At the time I’m writing this, we have 7 days left in March of 2015, and so far Libsyn is reading 1,109 downloads for the month. This is my first month with 1,000+ downloads for my new podcast! You can read my experience reaching my first 1,000 total downloads here.
I recognize that these numbers do not reflect monthly listeners, because one listener can download multiple podcasts, but it’s the main metric that I’m watching at this point.
I am also tracking a short link that I reference on the blog that accompanies the podcast to see how many people are being referred from my website (along with using google analytics, of course). Finally, I frequently mention my twitter handle to get feedback and see whether or not people are engaging with the shows.
Although I would by no means consider myself a successful podcaster at this point in time, there are a few things that I’ve learned along the way from recording these 20 episodes.
1) Delivery Matters – Be Peppy.
This might seem obvious, but it’s one of those things that is easier said than done. If you’re watching a movie, you will only recommend it to a friend if it’s engaging. If you’re taking a college lecture and the information is very important, but the professor drones on and on, then you’re unlikely to recommend that class to a friend.
After making several mistakes, I realized that I needed to be more animated, peppy, and overall appear more enthusiastic than I was in my podcasts. Don’t get me wrong – I love the subject material of my show and am very passionate about my work, but I’m used to showing that passion through writing or my facial expressions if I’m giving a talk. Learning how to modulate my voice to reflect my actual emotions has been a work in progress.
Granted, the ideal would be that if you’re excited, you should sound excited, and if you’re passionate, you should sound passionate, but it doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes, nerves or the need to think on your feet can get in the way. Anticipating this common occurrence has been a good way to let my genuine passion and enthusiasm translate to the listener.
I think this is a common mistake because I’ve listened to early episodes from top podcasters and they also aren’t as peppy as they are in later episodes.
2) Make Your Your Invited Guest(s) Comfortable
If you haven’t heard of Tim Ferriss, then this is a great podcast episode for anyone interested in becoming an awesome interviewer (especially part 2). It’s an interview with Alex Blumberg and how he encourages guests to share information that will be appealing to the listener.
I’ve been using some of the techniques mentioned in this episode to evoke more compelling emotions, stories, and bits of information from guests which translates into a better episode. Part of this process is making them feel comfortable with talking to you, the host!
Obviously, it depends on the reason that someone comes on your podcast or the type of podcast that you are producing, but I’ve done my best to make the whole experience as informal as possible. I don’t want to conduct a stilted interview that has static questions and pre-memorized answers. I want to have more of a discussion with the guest.
One way I’ve been able to move towards this kind of experience is to incorporate humor, particularly self-deprecating humor, into the conversations. For someone that just met you via Skype or in person, it’s a good way to get them to lower their initial barriers and to begin to develop rapport.
Your job is to make the guest open up about whatever the subject is that you’re talking about. By sharing your own stories, feelings, or experiences, you can encourage them to share their own as well. Ultimately, feeling that you are being listened to and understood makes the overall experience feel more welcoming and positive.
3) Be Patient and Work to Understand the Guest.
I’ve run into the feeling a few times like “I need to get to the questions now!” with some guests. Maybe we were veering off on some topic or not getting into the interview fast enough for my liking. I’ve realized that this is 100% my fault.
First of all, I think that sending your guest questions in advance and other podcasts that you’ve conducted will set them more at ease with the overall layout or format. They won’t be grasping to come up with things to say or to transition in some way if they know that you have a pre-planned conversation course.
At the same time, it’s also important to set them at ease if they are there to sell something. Communicate that you will be helping them make listeners aware of the product and will mention it yourself several times throughout the podcast, so that they don’t have to. They can just concentrate on their experience or whatever it is you’re asking them.
Whenever I have been speaking with a guest who spent a particular long time on some aspect of their history or their product, rather than getting antsy that I’m veering off the agenda I want to cover, I use it as an opportunity to understand them deeper. Clearly whatever topic they are talking about is a big motivator in what they are doing now, and therefore it is an important part of their story.
4) Paint a Picture in Your Viewer’s Mind
Unlike Youtube or television, listeners have only one way to interact with your content. They can’t tell what you’re thinking, what you’re looking at, or how you’re feeling when they hear your podcast. Therefore, you need to make them feel or see these things through stories and tangible descriptions.
I’ve made the mistake where I’m halfway through a section of a podcast and I realize that the listener probably doesn’t fully understand or realize what I’m talking about because I’ve failed to describe some product or website in-depth.
Even though I’m forming a mental picture about how, say, “you can automate your social media with Buffer”, it’s likely that the listener doesn’t know what that software program is. Therefore, just saying “a free social media scheduling service like Buffer” will give more context. I would then go into a little bit more depth of how the particular website works.
5) Automate The Entire Process
This depends on how responsible of a person you are. If you’re like me, who has 1,000 different things going on in their life, it’s probably best to set yourself up on some kind of podcasting schedule.
For example, in the past several month’s I released podcasts on Fridays. I’m now experimenting with a higher frequency, but this initial schedule has taken a lot of the headache away from the process and lead to consistent growth.
In addition, I made a rule that I would have at least one week’s worth of podcasts set up in advance. That way, I wouldn’t be rushing to find guests or edit the mp3 files. I liked this rule so much, I pre-recorded the podcasts for one month entirely in advance.
What have you learned?
I’d love to hear what you’ve learned from podcasting thus far and how long you’ve been doing it! Let me know in a comment below and I’ll get back to you ASAP :).
