:06:41.324 Even if you have ads in your podcast, this is the other thing 00:06:41.324 --> 00:06:44.285 that people bring up is, oh, people are gonna skip my sponsors if 00:06:44.285 --> 00:06:45.485 I have chapters. 00:06:45.725 --> 00:06:49.645 Well, using chapters doesn't mean your ads become skippable. 00:06:49.884 --> 00:06:53.165 It's all in the style of how you make your chapters, and I'll 00:06:53.165 --> 00:06:54.525 talk more about the style in a moment. 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:58.639 But think of it this way, you don't have to create a chapter for 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:00.240 the sponsored spots. Yes. 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:03.199 You could create a chapter for that, and then it certainly has 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:07.199 its benefits there, but you could have the sponsor inside of a 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:07.519 chapter. 00:07:07.875 --> 00:07:11.475 So if people skip that chapter, they're also skipping content. 00:07:11.634 --> 00:07:15.394 It's really about your approach or your style for the chapters 00:07:15.394 --> 00:07:16.435 that you make. 00:07:16.435 --> 00:07:19.555 I'll talk more about that style in a little bit in this episode. 00:07:19.889 --> 00:07:24.610 Number 3, the most helpful benefit of chapters, context. 00:07:24.930 --> 00:07:29.810 In their simplest form of only titles, podcast chapters can 00:07:29.810 --> 00:07:33.009 provide your audience with an easy outline of your episode's 00:07:33.009 --> 00:07:33.250 content. 00:07:33.514 --> 00:07:36.555 It's similar to handouts you might get for a speech, a lesson, or 00:07:36.555 --> 00:07:40.314 a sermon. You can see the outline so you can follow along. 00:07:40.475 --> 00:07:44.634 Plus, it's often very convenient to have the extra context for 00:07:44.634 --> 00:07:47.915 that section simply by seeing the section's heading. 00:07:48.259 --> 00:07:51.699 So people might get distracted and might forget exactly what 00:07:51.699 --> 00:07:54.339 you're talking about, but a quick glance at their podcast app, 00:07:54.339 --> 00:07:57.060 and they can see, oh, yeah. This is the section that we're on. 00:07:57.060 --> 00:07:59.539 We're on point number 3 or point number 4. I can't remember. 00:07:59.539 --> 00:08:02.500 Oh, I can see from the chapter, we're on point number 4. 00:08:02.704 --> 00:08:07.024 Something like that that they can do very quickly and be able to 00:08:07.024 --> 00:08:07.745 follow along. 00:08:07.745 --> 00:08:11.024 And being able to follow along like that means your content is 00:08:11.024 --> 00:08:14.944 more memorable and even more actionable if it becomes more 00:08:14.944 --> 00:08:15.345 memorable. 00:08:15.649 --> 00:08:18.210 As you're listening to this episode in your Podcast app, you 00:08:18.210 --> 00:08:21.490 probably see the chapters, and you're probably seeing each of my 00:08:21.490 --> 00:08:23.970 headings as chapters in your Podcast app. 00:08:23.970 --> 00:08:28.725 So you would see that this section is titled 3, the most helpful 00:08:28.725 --> 00:08:30.965 benefit of chapters, context. 00:08:30.965 --> 00:08:34.004 That's the title of this section in my notes, and that's the 00:08:34.004 --> 00:08:35.605 title of this chapter too. 00:08:35.605 --> 00:08:39.924 So you can very quickly see just from glancing at that alone, a 00:08:39.924 --> 00:08:42.644 quick reminder that I'm talking about context. 00:08:43.100 --> 00:08:47.100 It's also very similar to how many books, especially non fiction, 00:08:47.100 --> 00:08:50.779 have chapter titles and sometimes even section titles at the top 00:08:50.779 --> 00:08:54.059 or bottom of each page. It helps you follow along. 00:08:54.059 --> 00:08:58.205 It helps you remember the context as you're reading or as you're 00:08:58.205 --> 00:08:59.565 consuming that content. 00:08:59.725 --> 00:09:03.644 Providing that context helps your audience follow along and 00:09:03.644 --> 00:09:08.044 better understand your content, and even remember it better. 00:09:08.205 --> 00:09:11.279 Those are all great things. Right? That's what chapters can do. 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:14.720 And that's only from the chapter title. 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:18.399 You could also include a picture in your chapter, allowing your 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:21.600 audience to quickly see what you're talking about without their 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:25.485 having to visit a separate website or without your having to make 00:09:25.485 --> 00:09:26.924 a video podcast. 00:09:27.164 --> 00:09:30.924 In fact, they might not have to even unlock their smartphones to 00:09:30.924 --> 00:09:33.004 see the chapter title and image. 00:09:33.004 --> 00:09:36.139 They could just glance at it or their heads up display or 00:09:36.139 --> 00:09:38.379 anything that they're using with their modern technology. 00:09:38.379 --> 00:09:40.779 Even in their cars, they could just glance over at the podcast 00:09:40.779 --> 00:09:44.460 app and maybe even see the image right there without having to 00:09:44.460 --> 00:09:47.980 touch anything. That's thanks to chapters. 00:09:48.139 --> 00:09:52.424 I did use titles, images, and links in my previous episode, 00:09:52.424 --> 00:09:54.745 Podcasting During or After Tragedy. 00:09:54.745 --> 00:09:58.424 I referenced 2 different movies in points 3 and 5 of that 00:09:58.424 --> 00:09:58.985 episode. 00:09:58.985 --> 00:10:02.345 And for those chapters, I included the section heading as the 00:10:02.345 --> 00:10:07.960 chapter title and an image from the movie's relevant scene, and 00:10:08.039 --> 00:10:11.960 even a link to that specific movie clip on YouTube. 00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:16.120 For some of my audience then, they could simply glance at that 00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:20.414 image and immediately remember that scene from that movie, and 00:10:20.414 --> 00:10:23.534 remember the emotions that they felt or what was said in that 00:10:23.534 --> 00:10:27.774 movie, or they could tap on that link from the chapter and then 00:10:27.774 --> 00:10:28.414 see that. 00:10:28.414 --> 00:10:31.419 At some point, maybe in the future, they could maybe just press 00:10:31.419 --> 00:10:35.019 play on the chapter, and it would play that video right there in 00:10:35.019 --> 00:10:35.980 their podcast app. 00:10:35.980 --> 00:10:39.100 But that that's even bigger than what I have envisioned for super 00:10:39.100 --> 00:10:41.740 chapters, which I'll get into a few points down in this. 00:10:42.184 --> 00:10:47.945 But they could also then click or tap on that link and take 00:10:47.945 --> 00:10:52.584 action on that chapter. So that leads into my next point. 