The Future IS Audio

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7 Ways to Support Your Favourite Podcasters (without spending money).

1. SHARE their posts.
2. LIKE/HEART their posts.
3. Tag a Friend that might love the show.
4. Comment Nice Things.
5. Rate & Review the show.
6. Keep Listening.
7. Post a Pic or Story featuring the show.

If Books Could Kill: https://www.ifbookspod.com/

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The Original Article (in-full).

If you ever find yourself feeling down about your show, or wondering if making a Podcast is really worth the effort, I recommend spending a week or two focussing your energies on the shows that you love most as a Podcast Fan, instead of obsessing over your own show and its current successes, or lack thereof.

If you reverse your creative focus from outside-in (what can the medium do for me?) to inside-out (what can I do for the medium?), you will feel better about Podcasting as a creative medium, and that will help get you feel better about Podcasting as a creative outlet for yourself. I'm confident that you will go back to your show with renewed focus, positivity, and excitement.

It all sounds a bit woo-woo, right? But it works, trust me! These periods of inside-out focus have saved both my Podcasts and also me as a Podcaster many times over the past 13 years - I've felt like quitting a lot, and haven't thanks to getting-over-myself and being a better Podcast Fan.

I trust that giving some more love to the space always brings me closer to reason I first started making shows, I Freakin' Love Podcasting.

7 Ways to Support Your Favourite Podcasters (without spending money).

1. SHARE their posts.
2. LIKE/HEART their posts.
3. Tag a Friend that might love the show.
4. Comment Nice Things.
5. Rate & Review the show.
6. Keep Listening.
7. Post a Pic or Story featuring the show.

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What do you do when you're feeling a little lost or down as a Podcaster?

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Email your thoughts to Josh: [email protected].

Get 'The Future IS Audio' Newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-future-is-audio-7283949012901076992/

Mics in the Wild: The RODE Wireless Micro in the Car, Carpark, Kitchen and Bathroom.

Recordings Notes.

• Correction: the iPhone app displaying "Audio Session. Unable to connect to audio. Please try again or restart the application" was the Rode Capture App (not the Rode Central app). Rode Central was used on my Macbook to update the devices/hardware.
• Clarification: The episode was recorded in one continuous take, but the finalised episode was in fact not "One Take" as edits were made, to cut down on long gaps negotiating gates, and neighbours.
• Production: +12db of amplification was added to the RAW audio track in Audition, and a Hard Limiter was added (set to -3db) to catch 4-5 extreme peaks in the recording. Much of the raw recording (pre-amplification) was coming in around -23 to -18db.
• Edits: 1. Some loud breaths were reduced during the inside-spaces on the recording, as those loud-loud breaths served no purpose other than to make the audio less pleasant when in the Kitchen and Lounge spaces. 2. The only other major edit was made in the carpark as the gate (that I had left open) had been closed by a neighbour, so some of the time taken reopening and closing the gate was cut out.

Instagram: @futureisaudio

Em: [email protected]

Get 'The Future IS Audio' Newsletter on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-future-is-audio-7283949012901076992/

The 4 Reasons I’m Going Back to Handwritten Prep Notes:

1. It was harder to get distracted by formatting and perfectionism when I was sketching out episodes by hand, in particularly when one has my scribble-level handwriting.
2. I rarely had to use my notes after handwriting them out. (The ideas were just there in my brain, ready to go).
3. The Mind Map style layout on the A3 Pad, were much easier to read from and flow with than a typed out list - when I did have to look at my notes. (The way I sketched out the Mind Maps mirrored how my mind works - wonky bubbles and wobbly arrows all over the place).
4. The Mind Maps acted as interesting Marketing Assets in-and-of-themselves that I could post.

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Email your thoughts to Josh: [email protected].

Get 'The Future IS Audio' Newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-future-is-audio-7283949012901076992/

TFIA Newsletter - A Case for Editing Your Show (from Howard Fine and Roman Mars).

