Podcast Pontifications

Podcasters have a reputation for being more than a little rambly. They often dive into various tangents and talk at length on trivial matters when listeners just wish they would get to the point. Some equate the bad behavior of podcasters to that of politicians. But I don't think that's a fair comparison. 

I’m used to hearing from senators in soundbites, usually clipped from their brief appearances on political talk shows, other interviews given, or stump speeches. Last week was the first time I really paid attention to them in situ, as it were. And almost to a person, they were fantastic communicators. Heck, even the bad ones (and there are plenty of bad ones) were actually quite good at getting their point across in short, less-than-five-minute speeches.

No, I'm not suggesting that you constrain all of your episodes to five minutes. (Although, if you can boil your message down and effectively communicate it to your audience in only five minutes, then why are you going than that?) The lesson here is finding a way to incorporate a chunk of “conciseness” into each of your episodes.

For longer-form interview-based shows, look to the pre- or post-interview sections of your episodes. That's a great place to drop in a concise chunk that summarizes the angle you and the guest covered. 

For monologue shows, start each episode super-tight. No fluff. No banter. No sharing what you had for breakfast. Clearly outline what you’re about to talk about. Or write out an entire script if you can pull it off. Just make sure the episode starts on-point.

If you're doing an educational or “how-to” podcast, blend those two ideas. Produce the main content of the episode, then come back with a super-tight intro that hooks the listener.

This can work for podcast fiction, true crime, or journalistic deep dives too. It just takes a bit more planning, as you’re following (or should be following) an arc across multiple episodes. One idea is to rely on the “Story So Far” approach, where you summarize what’s taken place in the prior episodes and foreshadow what’s to come in this episode. 

The message here is simple: Embrace, re-embrace, or build your skills as an orator. Because it's easy for a podcaster to sit behind a microphone and talk. It’s another thing to prepare and polish enough to talk on-point for a short amount of time. That's tricky. 

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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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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