00:10:52.664 --> 00:10:57.629 Number 4, the most convenient benefit of chapters, actionability. 00:10:57.870 --> 00:11:01.629 And, yes, actionability is a real word according to Merriam 00:11:01.629 --> 00:11:02.750 Webster's dictionary. 00:11:02.830 --> 00:11:06.509 When you give a chapter a title and image, you're helping your 00:11:06.509 --> 00:11:08.830 audience with the information you're sharing. 00:11:09.154 --> 00:11:12.754 But when you add a link, you're making the information 00:11:12.835 --> 00:11:13.875 actionable. 00:11:14.115 --> 00:11:18.595 From my testing, every podcast app that supports chapters also 00:11:18.595 --> 00:11:21.715 allows them to have images and links. 00:11:22.009 --> 00:11:25.289 It's possible there's some app out there that doesn't do it this 00:11:25.289 --> 00:11:28.490 way, but in my testing, certainly among the popular apps, they 00:11:28.490 --> 00:11:32.250 all support those 3 core features, the title, the image, and the 00:11:32.250 --> 00:11:32.730 link. 00:11:32.730 --> 00:11:37.595 How the link displays does vary a little bit in the apps, but 00:11:37.595 --> 00:11:41.674 most apps turn the chapter title into a hyperlink with that URL 00:11:41.674 --> 00:11:42.794 that you included. 00:11:42.955 --> 00:11:47.995 So, yes, this means there's the potential that the hyperlink 00:11:47.995 --> 00:11:51.980 doesn't always feel actionable depending on how you title your 00:11:51.980 --> 00:11:54.779 sections and title your chapters, and then that being 00:11:54.779 --> 00:11:55.740 hyperlinked. 00:11:55.740 --> 00:11:59.580 But I do have some hopes and a proposal for Podcasting 2 super 00:11:59.580 --> 00:12:03.434 chapters to make this better in the future, but more on that 00:12:03.434 --> 00:12:04.715 further in this episode. 00:12:04.875 --> 00:12:07.835 If you want your audience to take any action or be able to 00:12:07.835 --> 00:12:11.835 quickly access information, linking to it from a chapter makes 00:12:11.835 --> 00:12:16.154 that action extremely convenient because the listener doesn't 00:12:16.154 --> 00:12:17.434 have to go to your website. 00:12:17.750 --> 00:12:20.309 They don't have to try scrolling through your episode notes 00:12:20.309 --> 00:12:21.750 inside their podcast app. 00:12:21.750 --> 00:12:24.709 They don't have to try to remember a URL that you speak. 00:12:24.789 --> 00:12:27.909 Even though I try to make my URLs more memorable, like the 00:12:27.909 --> 00:12:32.105 audacity to podcast.com/chapters for this, that is still 00:12:32.105 --> 00:12:33.865 something you have to remember. 00:12:34.105 --> 00:12:37.304 But if you're using your chapters to link to certain things or 00:12:37.304 --> 00:12:40.425 provide certain actions, your audience doesn't have to remember 00:12:40.425 --> 00:12:45.089 those URLs because they are right there for them to tap right 00:12:45.089 --> 00:12:47.009 when you're talking about it. 00:12:47.330 --> 00:12:50.529 Not somewhere else in your episode, but right there. 00:12:50.529 --> 00:12:53.330 When you're talking about that link, the link is there for them 00:12:53.330 --> 00:12:53.970 to click. 00:12:54.210 --> 00:12:57.889 And they can usually then tap on that chapter while it's playing 00:12:57.889 --> 00:12:59.490 and be taken to that destination. 00:12:59.915 --> 00:13:04.154 And they're taking action then without leaving the podcast app. 00:13:04.235 --> 00:13:07.675 I mean, that they can take that initial action of visiting the 00:13:07.675 --> 00:13:08.235 link. 00:13:08.235 --> 00:13:12.795 Then whatever that link does after they tap on it, that might 00:13:12.795 --> 00:13:16.200 take them out of the podcast app, but getting them to that first 00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:20.519 step is so much more seamless when you're using chapters. 00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:24.840 And what that link can do is pretty cool too. 00:13:24.840 --> 00:13:27.160 You're probably familiar with a URL. 00:13:27.365 --> 00:13:28.565 That is the thing that's 00:13:28.565 --> 00:13:35.445 httpscolon//theaudacitytopodcast.com/chapters. That's a URL. 00:13:35.524 --> 00:13:38.804 But chapters don't have to link to only web pages. 00:13:39.044 --> 00:13:43.679 They could be a special link called a mail to link that triggers 00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:47.360 an email, and that can be simply a blank email to a specific 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:51.279 email address, but you can even prefill certain information in 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:51.920 that email. 00:13:51.920 --> 00:13:56.365 So imagine having your chapter link to your email address, pre 00:13:56.365 --> 00:14:00.444 populating the subject line with the name of that episode or with 00:14:00.444 --> 00:14:03.565 whatever subject line is helpful to you. 00:14:03.725 --> 00:14:07.164 So then when someone taps on that link in their podcast app, it 00:14:07.164 --> 00:14:11.410 is opening their email app, starting a new email message to your 00:14:11.410 --> 00:14:14.210 email address with the subject already entered in. 00:14:14.210 --> 00:14:17.649 That's pretty cool. Right? That's just with a mail to link. 00:14:17.730 --> 00:14:22.144 They could also be links to your phone number so that if someone 00:14:22.144 --> 00:14:25.904 taps on that from their smartphone, it immediately then calls or 00:14:25.904 --> 00:14:28.865 it might pop up a little prompt saying, do you want to call this 00:14:28.865 --> 00:14:29.424 phone number? 00:14:29.424 --> 00:14:31.985 They just tap on the button to call, and then they're calling 00:14:31.985 --> 00:14:33.345 your voicemail number. 00:14:33.584 --> 00:14:37.720 Or it could also be a click to text kind of link that has a 00:14:37.720 --> 00:14:42.040 special SMS code in it so that when people tap on that, it 00:14:42.040 --> 00:14:46.440 instantly opens up a text message that they could send to you. 00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:50.200 Think of this like Buzzsprout's fan mail feature that's powered 00:14:50.200 --> 00:14:53.794 through SMS texting. You could link to that from a chapter. 