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/case-editing-your-show-from-howard-fine-roman-mars-josh-liston-jjvtc

Unless you have a really compelling reason not to do at least a little editing on your show, do a little editing on your show.

To paraphrase celebrity Acting Coach, Author and Broadway Director, Howard Fine, if you think editing doesn't matter, then go find your favourite Speech, TED Talk, Joke, etc. and start adding ums, ahs, likes and you knows back into the dialogue, and see if it makes it better. Hot Tip: It Doesn't.

Further, to paraphrase Roman Mars of 99% Invisible fame, if you have 500 listeners, and you cut out a minute of fluff from your Podcast, you’re not just saving one minute, you’re saving the collective, 500 minutes.

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Do you edit your show? If yes, why? If no, also why?

Email Josh: [email protected].

Get 'The Future IS Audio' Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-future-is-audio-7283949012901076992/

Please Note: Josh has no professional relationship (financial or otherwise) with the company/companies mentioned in this episode - beyond being a paying Customer of the service(s).

Question: What's the Best Podcast Media Hosting in 2025?

Answer: Captivate.fm

Why Captivate?

• Their technology is pretty, easy, and reliable.
• Their audio downloads are super fast for Listeners.
• The Team are both incredibly helpful in Podcasting, and non-jaded about Podcasting.
• Captivate don't push AI and Ad Tech down your throat every single chance they get.

Email Josh Your Podcasting Questions: [email protected]

https://www.jcaldigital.org/the-future-is-audio

For better communication in your Podcast, avoid using the following phrases in your show.

• Avoid "This Is A True Story".
• Avoid "This Really Happened".
• Avoid "To Be Completely Honest With You".

Email: [email protected]

The Future IS Audio newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-future-is-audio-7283949012901076992/

The Future IS Audio newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/4-ways-make-your-audio-podcast-sound-dated-josh-liston-yypjc

4 Ways to Make Your Audio Podcast Sound Dated (Potentially).

1. Cliffhanger-Openers to every episode of your show. These can be great, but most often are not.
2. Adding Background Music to every segment of the production. The emotionality in the melody of the music can enhance the mood of your Podcast (when it's perfectly chosen or composed to suit the episode), but it can also distort the intended delivery and tone of the dialogue. It's also a poor substitute for putting real emotion and intention into the voice recording itself.
3. Using Music and Sound Design Elements straight out of a 2014 Tim Ferriss YouTube Video.
4. Overloading your production with audio clips from film and TV from the 70's, 80's and 90's. I love this stuff personally (in moderation), but too much of this can feel like, 'HEY! I've got a new toy with heaps of buttons on it, and here's a bunch of now 30 year old noises I like."

What makes a Podcast sound dated to you?

Happy Podcasting!

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Episode Production Chain: Rode Wireless Micro >> Rode Capture App for iOS >> Auphonic Desktop App for Levelling and Noise Reduction >> Adobe Audition for Compression, Reverb and Click Reduction, Editing, and Export.

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Email me your thoughts to [email protected] or DM me here on LinkedIn or comment below on this post.

Get the Audio Podcast: https://www.jcaldigital.org/the-future-is-audio

The Future IS Audio newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/podcast-growth-straightforward-just-guest-other-shows-josh-liston-5bwbc/

TL;DR: Guesting on other Podcasts is amazing and you should definitely jump on the majority of opportunities to do so, but don't let your success or lack thereof getting booked define your value as a Podcaster.

No single piece of Podcast Growth Advice bothers me quite as much as "just be a guest on other shows" does, like it's so easy to do. As the great Alban Brooke (Head of Marketing at BuzzSprout) said recently on X, "If it (Guesting) was super easy then we’d all be doing it constantly", and I couldn't have said it better myself.

I've been living and breathing Podcasting and the Podcast Medium since 2012, and I've never met a single person (outside of domain experts, famous folks, and subculture superstars) that find getting booked on Podcasts as a Guest, easy. In fact, it's rare, it's difficult, and is often outpaced by the sheer rejection of trying to get booked.

