Podcast Pontifications

Whether we know it or not, our podcasts and the episodes we produce change our listeners. And if they listen to the episodes of our podcasts long enough, that change can become permanent. 

Some podcasters lean into that. Like Danny van Leeuwen on his podcast, Health Hats. His tagline is “Learn with people on the journey toward best health”, which clearly sets his intention to effect positive change on the health of his listeners.

But podcasters too experience permanent change as we produce our episodes. As we engage in the act of podcasting, some of the change we’re putting out into the world flows back on us.

Neil Hedley uses his podcast, The Snooze Button, to actively seek out solutions to his ongoing struggles against insomnia. He brings on guests, both expert and experienced, so that he and his audience can learn together. 

But for the majority of podcasters, change is just something that happens to them as they progress through the podcasting process. It’s possible that the changes are too subtle for them to notice on an episode-by-episode scale. But if you zoom out, and really examine your thoughts and ideas a year ago or five years ago, you’ll likely realize that you too have been changed by your podcasting efforts. Your journey, as my nomadic friends have told me for years, changes who you are.

Please don’t ascribe deeper meanings like “be the change you want to be in your own life” to my words. I’ve no interest in being saddled with the “guru” mantle. I’m a firm believer that people really are pretty much the people they really are deep down inside. I don’t think people change who they are at their core. Instead, changes visible to the outside world are evidence of us revealing our true selves. Some of us really are the scorpion trying our best to present a more frog-like nature to the world.

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Read the full article and share with a friend: https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/a-podcasts-power-to-change-people-and-the-podcaster

Follow Evo on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your support.

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Podcast Pontifications is published by Evo Terra four times a week and is designed to make podcasting better, not just easier.

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

It's 2021, my dudes, and there exists a way to keep content completely relevant to the audience regardless of when or where they access our content. As proof, I suggest you listen to the first episode of the podcast for Sounds Profitable. 

Even if you don’t care (or don’t think you care) about podcast advertising, you need to listen to Bryan’s podcast. At least the first episode. It’s less than 30 minutes long. But allow me to explain why you’ll be blown away within the first few minutes and then have to keep listening.

We as podcasters have to stop thinking of our episodes as complete when we export them from our DAW. We also have to stop thinking of dynamic insertion as content that “breaks” or “interrupts” the listening experience of our audience. That’s outdated thinking that misses the point—and the befits—of dynamically inserted content.

If we instead think of our show’s “fixed” content and “dynamic” content working in concert with one another, we can assemble an episode that makes for a much better podcast listening experience. Which, I’d wager, is something all podcasters would really like to do. 

With Bryan’s episode, we’re:

• keeping his podcast’s episodes timeless with dynamic content
• personally thanking his supporters one by one on every episode, but not every episode you hear
• pever asking Spotify listeners to rate and review his podcast on Apple Podcasts
• making his podcast listeners feel at home with localized messaging
• giving a different listening experience for podcast subscribers vs episode streamers

And that’s just the start!

I’m really proud of what Bryan is doing with dynamic content in his new podcast. I love how he’s exploiting adtech not just to flood his episodes with ads, but as a way to increase both the relevance and personability of the episodes for his listeners. 

My hosting provider—Captivate.fm, where I sit on the Advisory Board—is soon rolling out dynamic content capabilities. I plan on pushing hard against the edges of AMIE, Captivate’s dynamic tool, as soon as I can. 

One thing I know I’ll do first is find a way to give my supporters a voice on the show. So if you want in on that, go to BuyMeACoffee.com/evoterra and become a member. I'll be reaching out to members individually and letting them know how I’ll incorporate them into the show. Yes, you want in on that!

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Read the full article and share with a friend: https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/making-your-podcast-better-with-dynamic-content

Follow Evo on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your support.

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Podcast Pontifications is published by Evo Terra four times a week and is designed to make podcasting better, not just easier.

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

We live in a world where many of us are getting sick of video-based communications and content.

