Story about human connection told through a voice only anonymous matchmaking experiment

My show is It's Nice to Hear You, a 6-episode podcast about human connection, based on an anonymous matchmaking experiment. The podcast is like a reality tv show, but much more earnest and intimate in tone, based on an experiment made especially for the podcast medium.

At the beginning of last year, I created a voice-only blind dating experiment where participants can only exchange voice memos with each other for 30 days. The twist is there are no names and no pictures. By the end, I collected 100+ hours of audio, some people ended up dating, and eavesdropping into my participants in this way changed my entire perspective on dating. The topic is dating, but the podcast is really about human connection. Through the episodes, I share stories about the connections made and lessons learned from this experience. This genre-bending series has the intimacy of a personal memoir, suspense from a reality TV dating show, and insights from an interview show. Through 6 episodes, I share 6 lessons I learned from this experience, told 1 pair at a time.

This is my first podcast and I've thoroughly enjoyed the past 14 months of learning the craft of audio storytelling. Since I didn't have a any podcast or radio background, I invested in a team of advisors and editors who have experience in storytelling and podcasting to help me along this journey.

My listeners are late 20s to late 40s, skewed towards females. Surprisingly, my largest concentration of listeners are in Australia even though I am not Australian! My listeners are interested in relationship and dating topics, but not exclusively. They are interested in thoughtful stories about connection, personal memoirs, and humanity.

The entire series is available to listen and subscribe on any podcast platform and was just selected as a NYT podcast club pick and highlighted on the Vulture 1.5 speed podcast column.
 

I started this podcast after being laid off from my job in corporate strategy at the beginning of quarantine. With newfound free time, I decided to embark on a creative project. I wanted to take the time to learn a new skill and explore a topic that I am interested in - human connection. As a single woman living in NYC, online dating is frustrating and draining. I was hoping that by designing this experiment, talking to psychologist, and learning the social science behind how romantic connections form, I can become better at dating.

I launched my experiment in April 2020 and it completed at the beginning of June 2020. Upon conclusion, I collected 100+ hours of audio recordings and astonishing stories of human connection. It took me a year to learn about storytelling, write, and edit this series in a 6-episode podcast. The process took so much longer than I had anticipated but it was life changing. I learned so much more about myself, my perspective towards relationships changed, and I am so proud of the series.
 

This is a 6-episode narrative series. I am currently working on a second season, but no new episodes will be released for a while. It took me a year to write, edit and produce the entire series. Due to a severance package, I was fortunate to have the time and space to work on this project full time. I self funded this series, and majority of the cost went towards working with partners (editors, sound engineer, designers) who helped me create the show.
 

I created this show not with the intention of monetizing from it. My goal was to learn a new skill and create good content that tell complex stories about dating that presents a different narrative of love stories. In the future, I would be open to advertising and sponsorship.

Creating this podcast has been helpful in my career since it adds content production skillsets to my analytical and business background. In the future, I would like to pursue a career at the intersection of business and content.
 

I mostly used hindenburg to edit and mix. Then I passed my mix to my sound engineer who finished the episode in pro tools. Since this is not an interview show, I already have audio data from my experiment. When I did have to interview experts (e.g. psychologists), which I included excerpts of in the show, I recorded the interview on zoom.
 

I have been organically building my Instagram account and have proactively reached out to relevant communities and journalists to share my show. These results have been mixed but the best tactic is through word of mouth when engaged listeners share with their communities.

70% of my listeners are from Apple.
 

Just start and try it! Record things and start making things. For my editing software, I started with audacity then transitioned to Hindenburg, which is super easy to use. Learning protools can be intimidating for most, but there are tons of other easier to use software that gets the job done.

There are tons of great podcast resources out there - I found the AIR community incredibly helpful. They have tons of online webinars and tutorials for independent producers. Newsletters like Nick Quah's Hot Pod and Vulture 1.5 email newsletters are a great source of information. Ira Glass's book, Out on the Wire is also a great starter on the art of storytelling.
 

There is a bunch of additional information, unreleased audio clips, and images on itsnicetohearyou.com and on the show's instagram, @itsnicetohearyou.

I am doing a 2nd season of the show and another experiment! If you are single and looking to connect with someone romantically or know someone who is, please sign up on my website!