Podcast Pontifications

What happened to all the tech advancements that were supposed to change podcasting forever and usher in a brand new era for us?

GTP-3 promised that machine learning algorithm would write better scripts and text for our podcasts. Drop-in or social audio was supposed to, if not replace podcasting, then at least be a viable option for podcasters who’d rather do a live show...

Podcasters face huge pressures to do more. Some of those pressures are self-motivated and internal. But a lot of times, they’re external from people who expect you to do more in podcasting. And don’t forget that all of us are living through a time of extreme growth and disruption in podcasting.

So you work hard to be everywhere you can, trying to connect with everyone you can...

I’m not quite as worried about the rise of the celebrity podcast, because I know the internet is big enough to hold indie and celebrity podcasts.

But I do agree celebrities have a leg up when it comes to “discoverability”. And that is that podcast listening apps love celebrity podcasts. Curators of those apps trip over themselves to get the latest celebrity podcast in front of every user of their app...

Many podcasters find it very hard to edit interviews with their guests. They say This conversation was great from start to finish, and my audience is going to love every single word! I’m not cutting a thing!

But it probably wasn’t. And they probably won’t. 

Others think that removing excess filler words, shortening up long pauses, or correcting stumbled answers is good enough. And sometimes it is. But it may not be enough to make your podcast stand out...

I’ve been telling you for weeks that I’ve blocked off the entire week to attend Podcast Movement ‘21, even though I’m not attending in person. I’ll be watching from my living room, probably attending many more sessions than I’ve ever done at a conference in person.

I thought, incorrectly, that I’d still have time to do my early morning Podcast Pontifications stuff. When I looked at the times in the app, it showed 9 or later start times...

When facing flatline audience numbers, many podcasters turn to various marketing tactics. Perhaps you do need to spend more time on and with your social media. Maybe you need a big name guest who’ll share the episode with their big fan base. Or maybe you need to be a guest on more on other podcasts. Perhaps it’s time to spend some money on advertising your show.

And you know what? Some of those tactics may work for you...

Begging your listeners to tell others about your podcast will only get you so far. Getting more people to do it starts by understanding what people love about your podcast and why they keep listening.

Today, we’re unpacking the first bullet point from a slide from Tom Webster’s excellent opening keynote at Podcast Movement 21 last week:

Know who you are for, and why they are there...