00:14:53.955 --> 00:14:56.995 And you can link to other kinds of actions that can be triggered 00:14:56.995 --> 00:14:59.315 from a URL pattern like this. 00:14:59.394 --> 00:15:03.235 It could be to special resources inside of other apps, maybe even 00:15:03.235 --> 00:15:05.715 something inside the current podcast app. 00:15:05.794 --> 00:15:08.740 There are so many potential things that you could do. 00:15:08.740 --> 00:15:11.300 Just imagine some of these potentials with different kinds of 00:15:11.300 --> 00:15:11.860 links. 00:15:12.019 --> 00:15:15.220 When you're talking about a favorite resource, you could add your 00:15:15.220 --> 00:15:18.740 affiliate link to the chapter so your audience can quickly buy it 00:15:18.740 --> 00:15:20.740 by clicking on the link from your chapter. 00:15:21.144 --> 00:15:24.105 Or when you're thanking your audience for their support, you 00:15:24.105 --> 00:15:27.945 could link the chapter to your support or value page so others 00:15:27.945 --> 00:15:30.745 can quickly give their own support too. 00:15:30.985 --> 00:15:35.139 Or when you're doing a baked in advertisement for a sponsor, you 00:15:35.139 --> 00:15:38.500 could link that chapter to the advertiser's site to make that 00:15:38.500 --> 00:15:40.100 call to action more convenient. 00:15:40.259 --> 00:15:43.860 Or for any call to action, maybe you're selling your own stuff or 00:15:43.860 --> 00:15:46.820 you're promoting an upcoming event that you're doing, you could 00:15:46.820 --> 00:15:49.904 link to that in the chapter so that people could tap on that link 00:15:49.904 --> 00:15:54.625 that's presented right then and take action on that link. 00:15:54.784 --> 00:15:57.345 Or when you're asking for feedback, you could link that chapter 00:15:57.345 --> 00:16:00.544 to your feedback page or even directly to your email address or 00:16:00.544 --> 00:16:03.769 SMS number, like for the Buzzsprout fan mail feature or other 00:16:03.769 --> 00:16:04.330 things like that. 00:16:04.330 --> 00:16:07.210 Or you could link it to if you use the feedback feature on 00:16:07.210 --> 00:16:09.210 Podgagement, you could link to that. 00:16:09.210 --> 00:16:12.170 So right there, people can very quickly tap on that to write a 00:16:12.170 --> 00:16:15.850 message to you or record a message to you through the feedback 00:16:15.850 --> 00:16:17.210 page that Podgagement offers. 00:16:17.585 --> 00:16:22.065 Each of these can be more actionable by linking to them from the 00:16:22.065 --> 00:16:25.985 chapter at the time when it's most relevant. 00:16:26.065 --> 00:16:29.424 And your audience doesn't have to remember special links or URLs 00:16:29.424 --> 00:16:31.024 or even remember your brand. 00:16:31.230 --> 00:16:34.190 They can simply tap the link right then. 00:16:34.269 --> 00:16:36.909 They don't have to jump around in your notes to find the link. 00:16:36.909 --> 00:16:40.110 It's right there, right then. And you can say that. 00:16:40.269 --> 00:16:43.949 You can say, if you've got the chapter displaying right now, tap 00:16:43.949 --> 00:16:47.804 on that link or go to, and make sure that you do support those 00:16:47.804 --> 00:16:48.764 fallback options. 00:16:48.764 --> 00:16:52.125 Don't assume that everyone in your audience can see the chapters 00:16:52.125 --> 00:16:54.445 or can take action on the chapters. 00:16:54.524 --> 00:16:57.085 So it's still a good idea to provide that fallback. 00:16:57.320 --> 00:17:00.600 Just like I will say, and will continue to say in my episodes in 00:17:00.600 --> 00:17:04.999 the future, the URL for that episode instead of only relying on 00:17:05.079 --> 00:17:06.279 what's in the notes. 00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:08.440 Although I've been experimenting a little bit with what happens 00:17:08.440 --> 00:17:12.200 if I only rely on the notes. But you can support that feedback. 00:17:12.464 --> 00:17:16.304 So if you're telling people for theaudacitytopodcast.com slash 00:17:16.304 --> 00:17:19.764 give back, which is the page where you can give back to The 00:17:19.764 --> 00:17:23.345 Audacity to Podcast, cleverly named URL. Right? 00:17:23.345 --> 00:17:26.065 If you value the podcast, you can give back to it whatever amount 00:17:26.065 --> 00:17:27.744 you see fit through that page. 00:17:28.159 --> 00:17:32.399 So, I can speak that URL in the podcast, which is still good to 00:17:32.399 --> 00:17:36.239 do because then people can hear that if they need that option, 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:38.720 but I can also link to that in the chapter. 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:41.440 And I've been doing that in my chapters recently when I've been 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:44.375 thanking the people who have given some value back to The 00:17:44.375 --> 00:17:45.335 Audacity to Podcast. 00:17:45.335 --> 00:17:48.934 I'm able to add that link in those chapters so that someone else 00:17:48.934 --> 00:17:52.375 could see that and tap on that and think, I wanna give some value 00:17:52.375 --> 00:17:55.095 too, and they can do that right through that special link. 00:17:55.335 --> 00:17:59.630 Number 5, how to chapter your podcast episodes. 00:17:59.789 --> 00:18:04.590 Let's break chaptering into 2 steps, style and actually adding 00:18:04.590 --> 00:18:08.029 the chapters. First, pick your chapter in style. 00:18:08.110 --> 00:18:11.765 I generally suggest that the easiest and best way to decide what 00:18:11.765 --> 00:18:15.445 chapters to make is by looking at how your content is naturally 00:18:15.445 --> 00:18:16.164 divided. 00:18:16.404 --> 00:18:20.404 If your content has any kind of outline already, as most of my 00:18:20.404 --> 00:18:23.045 episodes do, those are your chapters right there. 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:26.720 And if your content has multiple segments, different stories that 00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:30.080 even if it's news or comedy or scene changes or certain major 00:18:30.080 --> 00:18:35.039 themes in the episode, those are also ideal places to have new 00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:35.359 chapters. 