Creating course videos can feel like a never-ending cycle of recording, editing, uploading, hosting, and embedding. Before you know it, you're juggling five different tools with five different monthly subscriptions, and you’re bouncing between apps and browser tabs feeling lost within the process itself.

But what if you could reduce the number of tools you need? Would that help you cut your costs and work faster at the same time?

This question is exactly what Jocelyn Montemarano, founder of Scale Your Resonance, asked herself while she was creating Best Seller, her 12-month group program to teach business owners how to use case studies as powerful sales assets. 

Spoiler alert: Descript played a starring role in her solution. Here’s what she did.

The first step: Choosing tools wisely

Jocelyn knew that choosing the right tools would be crucial to both her success and her bottom line. 

The first major decision she needed to make was which course hosting platform to use. And luckily for Jocelyn, she had many options—though most of those options came with monthly subscription fees of their own. And while she could tolerate the fees, she wanted to test other options before committing.

"I didn't want to pay for Kajabi or Teachable or one of those platforms where it's a monthly subscription because that's just going to go on forever,” Jocelyn said.

Instead, she chose to use Thrivecart Learn, a sales and course platform with a one-time cost.

But there was a catch. Thrivecart Learn doesn't include video hosting for course lessons. Videos can be embedded into the course modules, but they need to be hosted elsewhere. Which means Jocelyn was now facing another potential monthly subscription—this time for video hosting.

Using existing tools in new ways

Jocelyn knew how to solve her video hosting issue thanks to a past life helping clients create video podcasts. As part of that work, Jocelyn used Descript as an editing tool and quickly noticed that it could do more than that—Descript’s share page hosts the video for you.

"And so I realized, Oh, [Descript’s] got the link here. They've got the embed code here,” Jocelyn said. I can literally just use this instead of needing to export my course videos and upload them to a tool like Vimeo."

Jocelyn didn’t need to add a new tool to host her program. She still used Descript to edit her training videos, and by realizing she could also use it for hosting, she had found an effective all-in-one strategy. 

She could create, host, and maintain her course videos, all without the burden of multiple subscriptions or complicated workflows.

Five ways Descript streamlines course creation

Here's how Jocelyn's two-tool approach is making her course creation process faster, cheaper, and better:

1. No more perfect-take pressure

Recording a 20-minute lesson in one flawless take is about as likely as winning the lottery. Life happens. Babies cry. Delivery people knock. And sometimes you just forget what you were saying mid-sentence.

"I love having the ability to pause the recording as you're going or just record in chunks so I could take it a chunk at a time, get up, fill up my tea, and come back to it," Jocelyn said.

And text-based editing makes it simple to remove retakes (even if you’re not using Descript’s Remove Retakes feature). "If my dog starts barking or whatever, I can say 'mistake.’ I search for the word ‘mistake’ after I'm done recording, during the editing process, and just remove those sections where I say ‘mistake’. That makes it so easy," Jocelyn said.

2. Content updates without added pain

Course content is never really "done." Maybe your industry changes, stats or figures need adjusting, or you find a clearer way to explain a concept. With traditional video, you'd need to rerecord an entire lesson for a 30-second change.

Not with Jocelyn's approach.

"I don't have to rerecord a whole lesson," she explains. "I might just adjust a specific section where I realize I could teach this part of this fifteen-minute video better. And so I update my slides or my workbook and then just update that one video section." 

3. Time saving one-click publishing 

The real magic happens after editing. Instead of the typical export-upload-embed dance, Jocelyn cuts straight to publishing with a Descript share page. 

And if she updates anything in the video, the share page automatically updates along with it.

"If I just make a tweak to a section…I can just hit publish,” Jocelyn said. “I don't even need to go back to adjust the embed code, which is really nice."

One click within Descript, and the new version is live wherever you've embedded it. No  need to download, upload to another platform, and update embed codes.

4. A matching organizational system 

Descript’s file system within compositions is easy to match with traditional file systems like Google Drive.

"My Google Drive folder is set up the same way my Descript folder is. First I have the program name. Underneath that I have the curriculum. Underneath that, I have each module. Within each module, I have, on Google—the workbooks, and within Descript—each recorded lesson."

This mirror-image structure means nothing gets lost in the shuffle. It's immediately obvious which workbooks pair with which videos, and if she ever brings on additional team members, they won't need a treasure map to find whatever they’re looking for.

5. Effortless content repurposing

Jocelyn's workflow also makes it easy to repurpose her content in different forms.

"I let my clients know that I'm going to be putting all of the curriculum lessons into a private podcast feed as well," she explains. "I can export the written version, the audio version...without having to upload that somewhere else and transform it into an MP3."

With a few clicks, her course videos become:

• Private podcast episodes for on-the-go learning
• Downloadable transcripts for quick reference
• Standalone audio files for alternative consumption

Student-friendly features that earn rave reviews

The benefits don't stop with creation—Jocelyn's students love the learning experience too. The embedded Descript player gives them:

• Speed controls (1.2x, 1.5x, 2x) for the "I need this info now" crowd
• Closed captions for accessibility
• A full transcript for visual learners
• A clean, professional-looking player

Jocelyn regularly receives feedback from her students about how helpful the speed controls are, and it is important to her to help ensure that students of all learning styles can consume the course materials in the way that suits them best.

What this means for your course business

If you're constantly frustrated by how much time video creation takes, or you’re looking to cut costs because your SaaS subscriptions have ballooned, Jocelyn's approach offers some relief.

Here's the real impact:

1. Dramatic time savings: No more multi-platform juggling. Record, edit, host, and update in one place.
2. Serious cost-cutting: One tool, with monthly or annual payment options, instead of spending hundreds in monthly subscriptions.
3. Professional experience for students: Speed controls, transcripts, and accessibility features that would cost extra elsewhere.
4. Flexible content updates: Make precision changes without re-recording entire videos.

For Jocelyn, this approach has been invaluable in delivering her Best Seller program. If you're using Descript for editing, you're just a few clicks away from a workflow as streamlined as hers.