diff --git a/src/PowerShellGet/private/functions/New-NugetPackage.ps1 b/src/PowerShellGet/private/functions/New-NugetPackage.ps1
index 16cd6502..c4d773ab 100644
--- a/src/PowerShellGet/private/functions/New-NugetPackage.ps1
+++ b/src/PowerShellGet/private/functions/New-NugetPackage.ps1
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ function New-NugetPackage {
     )
     Set-StrictMode -Off
 
+    Write-Verbose "Calling New-NugetPackage"
+
     if (-Not(Test-Path -Path $NuspecPath -PathType Leaf)) {
         throw "A nuspec file does not exist at $NuspecPath, provide valid path to a .nuspec"
     }
@@ -27,89 +29,96 @@ function New-NugetPackage {
         throw "NugetPackageRoot $NugetPackageRoot does not exist"
     }
 
+    $processStartInfo = New-Object System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo
 
     if ($PSCmdlet.ParameterSetName -eq "UseNuget") {
         if (-Not(Test-Path -Path $NuGetExePath)) {
             throw "Nuget.exe does not exist at $NugetExePath, provide a valid path to nuget.exe"
         }
+        $ProcessName = $NugetExePath
 
         $ArgumentList = @("pack")
         $ArgumentList += "`"$NuspecPath`""
-        $ArgumentList += "-outputdirectory `"$OutputPath`""
-
-        $processStartInfo = New-Object System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo
-        $processStartInfo.FileName = $NugetExePath
-        $processStartInfo.RedirectStandardError = $true
-        $processStartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = $true
-        $processStartInfo.UseShellExecute = $false
-        $processStartInfo.Arguments = $ArgumentList
-
-        $process = New-Object System.Diagnostics.Process
-        $process.StartInfo = $processStartInfo
-        $process.Start() | Out-Null
-        $process.WaitForExit()
-
-        if (-Not ($process.ExitCode -eq 0 )) {
-            $stdErr = $process.StandardError.ReadToEnd()
-            throw "nuget.exe failed to pack $stdErr"
-        }
+        $ArgumentList += "-outputdirectory `"$OutputPath`" -noninteractive"
+
+        $tempPath = $null
     }
+    else {
+        # use Dotnet CLI
 
-    if ($PSCmdlet.ParameterSetName -eq "UseDotnetCli") {
         #perform dotnet pack using a temporary project file.
-        $dotnetCliPath = (Get-Command -Name "dotnet").Source
+        $ProcessName = (Get-Command -Name "dotnet").Source
         $tempPath = Join-Path -Path ([System.IO.Path]::GetTempPath()) -ChildPath ([System.Guid]::NewGuid()).Guid
         New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $tempPath -Force | Out-Null
 
         $CsprojContent = @"
-            <Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
-            <PropertyGroup>
-                <AssemblyName>NotUsed</AssemblyName>
-                <Description>Temp project used for creating nupkg file.</Description>
-                <TargetFramework>netcoreapp2.0</TargetFramework>
-                <IsPackable>true</IsPackable>
-            </PropertyGroup>
-            </Project>
+<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
+<PropertyGroup>
+    <AssemblyName>NotUsed</AssemblyName>
+    <Description>Temp project used for creating nupkg file.</Description>
+    <TargetFramework>netcoreapp2.0</TargetFramework>
+    <IsPackable>true</IsPackable>
+</PropertyGroup>
+</Project>
 "@
         $projectFile = New-Item -ItemType File -Path $tempPath -Name "Temp.csproj"
         Set-Content -Value $CsprojContent -Path $projectFile
 
-        #execution
-
         $ArgumentList = @("pack")
         $ArgumentList += "`"$projectFile`""
         $ArgumentList += "/p:NuspecFile=`"$NuspecPath`""
         $ArgumentList += "--output `"$OutputPath`""
+    }
 
-        $processStartInfo = New-Object System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo
-        $processStartInfo.FileName = $dotnetCliPath
-        $processStartInfo.RedirectStandardError = $true
-        $processStartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = $true
-        $processStartInfo.UseShellExecute = $false
-        $processStartInfo.Arguments = $ArgumentList
+    # run the packing program
+    $processStartInfo = New-Object System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo
+    $processStartInfo.FileName = $ProcessName
+    $processStartInfo.Arguments = $ArgumentList
+    $processStartInfo.RedirectStandardError = $true
+    $processStartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = $true
+    $processStartInfo.UseShellExecute = $false
+
+    Write-Verbose "Calling $ProcessName $($ArgumentList -join ' ')"
+    $process = New-Object System.Diagnostics.Process
+    $process.StartInfo = $processStartInfo
+
+    $process.Start() | Out-Null
+
+    # read output incrementally, it'll block if it writes too much
+    $outputLines = @()
+    Write-Verbose "$ProcessName output:"
+    while (! $process.HasExited) {
+        $output = $process.StandardOutput.ReadLine()
+        Write-Verbose "`t$output"
+        $outputLines += $output
+    }
 
