Adding Music To Your PodcastEarlier, I talked a little about adding music to your podcast, and I said it was complicated. So let me take a second to expand on that a little.

If you want to add music to your podcast, you can. Many podcasts use at least one piece of music at the beginning to make it sound more polished. I use music for the intro and outro to my current shows, but I have done many podcast episodes that had neither. I decide whether or not to use music based on the content. If the show is a 10 or 15-minute show, I may choose just to use intro music. If the show is longer than 15 or 20 minutes, I’ll use both intro and outro music. If the show is less than 10 minutes, I may choose not to use music at all or find a very short ‘stinger’ of 5 to 10 seconds. Because I use Adobe Audition, I can use a feature that allows me to take any music and ‘remix’ it to a certain length. This can take a 2-minute piece and shorten it to the length I need.

Before I break down the kinds of music you can use, I have to make something clear: You must have permission to use the music you play on your show. A good rule of thumb for me is that I’ve ever heard it anywhere other than a podcast or a YouTube video, I leave it alone. Don’t expect that you can ask for forgiveness and not permission. The podcast platforms can remove your show for breaking copyright. This is serious and can have legal ramifications for you. Would you please do your due diligence here?

CREATIVE COMMONS MUSICCreative Commons music is very widely used and can also be very widely misunderstood. I would not assume that because something says it’s Creative Commons, that you can go ahead and use it. There are different kinds of Creative Commons licenses. Some require attribution back to the composer. Some will let you use music for personal use and not commercial use. Please go to http://creativecommonsusa.org/ (creativecommonsusa.org) to read about the different kinds of licenses and how they affect your ability to use creative commons resources.

ROYALTY-FREEIn the past few years, there’s been a growth in the number of websites dedicated to pod-safe music. I use Epidemic Sound, which offers a monthly subscription for access to their library, and lifetime licenses on the music I decide to use. Other subscription-based sites are Storyblocks, Shutterstock, Artist.io, and Envato Elements.

These sites have what’s generally called ‘royalty-free music. That means if you buy the license to it, it entitles you to use it for the duration of the license. In the case of my Epidemic Sound subscription, it allows me to keep the license for anything I’ve used during my subscription. However, if you download something from Epidemic Sound and do NOT have a subscription, they will notify you that you don’t have permission. It’s generally good practice not to continue using tracks from a service if you let a subscription to that service expire. In any event, all these sites have terms and conditions. It’s become a joke that we skip past these when we sign up for something, but in this case, not knowing what those terms are can cost you your show. Know what the terms of service are for whatever music service you use.

PUBLIC DOMAINPublic domain music is music that no longer has copyright. In many cases, it happens because the person that held the copyright has passed away, and a certain amount of time has elapsed. That’s usually somewhere between 70–75 years, but it depends on the country.

However, the question of using a song that’s in the public domain can be a little tricky. Here’s a hypothetical. Let’s take the Hokey Pokey song. I have no idea whether that song is public domain or not, but for this illustration, let’s say it is. Jay-Z records the Hokey Pokey song and puts it on The Blueprint version whatever. In this case, Jay-Z now owns the rights to the Hokey Pokey song. Therefore, you wouldn’t be able to use the Hokey Pokey song without Jay-Z’s permission.

Generally, if you

Episode TitlesLet’s talk about episode titles. Like Show titles, you can choose to be informative or cute; it’s up to you. But, if you’re looking for people to find your show, I’d leave cute alone here. People will decide to listen to you based on very few factors, the show title is one, and the episode title is another. If your title is cryptic, silly, or otherwise opaque, listeners won’t listen because they don’t know what the episode is about. So, as I said in the beginning, you have to give them a reason to listen.

On most occasions, I think your show’s content will drive the title, especially if your podcast is an audio listicle like “6 Reasons to use Evernote”, for example. Just run with that. This will also work if your podcast is a product review or a study or investigation of a person or subject.

In the case of interviews or solo podcasts, it’s a little more complicated. In the past, I’ve listened to the finished episode several times to deduce what I think the main point is and craft a title from that. For example, one of my interviews during the COVID period of my podcast was with my friend AMY, and we discussed a variety of things. Still, the main idea was that there was a nexus between trauma and creativity. So, I named the episode “The Nexus of Trauma and Creativity, with Amy M”. It was straight, to the point, and makes it very easy to see what the episode is about.

Since different podcast apps display different lengths for titles, It’s best to make these titles as short as possible. Aim for a maximum length between 50 and 60 characters.

