Starting a podcast is easy. But becoming better by following self-serve, learn-at-your-own-pace materials will only get you so far. Sometimes, you need a specialized curriculum to make you a better podcaster.

Writing Podcasting for Dummies back in 2005 taught me to love podcasting. Writing Expert Podcasting Practices for Dummies a few years later almost made me hate it.

Why? Because the journey to becoming a better podcaster is a thousand or more different paths, each winding in, out, and around the others. Anyone selling you a master class on podcasting is probably only offering a master class in how they podcast.

So today, I'm going to break down six—yes, only six—educational resources designed for seasoned podcasters to up their game

1. Take a Transom.org Workshop. Transom’s goal is to make you the best storyteller you can be. But fair warning, these educational programs, like many good educational programs, are not inexpensive.  

2. Read Out On The Wire, by Jessica Abel, a timeless book I think every serious podcaster should have in their head as well as on their bookshelf. But it’s not a book filled with worksheets and actionable takeaways. Instead, it’s about the process of making great audio. 

3. Get NPR-level training from NPR. They’ve packaged up a wide range of incredibly insightful resources that podcasters can consume. It's a huge treasure trove of information that’s worth regular visits to see what new information they’ve made available to all of us podcasters. 

4. Up your podcast marketing with Polymash if you’re looking for higher-level marketing and optimization strategies specific to podcasting. 

5. Get Better With Other Podcasters In The Podcast Academy. I’m excited to see a shift in focus this year to mentorship groups where seasoned podcasters meet and collaborate on a regular basis, allowing each small group to evolve in its own way that serves the needs of in each small group. 

6. Get specialized audio training from The Podcast Audio Lab. Coming very soon, Marcus dePaula will offer short, highly focused training videos designed to solve very specific audio/recording challenges faced by more advanced podcasters.

If I missed your favorite resource (which is bound to happen), please share your thoughts in the Advancing Podcasting community with a hundred or so other seasoned podcasters who want to get better at the craft of podcasting.

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Links:

• FREE 3-week trial of My Podcast Reviews - https://mypodcastreviews.com/pp

• Podcasting for Dummies (1st Edition, the newest is 4th) - https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Podcasting+For+Dummies-p-9780471748984

• Expert Podcasting Practices for Dummies - https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Expert+Podcasting+Practices+For+Dummies-p-9780470149263

• Workshops from Transom - https://transom.org/workshops/about

• Out On The Wire by Jessica Abel - https://jessicaabel.com/out-on-the-wire

• NPR training site - https://training.npr.org

• Podcast marketing & optimization courses from Polymash - https://polymash.com/my-courses

• The Podcast Academy - https://www.thepodcastacademy.com

• The Podcast Audio Lab - http://podcastaudiolab.com

• Advancing Podcasting community (Discord) - http://advancingpodcasting.xyz

• Email me - evo@simpler.media

• New support page in progress - https://podcastpontifications.com/support

• Want to sponsor Podcast Pontifications? - https://podcastpontifications.com/sponsor

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A written-to-be-read article and a full transcript of the audio of this episode can be found at https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/6-training-resources-to-m