For a year now video has been forced upon us. We’re doing work on video. We’re going to school on video. We use video calls to have happy hours with friends and even celebrate holidays with family via video cameras. We’re trying to stay in shape by using video workouts. And depressingly, we’re even attending funerals via video.

A growing trend I’m noticing is lots of blank screens when a participant chooses to not activate their video camera. It’s not that they can’t activate their camera. It’s a choice made by many people who are already sick of video.

I’m finding myself using audio-only as an escape. It helps to remember the role the original escapist media—books—played (and plays) in the larger media landscape. Books predate and have yet to be replaced by movies or television. Nor will they be replaced. At least not anytime soon. Video, be it movies, television, or streaming, didn't kill books. Just like video—any of those forms—is not going to go podcasting. 

I need to acknowledge the power of how-to video content. Chances are, whatever you want to do; someone has done it on camera and loaded it to YouTube for you to watch.

But a lot of people turn to how-to information when they are stuck in the middle of a process. Getting the video to play just the part where help is needed isn’t yet a reality. And video creators are notorious for not bothering to write up accompanying text. Why should they? It’s all in the video. Text would really help. A fully written article based on that video is skimmable. And indexable. And extremely helpful to someone who’s stuck in the middle process. 

I don’t think podcasting will naturally evolve into video anytime soon Of course, I reserve the right to change my opinion on that as new disruptive forces put pressure on audio and video in the coming years. 

Until that time, you keep on making amazing podcasts. And yes, your episodes probably could also do with a little more writing to accompany them. But that's on you.

Tomorrow I’m again hosting Podcast Pontifications on Clubhouse. No, I’m not recording an episode of the show on Clubhouse. I’m hosting a conversation with Podcast Pontifications listeners like yourself. We’ll be talking about how podcasters who have been in the game for a while can keep up with the rapid changes in podcasting.

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Read the full article and share with a friend: https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/

Follow Evo on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your support.

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Podcast Pontifications is published by Evo Terra four times a week and is designed to make podcasting better, not just easier.

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

I'm afraid of becoming irrelevant to the world of podcasting.  Not outdated. And not even unimportant. Simply irrelevant. 

My assumption is that the longer one is in the podcasting game, the more changes to the game have been witnessed, and that feeling of irrelevance or obsolescence starts to build. 

Perhaps my own self-evaluation and coming to terms with it might help when those feelings hit you. Or if they’ve hit you already.

Upping my game certainly helps. I’ve brought a slew of people-better-than-me into my life in recent years. But the smartest move I’ve made thus far is working closely with Sam Walker of ex-BBC and current Desert Diaries fame. 

Trying out innovative and disruptive forces that impact podcasting helps. Hence my current focus on tools like Descript and Clubhouse. 

Establishing and keeping strong ties with the generation(s) of working podcasters that came after my wave is key. So thank you, Steph from Edit Audio and Brian from Sounds Profitable!

Sitting on advisory boards of some podcasting-related companies certainly helps. A big shout out to both Captivate.fm and Maps.fm for formally asking me to sit on their advisory boards.

But even with all of that... I'm still afraid of becoming irrelevant. I’ve never been one to talk much about my feelings, but here we. 

If you can, join me on Clubhouse to talk this out on Friday, Jan 29th at 11:00a Phoenix time for an actual conversation about how we keep ourselves fresh and current so we keep those feelings of irrelevancy at bay. 

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Read the full article and share with a friend: https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/the-battle-against-irrelevancy-in-podcasting

Follow Evo on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your support.

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Podcast Pontifications is published by Evo Terra four times a week and is designed to make podcasting better, not just easier.

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

When controversy breaks, should you consider throwing your proverbial hat into the ring? If you don’t normally cover current events and have niched-down your focus, the decision to wade into controversy should be a considered one. 

1. Is the topic worth it? - If you’re going to interrupt your normally not-controversial production efforts to present your opinions of an argument, the controversy at hand probably needs to be a pretty big one. Minor annoyances and trivial matters (recognizing you have to define those terms for yourself) likely aren’t worth the risks, as you’re about to see. 