00:18:35.765 --> 00:18:39.125 When I did this TV show fan podcast about the TV show Once Upon a 00:18:39.125 --> 00:18:42.404 Time, we would divide our conversation into talking about certain 00:18:42.404 --> 00:18:44.884 scenes that happened in the episode. 00:18:45.045 --> 00:18:47.205 Sometimes we might jump around a little bit, but we were 00:18:47.205 --> 00:18:51.210 basically talking about those core scenes or even sometimes 00:18:51.210 --> 00:18:53.930 talking about certain themes of the episode. 00:18:54.009 --> 00:18:57.130 Each 1 of those could have been a chapter, but I wasn't doing 00:18:57.130 --> 00:18:58.250 chapters back then. 00:18:58.410 --> 00:19:02.090 There will be times you'll have to consider how deep your chapter 00:19:02.090 --> 00:19:02.570 should go. 00:19:02.825 --> 00:19:08.105 For example, we are right now in a second level of headings, you 00:19:08.105 --> 00:19:09.704 look at the notes for this episode. 00:19:09.865 --> 00:19:13.865 But I've chosen to give both this subheading and the next 00:19:13.865 --> 00:19:18.119 subheading their own chapters so that it's easier for you to 00:19:18.119 --> 00:19:20.519 follow along if you're looking at the chapters inside your 00:19:20.519 --> 00:19:23.239 podcast app, and you can see my basic outline. 00:19:23.319 --> 00:19:26.839 So even though the chapter that came right before this 1 was only 00:19:26.839 --> 00:19:30.200 a few seconds long, still, it allows you to see that basic 00:19:30.200 --> 00:19:30.759 outline. 00:19:31.255 --> 00:19:35.335 You might also run into a case where you have a single section, 00:19:35.575 --> 00:19:39.254 but you want to share multiple images or multiple links. 00:19:39.575 --> 00:19:43.255 Until super chapters are accepted in Podcasting 2, and I'll talk 00:19:43.255 --> 00:19:46.500 more about those in a moment, The best thing you can do is link 00:19:46.500 --> 00:19:51.299 to a single page with those multiple links or link to the 00:19:51.299 --> 00:19:55.539 relevant section of a page with URL targets. 00:19:55.619 --> 00:19:59.714 For example, adding a hashtag and then the section title to our 00:19:59.714 --> 00:20:03.554 URL, usually after the last slash or after the last part of the 00:20:03.554 --> 00:20:07.315 URL, but before any question marks or ampersands. 00:20:07.394 --> 00:20:11.954 Doing that can link to a section of that page that uses the title 00:20:11.954 --> 00:20:13.954 attribute for that link or heading. 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:16.160 That's a little technical, I know. 00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:19.279 When you're adding your heading, see if there's a way for you to 00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:23.519 give that heading a special HTML title to it. 00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:26.000 That's very easy to do with hyperlinks, but you can also do it 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:27.840 with other HTML elements. 00:20:28.054 --> 00:20:31.494 You can do this in WordPress and in some other editors. 00:20:31.575 --> 00:20:32.454 And then you can try it. 00:20:32.454 --> 00:20:37.255 Try visiting the URL for that page with that pound sign or hash 00:20:37.255 --> 00:20:41.335 sign, and then whatever that title is that you gave it. 00:20:41.335 --> 00:20:46.829 Stick to lowercase, no spaces, only use hyphens or underscores, 00:20:46.990 --> 00:20:48.509 maybe even not those. 00:20:48.509 --> 00:20:51.309 It doesn't really have to make sense what you use, but just make 00:20:51.309 --> 00:20:53.630 sure it's consistent so you know how to link to it. 00:20:53.630 --> 00:20:55.789 You could link your chapters that way as well. 00:20:55.869 --> 00:20:58.974 And I've done this before in some of my past episodes as a little 00:20:58.974 --> 00:20:59.535 experiment. 00:20:59.535 --> 00:21:02.095 I wanted to see how the podcast apps would handle it where I 00:21:02.095 --> 00:21:06.815 linked each chapter to that section in the full notes. 00:21:06.974 --> 00:21:08.015 You could do that. 00:21:08.095 --> 00:21:14.019 You could even use an AI or more accurately called an LLM, a 00:21:14.019 --> 00:21:18.179 large language model, but some kind of AI powered tool to suggest 00:21:18.179 --> 00:21:19.460 the chapters for you. 00:21:19.460 --> 00:21:21.619 There are some shortcomings to this, and I'll talk more about 00:21:21.619 --> 00:21:22.499 that in a moment. 00:21:22.579 --> 00:21:25.299 But it is something that you could use, and that could certainly 00:21:25.299 --> 00:21:26.179 save you a lot of time. 00:21:26.545 --> 00:21:30.625 So those are the ways that you could consider your style for the 00:21:30.625 --> 00:21:33.904 chapters or what you might turn into a chapter. 00:21:33.904 --> 00:21:37.664 The second thing is to then add the chapters with the right 00:21:37.664 --> 00:21:38.304 tools. 00:21:38.545 --> 00:21:41.904 There are multiple tools to add chapters to podcast episodes. 00:21:42.230 --> 00:21:45.430 Some hosting providers such as Blueberry, Captivate, Buzzsprout, 00:21:45.430 --> 00:21:50.070 rss.com, and some others offer those built in tools to add your 00:21:50.070 --> 00:21:50.710 chapters. 00:21:50.950 --> 00:21:54.630 There are also some installable apps that can add chapters to 00:21:54.630 --> 00:21:58.924 your m p 3 files, like Forecast for Mac OS, podcast chapters for 00:21:58.924 --> 00:22:01.964 Mac OS, and Hindenburg for Windows and Mac OS. 00:22:01.964 --> 00:22:06.765 And some I d 3 editors can add chapters too, but maybe not the 00:22:06.765 --> 00:22:08.045 full features of it. 00:22:08.045 --> 00:22:11.964 Like, even PA Software's I d 3 editor app can add chapters. 00:22:12.490 --> 00:22:15.769 It's very clunky to do, and you can't add images to those 00:22:15.769 --> 00:22:18.809 chapters. So it's not the best way. It works. Yeah. 00:22:18.809 --> 00:22:20.089 But it's not the best way. 00:22:20.169 --> 00:22:24.970 The hosting providers also offer AI powered chapter suggestions 00:22:25.505 --> 00:22:28.785 where the system looks at your episode transcript and tries to 00:22:28.785 --> 00:22:32.384 suggest chapters for you, sometimes even placing those chapters 00:22:32.384 --> 00:22:34.464 automatically in your episode for you. 00:22:34.465 --> 00:22:39.025 But in my experience, the results are often too granular, 00:22:39.265 --> 00:22:41.025 resulting in too many chapters. 00:22:41.559 --> 00:22:45.799 Like, sometimes even dividing the chapters within your paragraph 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:48.599 of what you're talking about, and then you've got 2 chapters. 