A long time ago, it may have been necessary to use the name of your podcast, then the name of the episode, but that’s not the case anymore. Most, if not all, podcast platforms display the podcast’s name the listener is playing, so go ahead and leave that out. Also, you longer need to use season or episode numbers.

Now, let’s take a moment to address those of you who are making podcasts for fun, or you’re if you’re not using a podcast to promote a business or sell any product or service. I have some friends that make a podcast called Tell Me More…Live. It’s a live storytelling night from a local theater here in Norfolk, VA. There’s no service or product to sell; there’s simply a wealth of stories that everyone should hear. I had the honor of appearing on this podcast a few years ago to tell my story. My episode was called “A Life Lesson From A Rat With Wings”, and the show notes reflect the same thing. So they gleaned the main idea for the episode from the content and created a short, to-the-point title. It’s essentially the same. This would also work for thematically related shows, like Playing Doctor, a podcast related to Doctor Who that some friends have done. Episode 45 of their show was titled “Do You Want Daleks?”, and it was related to the newly animated adventure Power of the Daleks, the first Patrick Troughton adventure. Again, short and to the point.

Writing episode titles can be a challenge, but always remember you can make great titles if you let the content be the guide.

Show NotesPodcast show notes are a basic rundown of what the episode was about, what happened during the episode, and a list of links or other resources for your listeners to do their own digging.

You might not think adding complete show notes to your episode is essential, but they’ve become even more critical in the past few years since Google has added Podcasts and podcast episodes to search results. The better your show title and show notes are, the more chance your episode will rank higher in search results for your topic.

So, what do you include in your show notes?

Start with a summary of the episode, between 100 and 250 words. Keep it under 250

If you used any source material for your show, add those links next.

If you had a guest during the episode, make sure you list their name and how to connect with them on social media.

Your Social Media Links

Any Call to Action you have (To review, share, sign up for a newsletter, etc)

Everyone does show notes differently, so this is wholly my opinion. That said, I wouldn’t be mad if there were some sort of accepted standard for notes just like there is for loudness, but in the end, it all comes down to the kind of podcast you’re doing. I rarely have guests, so there’s no need for me to add a name for a guest. I don’t do very long podcasts, so I don’t feel things like time codes are necessary. Your show might require both of those things. However, I can’t stress enough that some summary of the episode will be essential to you because that will be one of the significant ways people find your podcast now. Would you please make sure you include that, whatever you do?

The EditEditing is another word that strikes fear into the heart of many a beginner podcaster, so before we get started here, just take a deep breath and relax. Here’s the good news: No one is expecting you to be NPR, so you don’t have to go diving into the weeds and add all sorts of polish. There’s no doubt that good editing can make a good podcast great, but right now, we’re concentrating on just making a good podcast. I’d argue that one of the great things about podcasting — at least in the beginning — was the rip and run nature of it. Some of us became podcasters because it was raw. Something is appealing about recording something quickly, doing a minimal amount of editing to it, and dropping it in the feed so that listeners can hear it literally within minutes. The age of true crime and celebrity and NPR brought the gloss to podcasting, and while it’s nice, it’s silly to hold yourself to that standard.

So, when editing your podcast, I have a few things I want you to address.

Earlier I mentioned making a distinctive noise when I made a mistake. Start by cutting out all the errors from the audio file so that everything in the audio file is all the good takes.

Listen to the file entirely, and make a note of all the filler or crutch words like um, ah, uh, and er. Also, make a note of any sniffles or sharp breaths. I’m not telling you to remove every single one of these, but I am asking you to take them all in context. If removing a particular sound will make you sound like a robot, then leave it in. However, if you can remove one of these elements and not compromise timing or delivery, take it out. This is a skill that you can only learn by becoming familiar with your style of delivery and timing.

In your editing software of choice, amplify the track to -2db peak amplitude.

Save your file.

That is the most basic editing there is. I’m not talking about adding music or making this a multitrack. Of course, you can do that, but let’s crawl before we walk. In the future, I’ll show you to edit in multitrack in both Audacity and Adobe Audition, but that’s for another time.

For now, we’ve edited a podcast using a straightforward method.

BUT WHAT ABOUT MUSIC?Well, like any Facebook relationship… it’s complicated.

Yes, you can use music on your podcast as long as you have the rights to it. For example, I have a subscription to Epidemic Sound, which gives me access to their music library. So if I use their music on my podcast, I have the rights to it. You can also do a Google search for Creative Commons music, but those are widely used, and they may not have the level of license you need to be able to use it.

In short, if you don’t know if you can use that music, the answer is probably no. So I would start with no music until you can afford a subscription to one of the music services.