2. Is your podcast the right platform? - If your podcast is all about brass polishing, but you’re really passionate about the plight of bald eagles, is your podcast the right venue to raise the issue? If your opinion runs counter to conventional wisdom—and I’m all about opinions that run counter to conventional wisdom—are you the right messenger? 

3. Does your audience want you to be controversial? Some of your listeners appreciate the safe harbor your show offers them and may be taken aback by the shift in your tone as you veer out of your lane to cover a controversial topic.  But on the other side of that are those listeners who appreciate your engagement in an important topic who will appreciate knowing you’re an ally. Assuming you’re offering the opinion they want to hear, that is.

If you answered all three of those questions in the affirmative, you next need to decide how deeply to dive into the topic.

You may choose to go all in, dedicating an entire series of episodes to give maximum exposure to the controversy at hand, bringing in experts and flexing your latent journalistic skill set. 

More likely, you may decide to devote an entire episode to the topic.

You could opt for a simpler solution and dedicate a portion or segment of an episode to the controversy. 

Your best move may be to make your opinion a bonus episode. One that lives outside the flow of your normal episodes and is properly titled and tagged so that listeners can choose to listen or not. 

Whichever option you choose, you need to check back in. Because publishing a podcast has consequences. Set up a monitoring program for your name and the name of your podcast. Don’t assume that detractors or supporters will properly tag you. You have to seek it out. 

Personally, I'm not afraid of controversy, and I rarely shy away from it. 

But only you can decide whether or not to make today's controversy your next episode.

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Read the full article and share with a friend: https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/is-todays-controversy-tomorrows-podcast-episode

Follow Evo on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your support.

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Podcast Pontifications is published by Evo Terra four times a week and is designed to make podcasting better, not just easier.

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

It may be an over-reach on my part, but it seems that every book, every course, and every workshop is about creating a successful podcast. A successful podcast that will reach hundreds, thousands, or maybe even millions of people.

But… is having a huge and monetizable show the only measurement of success?

People take creative writing classes, participate in writing groups, and pay for seminars to get better at the craft of writing. Yes, that’s the only reason.

Painters spend lots of time—and money—in the art supply store as they strive to become a better painter for the singular purpose of placing onto canvas what they see with their eyes.

Photographers invest in crazy amounts of expensive cameras because framing just the right picture makes their experience of the place that much better and enjoyable for them.

Singer/songwriters who only ever play at open mic nights or around a campfire with friends still take lessons to improve their voice or their guitar chops.

The comedians at your local comedy club or improv troop often take classes to hone their craft just so they put on better performances for the sparse audience in attendance.

Even with organizations like Toastmasters, people sign up to become better public speakers with little interest in becoming in-demand keynote speakers on stages the world over.

Yes, all of these creative endeavors offer some a commercial path. A way to earn money—for beer, for a living wage, or for wealth-accumulation—that, for a few, will certainly be successful. But Most don’t take the class, attend the workshop, or buy the book so that they can monetize their creativity. They take the class, attend the workshop, and buy the books so that they can become better at their creative expressions.

We need to understand that while those of us working in podcasting can—and do—get caught up in how to measure, what to measure, and what to present as an accurate measurement; most podcasters just want to be successfully creative. 

I’m not advocating for a clear delineation between “serious” podcasters and “hobbyist” podcasters. But I am advocating that we—me included—try to be more cognizant of the purely-creative podcasters. And I’m urging you—and me—to remember that they far outnumber us.

Let's make sure we’re doing our part to help others become successful in their own desires to become more creative.

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Read the full article and share with a friend: https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/the-joy-of-successfully-creative-podcasting

Follow Evo on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your support.

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Podcast Pontifications is published by Evo Terra four times a week and is designed to make podcasting better, not just easier.

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

Every podcast is a promise. Are you and your show still living up to that promise? You’ve probably changed, which is good and natural. But have you changed the promise you’re making to new listeners?

