Podcast Pontifications

Humans tend to seek out digital content in one (or more) of three ways:

1. They trust a trusted source: People are happy to let others do the sorting for them, so long as those doing the sorting are trustworthy. The audience trusts that every day, week, month, or whatever the frequency, quality content will be delivered. This trust gives the provider a lot of latitude. A trusting audience is often a forgiving audience.

Many podcasts (like mine) clearly are trying to be seen as a trusted source. We generate content not because someone specifically asked for it. Our listeners (and readers) trust us to generate the content they need to hear. 

2. They seek out timely data: Even though we’re subscribed to our trusted sources, we often have immediate needs. Luckily, we all have search engines at our fingertips. 

But even with Google trying to insert podcast episodes in search results, this space is problematic for podcasts, especially if the nugget of information someone is looking for is buried deep inside a 45-minute episode. 

3. They look for infotainment: Some knowledge requires more than a glancing exposure, and a lot of it needs a full-on deep-dive. And most of all, we humans love a good story. Properly presented, informative deep-dives can be quite entertaining.

This is where podcasting can (and often does) shine, especially when it’s presented as a series of well-crafted episodes. If we make the story compelling, we can hook people into listening to a dozen episodes. 

But where does your podcast fit? 

Developing trust is easy if you already have a big following elsewhere, or are well-respected in another medium, or happen to be a celebrity. But for the rest of us without a big name or a big organization behind us, asking people to listen to or subscribe to our podcast is a very big ask.\

Producing timely data requires a great deal of effort for podcasters trying to stay in-step with the news cycle. And if you force someone to slog through your non-sequiturs or meanders before you deliver the goods 45 minutes later, then listening to your podcast is too big of an ask for someone who's looking for something very specific.

Figuring out a multi-episode, seasonal arc that digs deep, with compelling storytelling at every turn until the story is fully told is really, really hard. Can you find a worthy story and make it interesting enough to keep someone listening to a dozen episodes? Because if the story isn’t that compelling, or if you cannot pull off great storytelling with every episode, then it's too big of an ask to get people to sit through all of it.

Think about the kind of content you produce. Or the content you want to produce. Or the content you think you’re producing. Now think about which of the three scenarios above you’re trying to work toward with your content with one question in mind:

How big is your ask?

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Podcast Pontifications is published by Evo Terra four times a week and is designed to make podcasting better, not just easier.

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And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit SimplerMedia.pro to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th. Abortion is a basic healthcare need for the millions of people who can become pregnant. Everyone should have the freedom to decide what’s best for themselves and their families, including when it comes to ending a pregnancy. This decision has dire consequences for individual health and safety, and could have harsh repercussions for other landmark decisions. Restricting access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion, threatens the health and independence of all Americans. Even if you live in a state where abortion rights are upheld, access to safe medical procedures shouldn’t be determined by location, and it shouldn't be the privilege of a small few. You can help by donating to local abortion funds. To find out where to donate for each state, visit donations4abortion.com. If you or someone you know needs help, or if you want to get more involved, here are 5 resources: 1. ShoutYourAbortion.com is a campaign to normalize abortion. 2. DontBanEquality.com is a campaign for companies to take a stand against abortion restrictions. 3. Abortion.cafe has information about where to find clinics. 4. PlanCPills.org provides early at-home abortion pills that you can keep in your medicine cabinet. 5. Choice.CRD.co has a collection of these resources and more. We encourage you to speak up! And spread the word.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy
Podsights - https://podsights.com/privacy