# Podcast Maker Journey - Content Teams

Use this workflow to produce consistent podcast episodes across contributors while maintaining editorial quality and brand voice.

## Overview

### Entry Conditions
- **Inputs:** Editorial brief, role assignments, brand guide, deadline.
- **Skill level:** Mixed (editor lead + contributors).
- **Expected time:** 75-120 minutes end-to-end for team production.

### Success Target
Release a review-approved episode on schedule with clear ownership at each stage.

## Setup

### Recommended Defaults
- **Duration:** 18-25 minutes
- **Speakers:** Host + 1 guest (or two-host format)
- **Voice style:** Brand-consistent, clear pacing
- **Research provider:** Tavily (reliable source collection for editorial review)

### Pre-Production Checklist
1. Assign owner for analysis, research, script QA, and publish tasks.
2. Confirm audience persona and approved episode angle.
3. Set shared template for intro, segment transitions, and outro.
4. Define review SLA and escalation path.

## Production

### Podcast Maker Workflow
1. **Analysis**
   - Align episode with editorial calendar and campaign priorities.
   - Freeze episode scope to prevent late-stage rewrites.
2. **Research**
   - Collect and verify sources in a shared reference set.
   - Flag claims needing legal or product review.
3. **Script**
   - Draft using team template and brand voice standards.
   - Run editor review for structure, tone, and factual accuracy.
4. **Render**
   - Render staged draft for stakeholder sign-off.
   - Apply final edits from reviewer checklist.
5. **Export**
   - Export audio + episode summary + channel-specific snippets.
   - Publish according to calendar and track delivery SLAs.

## Optimization

### Success Criteria
- All approval gates pass without critical rework.
- Episode goes live on schedule with complete metadata.
- Style and tone match team brand guidelines.
- Reuse assets created for social/email/web repurposing.

### Checkpoints
- **Before render:** Editorial sign-off on script and claims.
- **After render:** QA pass for pacing, names, and transitions.
- **After publish:** Retrospective on cycle time and revision count.

## Troubleshooting

### Common Issues and Fixes
- **Too many revisions:** Lock brief scope and decision owner early.
- **Brand inconsistency:** Enforce reusable script blocks and style checks.
- **Missed deadlines:** Add milestone gates for each workflow stage.
- **Fact disputes:** Keep source notes attached to each script section.
- **Inefficient handoffs:** Use a single shared checklist per episode.

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Next step: combine this with **[Workflow Optimization](workflow-optimization.md)** to reduce cycle time.
