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Appealing to the needs of your listener base is key to
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making a successful podcast.
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But there's one listener who has slightly different needs than the rest.
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Make sure you're fulfilling their needs too.
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Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.
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What does listening to your own show fulfill for you?
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What need does listening to your own show fulfill for you?
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Not what do you get out of making a show.
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I've talked extensively about how the act of creating a show impacts you
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as a person, either professionally or personally, or maybe both of those things.
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So, yeah, keep on hitting that endorphin button, keep overcoming
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challenges, keep learning.
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All of that is good for you to do as a podcaster.
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What I want you to think about today is what is it that you get out of
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experiencing your own show as a listener?
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And hopefully your answer to that question isn't, "Well, gee, Evo,
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I don't listen to my own show.
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I've done that enough as I produced it."
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Okay.
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First, no, you haven't.
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And second, seriously?
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Listen to your own show, your own episodes when it's done like a listener would.
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Now, back to those of us who do find value in listening to our
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own shows, why do you do it?
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What itch does it scratch for you?
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Do you do it because you want to get better at the craft of podcasting?
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Look, I'm sure you listen to other podcasts, but you can't
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know why certain decisions were made by those other podcasters.
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Not unless, of course, you're listening to the new show 3 Clips.
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Or, the new host for the new season of 3 Clips - 3clipspodcast.com.
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Anyhow.
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You know what, and also the why you did things in your own production process.
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Listening back to your episode lets you know whether or not
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it worked in situ, as it were.
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Even long-term podcasters, present company included, are on the constant
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improvement train, more or less.
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Some of us listen intently, less like a listener would and more like
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an athlete reviewing game footage with their finger on the pause and
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rewind buttons, taking hours to go over just a few minutes of footage.
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Is that you?
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Do you listen to your podcast like a listener to give yourself reinforcement
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that you're doing a good job and that you know what you're talking about?
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Is listening back to yourself some sort of self-affirmation ritual
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to prove something to yourself?
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There's nothing wrong with that.
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Podcasting, like any creative endeavor, can make you feel quite vulnerable.
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Listening back the way listeners listen can boost your self-confidence
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and give you proof that, yeah, you are good enough to keep going.
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Maybe it's orthogonal to that and you listen to your podcast episodes to
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keep you humble because in isolation it is easy to - well, all the aphorisms
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I can think of are a bit crude - so let's just say become full of oneself.
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And if you're not getting much or any feedback from your audience, maybe
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you're not getting peers to listen, or at least those peers that do listen,
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they're not talking back to you, it's up to yourself to keep yourself in check
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because what seemed good in the moment of production may not sound as impactful,
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deep, or as witty in situ after all.
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In a similar vein, maybe you listen for self-preservation reasons.
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Chances are someone is listening to your show.
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Your peers might be listening to your podcast.
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Your competition might be listening to your podcast.
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People you want to make good impressions on, they could be listening.
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So you listening back can help ensure that nothing dumb was
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said by you on an episode.
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Or, just better that you were really putting your best foot forward.
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Or maybe listening back to your own podcast's published
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episodes keeps you on mission.
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It lets you be a bit more objective, listening can, at least more objective
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than when you're actually producing it and convinced this is going to work.
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Listening back helps you understand if, in fact, the product you're putting
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out hits the right notes, that it's likely a good fit for who it is for
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and is, in fact, why they are there.
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The headline here in case I've been too subtle is to convince you of, not just
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the importance of listening to your own content, but to give you some ideas of
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how to listen back to your own content, what mindset to take, what sorts of
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things you might get from listening, or you need to work to get from listening.
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Maybe some things you have not yet thought of.
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Me, personally, it's a mix of everything I mentioned why I listen back to
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my content with a hard emphasis on ensuring that I am on mission.
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My mission is to make podcasting better with these episodes, and I want to
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listen back to make sure that I'm doing that with each and every one of these.
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But what about you?
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What does listening to your own show fulfill for you?
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What need does it fulfill for you?
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I would love to hear from you about that.
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Send me an email, would you?
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Evo@simpler.media.
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Or hit me up on Twitter where I am @EvoTerra.
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Or you can go to podcastpontifications.com and leave a comment or a voicemail now.
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With that, I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.
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Cheers!
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Podcast Pontifications is written and narrated by Evo Terra.
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He's on a mission to make podcasting better.
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Links to everything mentioned in today's episode are in the notes
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section of your podcast listening app.
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A written-to-be-read article based on today's episode is available at
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podcastpontifications.com where you'll also find a video version and a corrected
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transcript, both created by Allie Press.
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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media.