In podcast listening apps, you made overt promises made that compel searchers or browsers to become subscribers or followers. When’s the last time you reviewed that text and held those promises up against the episodes you’re making today?  

How current are the promises made in your media kit? Your stats are probably frequently updated. But what about the rest?

If you outsource the writing of your in-app episode details (I refuse to call them “show notes”); when is the last time you reviewed those to make sure the tone and style of that text match the tone and style of your show? 

How about the bios that live in your social media properties? Or the bios for the social media properties you established for your podcast? Do they still accurately establish promises your podcast can keep?

If you’re sending out newsletters or using email marketing, you should check all of your automatic email sends to make sure they’re in line with your show’s new promises too.

All of those—and more—establish promises with your listeners. Perhaps before they became a listener. But now they are listening. Are the episodes they are listening to living up to those promises?

But maybe, after reexamining those promises you made, you realize that you’ve drifted away from your True North without realizing it. Perhaps that original promise you set is important to you, and you want to get back to it. Well… now you know.

And now, a tangent while I give you links to some upcoming Clubhouse things:

• Tonight, PHX Podcast Club is hosting a virtual happy hour on Clubhouse at 6:00 PM MT. 
• Tomorrow, Friday, Jan 22, 2021 at 11:00 AM MT, I’ll host another Podcast Pontifications on Clubhouse event where we’ll talk together about empathy and podcasting on Clubhouse. 
• This coming Sunday at 9:00 AM PHX time (4:00 PM London, midnight Hong Kong), I'm hosting another Podcast Fiction Sunday on Clubhouse. It’s an open-forum room where listeners of podcast fiction can get together and talk about the shows we can't stop listening to, and maybe find a few new gems.

(Yes I know that’s a lot of real estate to devote to a platform that is invite-only and iOS-only. But social audio is here to stay, and it’s of obvious relevance to podcasting. So I’m going to stick with Clubhouse for a while.)

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Read the full article and share with a friend: https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/living-up-to-the-promises-you-made-with-your-podcast

Follow Evo on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your support.

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Podcast Pontifications is published by Evo Terra four times a week and is designed to make podcasting better, not just easier.

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

I have some bad news for you.

• Having a big-name guest on your podcast—if your episodes feature guests—will not make your podcast popular. 
• Starting a Tiktok, Instagram, or even Clubhouse account for your podcast will not make your podcast popular. 
• Follow the formula laid out by a podcasting superstar will not make your show popular. 
• Using the same gear used by big podcasters will not make your show popular. 

I have worse news for you.

• Do you want to know the best way to promote a podcast? There isn't one. 
• Are you looking for the best podcast media hosting company? They don't exist. 
• Looking for the best source for sound effects and music to use in your episodes? Once again, no single source is the best. 

Sometimes, podcasters need to take risks and just do what feels right. So do what feels right to you. Because the unique combination you bring to the table just may pay off.

Please don’t take this as your excuse to do foolish things. I’m a fan of best practices because there are many best practices. It’s not best practice, singular. That’s just silly. Best practices help you navigate trodden ground, showing you exactly where the traps are. They don’t tell you which way to go, but they do clearly say “don’t step here!”

There’s still a lot of unknowns out there in the podcasting world. Embrace it! Use best practices to help you easily avoid making dumb mistakes, but leave plenty of room for you to explore the unknown portions of the landscape. The only way to make a remarkable podcast that is uniquely yours is to, at least sometimes, embrace the unknown and find new ways forward.

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Read the full article and share with a friend: https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/podcast-your-way-through-the-unknown

Follow Evo on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your support.

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Podcast Pontifications is published by Evo Terra four times a week and is designed to make podcasting better, not just easier.

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

Every one of your episodes elicits some sort of emotional response from every one of your listeners. Intentional or not, every podcast evokes an emotional response. Even if the podcaster had no intention of doing so. It happens. We’re human

The most common emotions or feelings elicited by podcast are feeling informed and feeling entertained.

But neither of those, in isolation, is enough. If any podcast can make a listener feel either entertained or informed, why would listeners tell others about any particular podcast? Commodities are common, and common things are not remarkable.

