My podcast provider emailed the other day to sing about the number of new podcasts that have started since the UK went further into self-isolation measures to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
Once the serious stuff is to one side, there’s no reason why someone who’s so used to being around people, with great chat and great ideas, shouldn’t record themselves and put it all out to the world…goodness knows the world is screaming for accessible content right now.
Don’t jump straight in though, remember, there are a few more podcasts knocking around beyond the 700,000 already in existence before our world changed so drastically.
To make it stand out:
- Find that bit of you that no-one else has and lead with it! You might be just talking about what’s going on, what working from home or home schooling is like but thousands are doing the same. How does it affect YOU? What was YOUR plan from the start when these measures came in? It might be the same thing thousands are feeling, but you should lead with that…in your title or your podcast mission statement.
- Structure with breaks. Just like working from home, your podcast listeners want a break from things. Insert smaller bits of info on other subjects in a couple of places during your podcast. That way it breaks up your content and allows the listener to breathe.
- Bank some stuff. Don’t do it all live, there and then. A quick stop to think what things you’d like to regularly have in each podcast (those benchmarks that it becomes known for) could be banked as one separate recording and split up to use across your series. This way you don’t have to keep switching mindsets during your show and losing your way.
- Feelings. Know how you’d like to leave your listener feeling and never lose track. Always have a sentence or statement to work back to when wondering if something should go in. Too many podcasts have a great subject matter but lose their way when the host or hosts go off on a tangent…no one has that big an attention span, even in self-isolation.
- Isolate with words. Right now people listening need a pal, someone talking to them to help them out. Leave out phrases like ‘hey guys’ and ‘hey everyone’ and bring in ones like ‘hello you’ ‘it’s great to have you along’ and make the listener feel like it’s just THEM you are talking to and they’re not an insignificant number in a large group.
For anymore help or advice, email me, richard@giftedgab.co.uk