This episode of the All New Sounding Podcasting Insights
may well shock you. Not because it's gonna be
particularly controversial, but because it's going to be
talking about something which runs counter
to the very thing that my business, Podnos
Podcasting, actually makes money from when
clients work with us. And that is
strategy. And why I think that many
podcasters don't actually need a new
strategy. They just need better feedback.
And when I'm talking about feedback, I'm not talking about the polite kind,
you know, not notes about pacing or transitions
or whether the audio sounds great. What they
actually need is someone to tell them that uncomfortable
truth about what it feels like to listen.
Because here's the thing. A lot of podcasts aren't
actually bad. They're just
massively forgettable. You know, they're competent,
they're structured, they're fine. And
fine is the most dangerous place that a podcast can be.
Fine is mediocrity. Fine is getting
caught in that trap of just publishing content
for publishing content's sake. It's about
ticking off the task from your calendar, week in,
week out. Oh, look, it's Wednesday
podcast recording day. You see, from the
very beginning, the energy you're carrying into that is off.
And the listener will definitely pick up on that lacking energy.
Without the energy, you don't have the strong opening. And when I'm
talking about a strong opening, I'm not just talking about the tone.
I'm talking about answering the question every
listener is silently asking you in the first
30 seconds of your episode.
Why should I care right now? I
mean, scripts can help with clarity. For sure, they can, but
connection comes from delivery, from sounding like a human
who actually believes the thing that they're saying.
I'm not going to be a hypocrite about this. Of course, transitions, how you
place your ads, the pacing, the
strategically placed silences, all of that does matter,
but none of it compensates for a lack of point of view.
So when people say they want feedback on their podcast, what
they usually mean is, tell me how I can polish this.
What they should actually be asking you is, well,
is this actually earning someone's time? I'm going to ask you
now, is this podcast in the various
formats that I've tried with it, is
it worth your time? I'm not changing
formats because the show doesn't work. Believe me, the show works.
I have the listeners that are in my stats. I look at Apple
podcasts and I see how many followers it's got. I look at Spotify
less. So there's as someone very helpfully pointed out on
LinkedIn the other day. But the thing is,
I want this to resonate with you. I want this to make impact on
you. I want your podcasting life
to feel a difference from what I am publishing
for your ears through this channel.
Is this show earning your time? Because growth
doesn't usually come from doing more or doing differently.
It comes from being braver about what already exists.
It comes from taking what you've done, literally
screwing it up into a ball and throwing it in the bin.
And that's kind of what I've done with this podcast. Right now. You'll hear the
difference in the format. And so I want your feedback to
this. Most people never get that feedback.
I'm hoping I'll get it from you. Because
to come back to my opening point, most podcasters
don't need a new strategy. They need better feedback.
And not the polite kind. Thanks so much for listening
to this episode of Podcasting Insights. I've been Neil
Velio the Podmaster, and I'm thanking you for your
time listening this week. If you think anybody else would
find it useful, do. Please feel free to share it with them. And if you
haven't yet, follow the show in your favorite
podcast app.