Luckily, podcasts don’t elicit a single emotional response from most listeners. 

There’s a fascinating study from 2017 that examines 27 distinct categories of emotion, which is a lot more than the basic emotional responses most people can list. (I highly encourage you to spend some time with the interactive tool associated with that study to see how all of those emotions work together when exposed to content.) 

Hardcore History, Dan Carlin’s extremely popular and long-running podcast, is both informative and entertaining. You know, unlike your high school history class.

Drew Ackerman knows he can’t force you to sleep when you listen to Sleep With Me. But he can keep you entertained as you—hopefully—drift off to his creaky dulcet tones. 

Horror podcasts won’t work as well if the people scared or creeped out by them weren’t also entertained. 

And with Podcast Pontifications, I want to leave you with a contemplative feeling as I inform you about the concepts and ideas I bring forth on each episode. It’s not enough for me to dump an idea on you, so I ponder a concept in real-time with you, hopefully so it rubs off. 

Here's your homework: Think about the two primary emotions you want to elicit with your episodes and write them a sticky note you’ll keep right next to where you do your episode prep. Let them act as a constant reminder of what you are trying to achieve with your episode. Stick with those for a few episodes and see how you feel. Measure your audience’s response if you can. If it’s working—you feel better and your audience isn’t running away—great! But if not, change it up! I’m a big fan of change, as you know. Like anything, it may take a few iterations before you hit on the right blend of emotional responses that sets your show(s) apart from the rest. 

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Read the full article and share with a friend: https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/blending-listener-emotions-for-a-better-podcast

Follow Evo on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your support.

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Podcast Pontifications is published by Evo Terra four times a week and is designed to make podcasting better, not just easier.

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

In reflection of today, Martin Luther King Day in the United States, I examining my position of privilege within podcasting, and taking what I hope is a meaningful stride forward.

I enjoy a lot of time in the spotlight in the podcasting world. You can argue that it’s my credentials in the space, the platform I’ve built, or the fact that I’ve been pushing the edges of what podcasting can be for more than 16 years that earned me those spots. 

But let’s be honest: the way I look certainly isn’t hindering my chances of being selected.

Every time a podcasting conference organizer chooses me to give a solo talk on stage, the conference organizer had to not choose an underrepresented voice for that same time slot. I think most have the best of intentions at making their stages more equitable and diverse. Still, it’s a tough call. 

So I’m taking action to make it easier on podcast conference organizers to not have to make a tough choice: I’m choosing to not submit to speak at podcast conferences.

Don’t worry: As soon as it’s safe to travel and gather, you’ll see me at the podcasting conferences. I still want to be—and plan to be—involved in podcasting conferences. You may see me on stage as part of a panel, or perhaps co-presenting with someone else. And if asked to speak, my default answer will likely be “yes”. However, I’m going to ask some pointed questions about others participating. I’m ill-equipped to be the equity cop, but I do have agency for myself and can do my part to ensure I’m helping lift underrepresented voices instead of taking more of the spotlight for myself.

Implied within the Black lives matter message is the reality that Black voices matter. And if I can make the world a richer and more inclusive space by stepping back so that underrepresented voices can step forward, it’s almost literally the least I can do.

My decision is something meaningful I can do to help forward the application of equity in podcasting. But it may not be something you can do. However, I’d wager each of us who podcast from a place of privilege can do something meaningful.

You can help spark that insight within another working podcaster by sharing this episode of Podcast Pontifications with them. 

I don’t have a single answer that works for all, but perhaps hearing this episode or reading this article will get them thinking creatively about their own solution. As I hope it is getting you thinking creatively about what you can do if you too podcast from a position of privilege.

Reflect on that through the day today. And hopefully tomorrow.

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Read the full article and share with a friend: https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/making-more-equity-in-podcasting-by-stepping-back

Follow Evo on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your support.

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Podcast Pontifications is published by Evo Terra four times a week and is designed to make podcasting better, not just easier.

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.