-        $process = New-Object System.Diagnostics.Process
-        $process.StartInfo = $processStartInfo
-        $process.Start() | Out-Null
-        $process.WaitForExit()
+    # get any remaining output
+    $process.WaitForExit()
+    $outputLines += $process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd()
 
-        if (Test-Path -Path $tempPath) {
-            Remove-Item -Path $tempPath -Force -Recurse
-        }
+    $stdOut = $outputLines -join "`n"
 
-        if (-Not ($process.ExitCode -eq 0 )) {
-            $stdOut = $process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd()
-            throw "dotnet cli failed to pack $stdOut"
-        }
+    Write-Verbose "finished running $($processStartInfo.FileName) with exit code $($process.ExitCode)"
+
+    if (($tempPath -ne $null) -and (Test-Path -Path $tempPath)) {
+        Remove-Item -Path $tempPath -Force -Recurse
+    }
 
+    if (-Not ($process.ExitCode -eq 0 )) {
+        # nuget writes errors to stdErr, dotnet writes them to stdOut
+        if ($UseDotnetCli) {
+            $errors = $stdOut
+        }
+        else {
+            $errors = $process.StandardError.ReadToEnd()
+        }
+        throw "$ProcessName failed to pack: error $errors"
     }
 
-    $stdOut = $process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd()
     $stdOut -match "Successfully created package '(.*.nupkg)'" | Out-Null
     $nupkgFullFile = $matches[1]
 
-    $stdOut = $process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd()
-
-    Write-Verbose -Message $stdOut
+    Write-Verbose "Created Nuget Package $nupkgFullFile"
     Write-Output $nupkgFullFile
 }
diff --git a/src/PowerShellGet/private/functions/New-NuspecFile.ps1 b/src/PowerShellGet/private/functions/New-NuspecFile.ps1
index e071d20e..1cc17497 100644
--- a/src/PowerShellGet/private/functions/New-NuspecFile.ps1
+++ b/src/PowerShellGet/private/functions/New-NuspecFile.ps1
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ function New-NuspecFile {
     )
     Set-StrictMode -Off
 
+    Write-Verbose "Calling New-NuspecFile"
+
     $nameSpaceUri = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/packaging/2011/08/nuspec.xsd"
     [xml]$xml = New-Object System.Xml.XmlDocument
 
diff --git a/src/PowerShellGet/private/functions/Publish-NugetPackage.ps1 b/src/PowerShellGet/private/functions/Publish-NugetPackage.ps1
index d410bd30..d470dba4 100644
--- a/src/PowerShellGet/private/functions/Publish-NugetPackage.ps1
+++ b/src/PowerShellGet/private/functions/Publish-NugetPackage.ps1
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ function Publish-NugetPackage {
     )
     Set-StrictMode -Off
 
+    Write-Verbose "Calling Publish-NugetPackage -NupkgPath $NupkgPath -Destination $Destination -NugetExePath $NugetExePath -UseDotnetCli:$UseDotnetCli"
     $Destination = $Destination.TrimEnd("\")
 
     if ($PSCmdlet.ParameterSetName -eq "UseNuget") {
diff --git a/src/PowerShellGet/private/functions/Publish-PSArtifactUtility.ps1 b/src/PowerShellGet/private/functions/Publish-PSArtifactUtility.ps1
index 504ae5c0..33c27453 100644
--- a/src/PowerShellGet/private/functions/Publish-PSArtifactUtility.ps1
+++ b/src/PowerShellGet/private/functions/Publish-PSArtifactUtility.ps1
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ function Publish-PSArtifactUtility {
         $Exclude
     )
 
+    Write-Verbose "Calling Publish-PSArtifactUtility"
     Install-NuGetClientBinaries -CallerPSCmdlet $PSCmdlet -BootstrapNuGetExe
 
     $PSArtifactType = $script:PSArtifactTypeModule