My advice would be to Share the H out of the shows you CARE most about, and instead of thinking, "how can I get on that show so they can help me grow?", start by thinking, "what can I do (over the long-term) to help them grow?" Good things come most often from a good place.

The other short-long of it: Although I believe that being a Guest on other shows is incredibly valuable for growing your own show, anyone out there pushing "Guesting" as an easy to implement solve-all for growing your Podcast, is leaving out a great chunk of the process and the negative impact of continued-rejection in the Arts, and in business.

Happy Podcasting!

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Episode Production Chain: Rode Wireless Micro >> Rode Capture App for iOS >> Auphonic Website for Levelling, EQ, Compression, Reverb and Noise Reduction >> Adobe Audition for Editing and Export.

Email Josh your thoughts to [email protected] or DM him on LinkedIn.

Get the Audio Podcast: https://www.jcaldigital.org/the-future-is-audio

The Future IS Audio newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/3-places-start-your-podcast-edit-josh-liston-6jvic

TL;DR: I'm an Audio Podcast Super Fan and a Video Podcast Dabbler.

Today's Newsletter is purely anecdotal, and I'm not sure what it really means, but I feel like it means something. I asked myself what format of Podcasting (audio or video) has held my interest the longest and/or which format I burn out on the fastest, and I came to the following numbers.

Note: I'm most often Subscribed to 40-50 programs at a time in both Overcast (audio) and YouTube (video).

Format vs Fandom (the Questions):

1. How many audio Podcasts do I still listen to that I started Listening to 2 or more years ago? = 20-25 episodes per week (to completion of each episode).
2. How many YouTube Channels do I still consume (that don't also offer an audio version) that I started watching 2+ years ago? = 1 (Bandrew Scott's Podcastage main channel).

Video has been and continues to be a useful tool for finding and sampling new shows that I might like, and if I do like them and they do offer audio Subscription (some don't which PMTHO), I'll then move them over to my long-term consumption app, Overcast for iOS.

One last note, I still miss the shows that for whatever reason stopped producing their Audio Podcast ('Crash Course in Awesome' and 'CD Baby's DIY Musician Podcast'), yet I can't name a single YT Channel that has stopped making their show that makes me feel that way.

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Episode Production Chain: Rode Wireless Micro >> Rode Capture App for iOS >> Auphonic Website for Levelling, EQ, Compression and Noise Reduction >> Adobe Audition for Editing and Export.

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Email Josh your thoughts to [email protected] or DM him on LinkedIn.

Get the Audio Podcast: https://www.jcaldigital.org/the-future-is-audio

The Future IS Audio newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/3-places-start-your-podcast-edit-josh-liston-6jvic

TL;DR: Start by cutting some (or all) of the things that would really really really annoy you as Podcast Listener.

Not everyone can afford Professional Podcast Editing, nor do they need it. In fact, I’d encourage you TO edit your own show at least for a little while, as the lessons you’ll learn around your own speech patterns, pacing, word choices and verbal disfluencies (read: crutch words and verbal tics) are absolutely invaluable to you as a communicator.

A 3-part primer on Podcast Editing:

1. Low-hanging Fruit. (Cut stand-alone ums, ahs, likes, you know(s), coughs, sniffs, desk knocks, off-air conversations with people in the room, and clearings-of-the-throat).
2. Any (non-entertaining) Parts. (Unless it's really funny or fun, cut out technical issues, connection issues, drop-outs and glitches, looking up names, fact-checking, confirming URLs, and saying hello to endless people in the chatroom or on the stream. Don’t make your on-demand Audience(s) feel like a second class citizens).
3. The Promise of your Podcast. (Cut standalone segments that work against the intention/promise of your show. Profanity if your show is Clean. Silly if your show is serious. Overly serious if your show is meant to be light and bright. Political if you’re not).

If you start your Podcast Edit with those three elements in mind, you might not need to ever get more granular with your editing, a light edit might be all you need.

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Email Josh your thoughts to [email protected] or DM him on LinkedIn.

Get the Audio Podcast: https://www.jcaldigital.org/the-future-is-audio