00:22:48.680 --> 00:22:51.960 Like, 1 sentence for 1 chapter and another sentence for another 00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:53.480 chapter. That's just too much. 00:22:54.055 --> 00:22:59.414 And such systems often ignore the outline you actually have and 00:22:59.414 --> 00:23:01.894 are actually speaking in your episode. 00:23:01.974 --> 00:23:05.894 Like, my episodes, I'm usually speaking my outline, but many of 00:23:05.894 --> 00:23:10.089 these AI tools don't detect the outline that I am literally 00:23:10.089 --> 00:23:11.849 speaking into my episode. 00:23:12.089 --> 00:23:16.009 The installable apps sometimes offer more manual control, 00:23:16.009 --> 00:23:18.970 sometimes letting you place a marker in the audio waveform while 00:23:18.970 --> 00:23:20.250 listening to the episode. 00:23:20.330 --> 00:23:22.970 Like, that's what you can do with the Podcast chapters app for 00:23:22.970 --> 00:23:24.844 Mac OS or Hindenburg. 00:23:25.004 --> 00:23:29.565 And sometimes the apps like Forecast offer only a timestamp field 00:23:29.565 --> 00:23:32.524 where you manually enter in the minutes and seconds. 00:23:32.684 --> 00:23:36.365 And many of these apps let you enter only minutes, seconds, or 00:23:36.365 --> 00:23:38.684 hours too if your episodes are that long. 00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:41.279 But you can't do millisecond precision. 00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:44.799 So sometimes your chapter might be placed in the middle of a 00:23:44.799 --> 00:23:48.000 word, and you have to figure out, okay, which word am I going to 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:48.639 cut off? 00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:51.920 Will I cut off where I'm saying number, or will I cut off 00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:54.160 whatever word I said before I said number 1? 00:23:54.615 --> 00:23:57.494 You have to make those kinds of decisions when you only get 00:23:57.494 --> 00:23:59.815 second level precision like that. 00:23:59.815 --> 00:24:02.534 You can only place it at a 0 second level. 00:24:02.615 --> 00:24:06.375 As you can tell, each of these methods have their shortcomings, 00:24:06.829 --> 00:24:09.630 potentially time sucking deal breakers even. 00:24:09.710 --> 00:24:13.950 And that's why I finally decided to create something better. 00:24:14.190 --> 00:24:18.029 So I'm thrilled to announce to you the public launch and 00:24:18.029 --> 00:24:20.444 availability of PodChapters. 00:24:20.605 --> 00:24:24.605 After using, I think, every popular podcast chapter adding tool 00:24:24.605 --> 00:24:29.484 out there, I'm quite certain PodChapters is the fastest, easiest, 00:24:29.565 --> 00:24:34.125 and smartest way to chapter your podcast. Yes. I created it. 00:24:34.509 --> 00:24:36.349 So, of course, I'm biased. 00:24:36.429 --> 00:24:39.309 But I created it because I was frustrated using all of these 00:24:39.309 --> 00:24:40.109 other tools. 00:24:40.269 --> 00:24:43.230 If you want, you can manually place your chapters in the audio 00:24:43.230 --> 00:24:44.589 waveform through PodChapters. 00:24:44.589 --> 00:24:47.390 And in fact, there is a very inexpensive plan that lets you do 00:24:47.390 --> 00:24:50.565 that. You can place chapters very manually. 00:24:50.565 --> 00:24:54.565 Still, it's a much better way to do it than the other apps 00:24:54.565 --> 00:24:58.164 because you can simply drag the chapters around if you didn't get 00:24:58.164 --> 00:24:59.445 it placed at just the right spot. 00:24:59.445 --> 00:25:02.730 You can zoom in on the waveform and place the chapter exactly 00:25:02.730 --> 00:25:06.490 where you want with millisecond precision so you're not cutting 00:25:06.490 --> 00:25:07.849 off any of the words. 00:25:07.930 --> 00:25:11.049 So, yes, you can do that stuff manually and so much better in 00:25:11.049 --> 00:25:13.369 PodChapters than any of the other options out there. 00:25:13.450 --> 00:25:17.475 But where PodChapters really excels is when you use the AI 00:25:17.475 --> 00:25:18.755 powered features. 00:25:18.914 --> 00:25:23.634 And the first time that I got PodChapters to do this magic for 00:25:23.634 --> 00:25:25.715 me, I got goosebumps. 00:25:25.715 --> 00:25:29.490 Really, I actually did that time that I pressed the button and I 00:25:29.490 --> 00:25:33.409 saw it do its magic, and it did it so well. I got goosebumps. 00:25:33.410 --> 00:25:36.289 And you know what I did after that? I pressed the button again. 00:25:36.369 --> 00:25:39.250 And then I deleted the chapters, and I pressed the button again 00:25:39.250 --> 00:25:43.484 over and over because I was just enjoying the magic of it so 00:25:43.484 --> 00:25:43.724 much. 00:25:43.724 --> 00:25:47.164 I don't recommend that you do that if you sign up for PodChapters 00:25:47.164 --> 00:25:49.644 because you might just see the same thing over and over, and 00:25:49.644 --> 00:25:51.244 that's just costing credits. 00:25:51.404 --> 00:25:55.724 But you can use PodChapters to do that kind of magic for you. 00:25:55.930 --> 00:25:58.890 And you can either provide your own transcript. 00:25:58.890 --> 00:26:02.890 We can call it b y o t, bring your own transcript, and then that 00:26:02.890 --> 00:26:04.569 can save you on the AI credits. 00:26:04.570 --> 00:26:08.170 Or you can use PodChapters to transcribe your podcast for you. 00:26:08.545 --> 00:26:12.464 And I think PodChapters has some really nice features in it to 00:26:12.464 --> 00:26:13.744 make those transcripts. 00:26:13.744 --> 00:26:16.785 Like, yes, it can do the speaker detection, but it can do some 00:26:16.785 --> 00:26:21.505 other really cool stuff, like allowing you to enter in a list of, 00:26:22.049 --> 00:26:25.410 we could call them proper nouns that you frequently say in your 00:26:25.410 --> 00:26:29.170 podcast so that the transcript is correct with those things. 00:26:29.170 --> 00:26:31.970 For example, I always enter The Audacity to Podcast. 00:26:32.130 --> 00:26:33.170 My name, Daniel J. 00:26:33.170 --> 00:26:37.654 Lewis, PodChapters, Podgagement, Podcasting 2, that's in my 00:26:37.654 --> 00:26:41.095 special preset that I apply now to every episode. Yes. 00:26:41.095 --> 00:26:43.654 You can save preset so you don't have to retype all of this 00:26:43.654 --> 00:26:44.134 stuff. 