Everyone leads busy lives, and the smart podcaster
Evo Terra:doesn't waste their audience's time.
Evo Terra:But in your quest to tighten things up, don't forget to build in
Evo Terra:reflecting time to let your audience, well, reflect as they listen.
Evo Terra:Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.
Evo Terra:A few episodes ago, I talked about five ways to serve the changing
Evo Terra:needs of your audience because the needs of audiences are changing.
Evo Terra:Their needs are changing with every single new podcast they follow, with
Evo Terra:every new newsletter they subscribe to, and honestly, with every new
Evo Terra:source added to their media diet.
Evo Terra:Now, smart podcasters will change to fit those changing needs.
Evo Terra:Specifically, I talked briefly about how your audience may want you to go deeper.
Evo Terra:But you've been investing in longer episodes, which
Evo Terra:isn't quite the same thing.
Evo Terra:Or maybe you've been investing in more frequent content, either with
Evo Terra:more episodes, maybe increasing your normal output, like putting
Evo Terra:out bonus content, perhaps.
Evo Terra:Or even launching an additional show that covers a slightly different
Evo Terra:angle on the exact same topic.
Evo Terra:Now on the surface, each of those moves sure sounds like you're going to be going
Evo Terra:deeper onto a topic, and perhaps you are.
Evo Terra:Sure, I'll grant you that, but at the cost of more time.
Evo Terra:That's a cost your audience has to pay to get the depth they really desire.
Evo Terra:But that's not really depth you're giving, that's breadth.
Evo Terra:Breadth is important for sure.
Evo Terra:Breadth is required, if you will, on your journey to understand the topic of
Evo Terra:your show, developing a mere encyclopedic knowledge of your domain will make you
Evo Terra:a much better podcaster and a much more valuable podcaster in the eyes, or maybe
Evo Terra:the ears or the brains, of your audience because they get to reap the benefits
Evo Terra:of the breadth of your knowledge without having to acquire that same breadth.
Evo Terra:What they really want you to do, or what they likely will want you to
Evo Terra:do, is get to the point faster by distilling your breadth of knowledge
Evo Terra:down to the depth that they desire.
Evo Terra:It's not easy for people with vast amounts of knowledge in their brains
Evo Terra:in one particular area to deliver a concise, tight presentation on any
Evo Terra:given aspect of their knowledge.
Evo Terra:And no, I'm not talking from an egotistical point of
Evo Terra:view right now, I promise.
Evo Terra:Listen, that's a reality you've probably experienced at
Evo Terra:least once in your lifetime.
Evo Terra:Maybe a rambling speech someone gave.
Evo Terra:A novella-sized email you received.
Evo Terra:Or a podcast episode that just drones on and on without a point to stop.
Evo Terra:And that's right, podcasters, we're no exception to this.
Evo Terra:So rather than refining our scripts or being relentless in what content we
Evo Terra:edit out of our episodes, we look for filler content that's easy for us to cut.
Evo Terra:We think making those cuts are helping, and oftentimes
Evo Terra:they are, but they may not be.
Evo Terra:We're employing tools to quickly cut out all of those filler words
Evo Terra:from our episodes automatically, without even listening to the
Evo Terra:context where sometimes those filler words really help make our point.
Evo Terra:We're replacing our long, rambly questions - lord knows I do that
Evo Terra:when I interview people - with much shorter ones in post-editing.
Evo Terra:That'll save us, like, fifteen seconds for each time we ask a question.
Evo Terra:But then we're leaving in the guest's long, rambly,
Evo Terra:five-minute answer in our episode.
Evo Terra:We relentlessly look to tighten up every single pause to make our episodes snappy.
Evo Terra:We narrow all of the gaps between sections to get to our next point faster,
Evo Terra:oftentimes while our audience is still contemplating the point we just made.
Evo Terra:We do those things because we're trying to shove more information in less time.
Evo Terra:But when audiences are looked at as a whole, they seem to be asking
Evo Terra:for something different, not more, but better, deeper, more valuable.
Evo Terra:Part of deeper is giving your audience time to reflect.
Evo Terra:Not after your episode is over, they're already on to the next episode in
Evo Terra:their queue when that happens, but as you are delivering your episodes.
Evo Terra:Remember that your audience isn't sitting quietly with eyes closed as they listen
Evo Terra:intently to what it is you have to say.
Evo Terra:No!
Evo Terra:They're doing the dishes.
Evo Terra:They're driving to an appointment.
Evo Terra:Or working out.
Evo Terra:Standing in line at the post office.
Evo Terra:They may not realize the big buildup you're working towards as you come
Evo Terra:to the point you're about to make.
Evo Terra:So it's up to you to sculpt that point, use silence, bed music, repetition
Evo Terra:of words, or other ways to ensure the clarity of your message and that you
Evo Terra:delivered what you were trying to deliver.
Evo Terra:If you're going to go deep, you have to also deliver on clarity.
Evo Terra:So yes, of course, tighten up where you can.
Evo Terra:Yes, chop up your questions, summarize your guest's responses, and re-ask
Evo Terra:your questions if you need to.
Evo Terra:But also leave room in your audio for reflection.
Evo Terra:Let some of those silences border on uncomfortable.
Evo Terra:Let the bed music continue after you've made your point for much longer
Evo Terra:than maybe you think that it should.
Evo Terra:Let your audience hear those few seconds while your guest was really thinking
Evo Terra:of how to best answer your question.
Evo Terra:The parts of your episode where no one is talking are the parts where
Evo Terra:your audience's brains do the talking.
Evo Terra:That's how they get deeper into your episodes.
Evo Terra:That's how they feel like you're letting them be a part of the conversation.
Evo Terra:With that, I shall be back directly with yet another Podcast Pontifications.
Evo Terra:Cheers!
Evo Terra:Podcast Pontifications is written and narrated by Evo Terra.
Evo Terra:He's on a mission to make podcasting better.
Evo Terra:Links to everything mentioned in today's episode are in the notes
Evo Terra:section of your podcast listening app.
Evo Terra:A written-to-be-read article based on today's episode is available at
Evo Terra:podcastpontifications.com where you'll also find a video version and a corrected
Evo Terra:transcript, both created by Allie Press.
Evo Terra:Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media.