00:26:44.214 --> 00:26:46.934 So every episode that I create gets that and maybe a couple of 00:26:46.934 --> 00:26:48.774 other things in there as some key terms. 00:26:49.240 --> 00:26:51.960 Those are the proper nouns that I want to make sure it 00:26:51.960 --> 00:26:55.559 capitalizes them properly and it transcribes them properly. 00:26:55.559 --> 00:26:56.759 You can add those in. 00:26:56.759 --> 00:26:59.960 And then per episode, you can add more on top of that. 00:26:59.960 --> 00:27:02.279 So maybe someone's name that you mentioned in that episode. 00:27:02.634 --> 00:27:06.234 And this is so that the transcript will more accurately 00:27:06.234 --> 00:27:07.674 transcribe those things. 00:27:07.755 --> 00:27:10.234 You can also add in some basic find and replace stuff. 00:27:10.234 --> 00:27:14.154 Like, I see even the best transcription tools sometimes split the 00:27:14.154 --> 00:27:17.429 word the from the audacity to podcast.com. 00:27:17.509 --> 00:27:20.470 Sometimes it's with the the, sometimes it's without the the, or 00:27:20.470 --> 00:27:21.509 there's a space there. 00:27:21.509 --> 00:27:25.190 Sometimes it puts the number 2 in the middle instead of t o. 00:27:25.190 --> 00:27:28.914 So I have certain find and replace operations in there, and you 00:27:28.914 --> 00:27:32.595 can change the order of them too so that it will always properly 00:27:32.595 --> 00:27:33.954 transcribe those things. 00:27:34.035 --> 00:27:36.755 And I don't have to look through the transcript and edit those 00:27:36.755 --> 00:27:38.595 things later because I know it can do that. 00:27:38.595 --> 00:27:41.315 Another thing that frequently the transcripts get wrong is when I 00:27:41.315 --> 00:27:47.480 say the give back URL, sometimes it will be slash give space back 00:27:47.720 --> 00:27:51.079 instead of slash give back, like 1 word after the slash. 00:27:51.080 --> 00:27:53.960 So I can just put that in the find and replace to say whenever 00:27:53.960 --> 00:27:57.880 you see slash give space back, replace it with slash give back 00:27:57.880 --> 00:27:59.080 with no space in it. 00:27:59.194 --> 00:28:01.595 That find and replace, you can put in there so when it 00:28:01.595 --> 00:28:04.234 transcribes it for you, you get a more accurate transcript. 00:28:04.394 --> 00:28:07.595 So when you've got that transcript, whether you provide it or you 00:28:07.595 --> 00:28:11.434 have PodChapters generated for you, then the AI can suggest the 00:28:11.434 --> 00:28:14.315 chapters for you and even then automatically place them. 00:28:14.490 --> 00:28:16.730 If you don't like the chapters, you can edit them. 00:28:16.730 --> 00:28:18.490 You can drag them around however you want. 00:28:18.490 --> 00:28:22.809 Now, yes, other tools can do this too, but I have tweaked the AI 00:28:22.809 --> 00:28:27.825 a whole lot to get great results with all my tests, Even to the 00:28:27.825 --> 00:28:32.065 point that it does recognize when I speak my outline, it will 00:28:32.065 --> 00:28:35.984 recognize that as chapters and suggest those as the chapters. 00:28:36.065 --> 00:28:39.025 And from the beta testers who have been using PodChapters now for 00:28:39.025 --> 00:28:42.349 a couple of weeks, many of them have said, yeah, these chapters 00:28:42.349 --> 00:28:43.390 are fantastic. 00:28:43.390 --> 00:28:45.950 So much better than what I've gotten from other tools. 00:28:46.109 --> 00:28:49.150 So you can then edit those chapters, delete any of them that you 00:28:49.150 --> 00:28:52.509 want, move them around if you want. It's really easy to use. 00:28:52.670 --> 00:28:56.994 And something no 1 else offers, but that I have suggested and 00:28:56.994 --> 00:28:59.394 requested from multiple other people for years. 00:28:59.394 --> 00:29:01.875 So I've had this idea for years to build this, but no one's done 00:29:01.875 --> 00:29:05.075 it. So PodChapters is the first tool to do this. 00:29:05.470 --> 00:29:07.870 And that is I I love this. 00:29:07.870 --> 00:29:12.589 I even call it an amazing ability to take the outline you provide 00:29:12.750 --> 00:29:16.350 and automatically turn it into chapters for you with amazing 00:29:16.350 --> 00:29:17.069 precision. 00:29:17.230 --> 00:29:21.624 For example, since I always know what I want my chapters to be, 00:29:21.704 --> 00:29:25.784 that is the outline for my episode, I simply paste that outline 00:29:25.784 --> 00:29:29.624 into PodChapters and click a button for it to place my chapters, 00:29:29.784 --> 00:29:30.505 and it does it. 00:29:30.750 --> 00:29:34.829 And it saves me all kind of time and frustration of looking where 00:29:34.829 --> 00:29:39.149 is this chapter supposed to go. I don't have to worry about that. 00:29:39.150 --> 00:29:42.589 I tell it, these are what the chapters are supposed to be, and 00:29:42.589 --> 00:29:45.389 then it goes and places them for me. 00:29:45.470 --> 00:29:51.045 And, yes, sometimes it's slightly off, like a second or a half a 00:29:51.045 --> 00:29:51.525 second. 00:29:51.525 --> 00:29:54.484 And that's where I can just click to jump to that chapter, and 00:29:54.484 --> 00:29:58.164 very quickly just drag it ever so slightly, whichever direction I 00:29:58.164 --> 00:29:58.884 need it to be. 00:29:58.884 --> 00:30:02.089 And it's very fast and easy to be able to listen back to those 00:30:02.089 --> 00:30:04.329 chapters to make sure that they're placed correctly. 00:30:04.490 --> 00:30:08.569 For real, this, what I'm about to share with you, is the workflow 00:30:08.569 --> 00:30:11.849 that I or my assistant, Steve Moody, would have to do for every 00:30:11.849 --> 00:30:15.355 episode, and it's mostly replaced now with PodChapters. 00:30:15.434 --> 00:30:19.194 It would start with after the episode was edited, and it was 00:30:19.195 --> 00:30:23.434 finished and ready to be published, almost ready, but the episode 00:30:23.434 --> 00:30:24.475 itself had been edited. 00:30:24.475 --> 00:30:27.515 So I had the final m p 3 file that's has all the audio in it, 00:30:27.569 --> 00:30:31.489 Then we would run that through Mac Whisper Pro to transcribe it, 00:30:31.569 --> 00:30:34.130 and sometimes doing it with 1 or 2 different styles of 00:30:34.130 --> 00:30:34.849 transcripts. 00:30:34.929 --> 00:30:39.970 Then we would use I d 3 editor to add the basic I d 3 tags in 00:30:39.970 --> 00:30:41.329 that pulling from a template. 00:30:41.734 --> 00:30:44.934 Then we would add chapters with the Podcast Chapters app, which 00:30:44.934 --> 00:30:46.134 is Mac OS only. 00:30:46.134 --> 00:30:49.575 And that took a lot of time because we had to look for where to 00:30:49.575 --> 00:30:50.535 place the chapters. 00:30:50.535 --> 00:30:53.734 And I'll be honest, using Podcast Chapters is often very 00:30:53.734 --> 00:30:57.894 stressful because of certain weird things about the ways it works 00:30:57.000 --> 00:31:00.200 that might just be a personal thing, but were definitely 00:31:00.200 --> 00:31:01.079 frustrating. 00:31:01.160 --> 00:31:04.440 So then after the chapters were placed, then we would export the 00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:08.920 transcript and the podcasting 2 chapters as those files, and 00:31:08.920 --> 00:31:10.434 they'd have to go somewhere. 00:31:10.434 --> 00:31:13.555 So I would upload them to a content distribution network or a 00:31:13.555 --> 00:31:14.355 CDN. 00:31:14.434 --> 00:31:18.275 And then finally, I could add the hyperlink to the transcript in 00:31:18.275 --> 00:31:22.195 the Podcasting 2 chapters inside of PowerPress, which is what I'm 00:31:22.195 --> 00:31:24.115 using for creating my RSS feed right now. 00:31:24.319 --> 00:31:28.960 So all of those steps are now, except for the last 1 of adding 00:31:28.960 --> 00:31:34.319 the URLs, all of those can be done with 1 tool, PodChapters. 00:31:34.400 --> 00:31:38.904 And, yes, that means that PodChapters can even host your 00:31:38.904 --> 00:31:42.825 transcript file and your Podcasting 2 chapters for you. 00:31:42.904 --> 00:31:44.585 You don't need a separate CDN. 00:31:44.585 --> 00:31:46.424 You don't have to upload those files. 00:31:46.505 --> 00:31:49.464 PodChapters will just give you the URL, and you can paste that 00:31:49.464 --> 00:31:52.184 into your system if you need a URL for that. 00:31:52.184 --> 00:31:56.160 Or if you want to upload the chapters and the transcript into 00:31:56.160 --> 00:31:57.519 your own system, you can do that. 00:31:57.519 --> 00:31:59.920 Or if you're saving the chapters into the m p 3 file, which 00:31:59.920 --> 00:32:02.799 PodChapters will do for you, many of the podcast hosting 00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:06.240 providers can read the chapters from the m p 3 file. 00:32:06.400 --> 00:32:10.974 So even though there is some overlap, still, you can use 1 tool 00:32:10.974 --> 00:32:14.174 to create the chapters, and then your hosting provider can 00:32:14.174 --> 00:32:16.494 populate those other areas that you need. 00:32:16.575 --> 00:32:20.894 PodChapters really does everything you need to add engaging 00:32:20.894 --> 00:32:25.149 chapters to your podcast potentially in as little as 30 seconds, 00:32:25.149 --> 00:32:28.109 and that is real life testing. 00:32:28.109 --> 00:32:31.950 I've tested several of my episodes to see how quickly could I go 00:32:32.109 --> 00:32:37.365 from not even a transcript, just the m p 3 file to a transcribed 00:32:37.365 --> 00:32:39.765 and correctly chaptered file. 00:32:40.005 --> 00:32:43.045 And I've sometimes gotten it as low as 20 seconds. 00:32:43.125 --> 00:32:45.525 But 30 seconds, you know, a little bit of a buffer there, 00:32:45.525 --> 00:32:47.605 especially depending on how big the episode is. 00:32:47.605 --> 00:32:49.525 But that is from real world testing. 00:32:49.710 --> 00:32:52.669 If you have longer episodes or more chapters, yes, it potentially 00:32:52.669 --> 00:32:53.629 takes longer. 00:32:53.630 --> 00:32:57.389 But still, most of this is automated, and it's in 1 tool. 00:32:57.549 --> 00:33:00.109 I made PodChapters first for myself. 00:33:00.109 --> 00:33:03.229 And if you can't tell, I am so excited about this tool. 00:33:03.230 --> 00:33:08.304 And as I made this for myself, I then realized how much time and 00:33:08.304 --> 00:33:13.744 frustration it could save you, especially if you're on Windows or 00:33:13.744 --> 00:33:17.829 Linux where there are very few options for making podcast 00:33:17.829 --> 00:33:18.549 chapters. 00:33:18.630 --> 00:33:22.470 PodChapters runs in the browser, so it works on any modern 00:33:22.470 --> 00:33:26.629 device. Yes. It even works on an iPhone. 00:33:26.630 --> 00:33:30.505 Though, I know, at least at this time, I still need to optimize 00:33:30.505 --> 00:33:33.785 the interface a little bit more for small screen devices, but it 00:33:33.785 --> 00:33:35.785 does function on an iPhone. 00:33:35.785 --> 00:33:38.984 So that means it would obviously function on an iPad too on a 00:33:38.984 --> 00:33:40.184 bigger screen like that. 00:33:40.184 --> 00:33:44.990 So you can start chaptering your podcast the smart way now at 00:33:44.990 --> 00:33:48.509 podchapters.com. Sign up over there. 00:33:48.509 --> 00:33:50.829 I would love to have you using PodChapters. 00:33:50.829 --> 00:33:53.710 I know I spent a lot of time talking about PodChapters. 00:33:53.710 --> 00:33:57.149 That's my little ad for this. Sign up for PodChapters. 00:33:57.149 --> 00:34:01.734 But it really is something that I want you to use because I want 00:34:01.734 --> 00:34:05.734 you to not have that pain of using all of these different apps or 00:34:05.734 --> 00:34:09.335 getting frustrated with the chapters that the AI suggest for you. 00:34:09.335 --> 00:34:11.014 And I'd love your feedback on it too. 00:34:11.150 --> 00:34:14.349 If you have a case where you feel like the chapters it gave you 00:34:14.349 --> 00:34:17.230 weren't quite what you wanted, certainly, can edit that, but let 00:34:17.230 --> 00:34:20.829 me know. And let me know what you were hoping it would give you. 00:34:20.829 --> 00:34:24.190 Or if you give it your own outline, then it does its magic really 00:34:24.190 --> 00:34:26.764 well. I really want you to try PodChapters. 00:34:26.764 --> 00:34:28.764 If you couldn't tell, I am super excited about it. 00:34:28.764 --> 00:34:30.045 But back to content. 00:34:30.045 --> 00:34:35.565 Number 6, Podcasting 2 Cloud Chapters are already better. 00:34:35.724 --> 00:34:39.800 At its core, Podcasting 2 Cloud Chapters do the same things as 00:34:39.800 --> 00:34:41.079 legacy chapters. 00:34:41.079 --> 00:34:45.160 That is a title, an optional image, and an optional link. 00:34:45.160 --> 00:34:49.559 The 2 chapters do also add the ability to include a location and 00:34:49.559 --> 00:34:53.425 hide the chapter from the table of contents, but those are very 00:34:53.425 --> 00:34:54.864 specific use cases. 00:34:55.184 --> 00:34:59.664 Beyond that, simply by moving the chapters out of the RSS feed 00:34:59.664 --> 00:35:04.224 and especially out of the m p 3 files where legacy chapters live, 00:35:04.599 --> 00:35:08.119 simply moving it out there to host it on the cloud, that's why 00:35:08.119 --> 00:35:11.800 they're called cloud chapters, enables some really cool things. 00:35:11.960 --> 00:35:14.119 And some of those things I'll be supporting in the future with 00:35:14.119 --> 00:35:15.000 PodChapters. 00:35:15.079 --> 00:35:19.635 For example, you could replace a chapter image to reflect more 00:35:19.635 --> 00:35:21.875 urgency as some deadline approaches. 00:35:21.875 --> 00:35:24.835 So if you've got a conference coming up or some product you're 00:35:24.835 --> 00:35:27.235 selling or anything like that, you could have an image that 00:35:27.235 --> 00:35:28.035 promotes that. 00:35:28.035 --> 00:35:31.235 And then as it gets closer, you could change that image to say 00:35:31.235 --> 00:35:35.289 how many spots are left for that thing or even make it a sort of 00:35:35.289 --> 00:35:38.650 countdown where you say 5 days left, 4 days left, 3 days left, 2 00:35:38.650 --> 00:35:41.289 days left, and then you replace the image after the event with 00:35:41.289 --> 00:35:43.690 saying, sorry, please check back next time. 00:35:43.690 --> 00:35:47.875 You could replace the URL destination of a chapter, and you could 00:35:47.875 --> 00:35:52.434 edit anything about those chapters, completely changing what the 00:35:52.434 --> 00:35:57.394 chapters are, all by editing the tiny episode metadata file, or 00:35:57.394 --> 00:36:02.220 sometimes called a chapters file, without editing the m p 3. 00:36:02.300 --> 00:36:05.660 And the huge benefit of that is that means you don't have to 00:36:05.660 --> 00:36:09.260 reupload the m p 3 file, and your audience doesn't have to 00:36:09.260 --> 00:36:13.739 redownload it because your audience in a modern podcasting 2 app 00:36:13.739 --> 00:36:17.795 will have access to those new chapters without having to 00:36:17.795 --> 00:36:21.394 redownload your episode or for you to reupload the episode 00:36:21.394 --> 00:36:24.835 because the chapters are managed separately in the cloud. 00:36:24.914 --> 00:36:26.994 That's why they're called CloudChapters. 00:36:27.155 --> 00:36:29.635 But I think chapters can do more than that. 00:36:29.789 --> 00:36:35.150 So that's why, number 7, Podcasting 2 could bring super chapters. 00:36:35.390 --> 00:36:39.150 If you couldn't tell, chapters are 1 of my favorite features of 00:36:39.150 --> 00:36:43.765 Podcasting 2, and so I've proposed some ways that Podcasting 2 00:36:43.765 --> 00:36:47.445 chapters could be so much better than the legacy functionality 00:36:47.445 --> 00:36:49.204 they still basically are. 00:36:49.204 --> 00:36:52.565 That is title, optional image, and optional link. 00:36:52.565 --> 00:36:56.644 The 2 biggest things I've proposed are galleries and text blocks. 00:36:57.019 --> 00:37:00.539 Consider a podcaster who wants to share a bunch of images from a 00:37:00.539 --> 00:37:01.500 relevant trip. 00:37:01.500 --> 00:37:04.619 She could tell her audience to visit her website to view all the 00:37:04.619 --> 00:37:10.345 images, or she could painstakingly make a chapter for each image. 00:37:10.664 --> 00:37:14.905 But doing that forces the audience to see the images at the pace 00:37:14.905 --> 00:37:18.825 of the chapters, which would likely require interrupting the 00:37:18.825 --> 00:37:22.985 podcast multiple times as the audience might want to spend more 00:37:22.985 --> 00:37:26.700 time to look at an image, maybe less time on other images. 00:37:26.860 --> 00:37:29.740 That's where a gallery chapter could come in. 00:37:29.820 --> 00:37:33.820 A single chapter could contain all the images from that trip. 00:37:33.900 --> 00:37:36.860 There would be just the 1 chapter as the host is talking about 00:37:36.860 --> 00:37:40.364 her trip, but the audience could swipe through the gallery of 00:37:40.364 --> 00:37:44.845 images at their own pace while listening and without leaving the 00:37:44.845 --> 00:37:45.805 podcast app. 00:37:45.885 --> 00:37:50.204 Text block chapters would allow a chapter to have more text than 00:37:50.204 --> 00:37:51.005 only a title. 00:37:51.210 --> 00:37:55.369 It could contain, for example, bullet points, a quotation, or 00:37:55.369 --> 00:37:58.090 multiple links instead of only 1 link. 00:37:58.250 --> 00:38:00.489 I've got some links in the notes for this episode at the 00:38:00.489 --> 00:38:05.065 audacitytopodcast.com/chapters for some other episodes where I 00:38:05.065 --> 00:38:09.305 have talked more in-depth about specifically Podcasting 2 00:38:09.305 --> 00:38:10.825 chapters and super chapters. 00:38:10.825 --> 00:38:13.704 So I'd love for you to check them out, including the podcast I co 00:38:13.704 --> 00:38:16.585 host with Dave Jackson, the future of podcasting. 00:38:16.989 --> 00:38:20.349 And please definitely check out PodChapters. 00:38:20.430 --> 00:38:24.190 Special thanks to Steve Wilkinson who sent 1 2 3 4 Satoshis 00:38:24.190 --> 00:38:26.510 saying thanks for all you do in podcasting. 00:38:26.510 --> 00:38:29.469 Well, thank you, Steve, for that kind support. 00:38:29.914 --> 00:38:32.875 And if you value the Audacity Podcast, the help and the 00:38:32.875 --> 00:38:35.034 inspiration and information, maybe even a little bit of 00:38:35.034 --> 00:38:37.514 entertainment that I provide here and there, and you want to give 00:38:37.514 --> 00:38:40.315 some of that value back, whatever you feel it's worth to you, you 00:38:40.315 --> 00:38:44.960 can do so at theaudacitytopodcast.com slash give back or through 00:38:44.960 --> 00:38:47.119 your modern podcasting 2 app. 00:38:47.199 --> 00:38:50.319 And the other thing that you could do is simply tell other people 00:38:50.319 --> 00:38:53.920 about The Audacity to Podcast or especially about my brand new 00:38:53.920 --> 00:38:58.784 product, PodChapters at podchapters.com, and thank you for 00:38:58.784 --> 00:39:00.464 signing up to use PodChapters. 00:39:00.464 --> 00:39:03.264 And now that I've given you some of the guts and taught you some 00:39:03.264 --> 00:39:07.025 of the tools, it's time for you to go start and grow your own 00:39:07.025 --> 00:39:11.424 podcast with chapters for passion and profit. I'm Daniel J. 00:39:11.424 --> 00:39:15.449 Lewis from theaudacitytopodcast.com. Thanks for listening.