How To TalkTalking into a microphone is probably the most challenging thing to learn when you’re starting a podcast. As I mentioned in the previous chapter, we tend to make it hard for ourselves because we can’t wrap our heads around just talking to inanimate objects like the mic or the computer. That’s why Agent Cooper asked if he could use Diane’s name. We’ve talked about using the name of a person you know as your subject, but there is another method that we’ve touched on earlier in this guide that I’d like you to consider.

Way back at the beginning, I asked you to answer the Three Big Questions, and one of those questions was ‘Who is this podcast for?” If you’ve created a profile of that person as suggested in that segment, then let’s refer to that profile for a moment. How fleshed out is the profile you created? If you went into great detail, maybe you gave your profile persona a name. If you did, then this is your person. Talk to them. After all, you’re making this podcast for that person, so treat each episode as if you’re reaching out to that person.

If you haven’t fleshed this persona out, then I’d strongly suggest you take the time to do this now. A persona is like creating a character sheet in a tabletop role-playing game, like Dungeons and Dragons. I’ve seen some character sheets that go well above and beyond the accepted norm, and I’m encouraging you to do that with your profile as well. What are your profile’s likes and dislikes? Do they have a spouse or partner, kids, close friends, hobbies, obligations? Seriously, there is no such thing as too much info here. Make your profile as genuine a person as you can, and the more you can do that, the easier talking to them is going to be.

Now, let’s talk about technique.

HANDLINGThere are certain truths of life. Death, Taxes, and Noise if you’re holding a mic in your hand. I can’t help you with the first two, but a mic stand solves the third. That said, if the mic is on the same table you’re working from, you may still experience some noise. Avoid typing, placing your drink on the same table, or banging the table with your hands. Another way to avoid table noise is to use a stand that isn’t connected to your table or use a boom arm that isn’t connected to the same surface. If you must use a mic stand that sits on your desk, then use something to remove it directly from the surface, like a cork coaster or foam pads that can absorb the shock and not transfer it directly to the microphone.

CLICKS AND POPSHere’s another truth of life. You won’t have to edit out clicks, smacks, and pops if you don’t have them in the first place. Mouth noises are controllable, and I can tell you how in one word: Water. Keep a bottle handy, and make sure your mouth is hydrated between takes. Mouth noises happen when your saliva is thicker than usual, the result of eating shortly before recording. It might not kill you to observe the myth about waiting 30 minutes after eating to swim in this case. Wait a little while, drink some water, and keep it handy between takes to re-hydrate your mouth.

THE CLICKS YOU WANTWhen I make a mistake during recording, I clap in front of the mic three times or click my tongue three times. That way, I can note mistakes. It makes it easier when we come to editing, which we’ll talk about shortly

ABOUT YOUR FACEThere are more than a few ideas about where to place your face, but generally, they all involve placing your fist, open hand, or “hang loose” sign between the Mac and your face. The trouble with this is that we all don’t have the same size hands, so that will vary. The idea distance is somewhere between six and eight inches from the mic. That’s going to capture your voice accurately. The closer you get to a mic, the low end of your voice presents more, which could make your voice ‘muddy’ or overmodulated. Farther away from the mic means that reverberations from your voice in the room could be picked up, which gives more of a fishbowl effect to...

Writing Your ScriptFinally, we’re down to creating the show. So you sit down in front of your computer, bring up your recording program, place your face in front of the microphone, and draw a blank. What’s up with that?

Well, it’s completely understandable. If we assume that you’re an expert in the field, it’s perfectly natural to think you can just riff on it for a set amount of time. However, I would wager that those times have been in social situations and that you were entertaining friends. If you’re doing a solo show, then you’re talking to a microphone, and there’s no one else around. If you’re doing this for the first time, this is not a normal thing to do, and you might find yourself locking up with nothing coming out. It’s ok. It just means that you need to write a script.

The word script can strike fear in many people because they dread having to write out everything word-for-word, and while it’s true that some people will find that the best option, that’s not what I’m talking about. So if you’re not trying to produce an NPR-style documentary, I’m going to suggest that you not write this out word for word because it’s going to take you forever, and you might get discouraged before you start.

Also, it’s been my experience that people who read a script sound like they’re reading a script, and it’s one of the most challenging things ever. So unless you’ve got a lot of practice reading a script and getting it to sound natural, don’t do this.

Instead, you might consider including as much information as possible, but not a complete script or my recommendation is to make a list of points you want to make sure you cover and have it in front of you. Hit each point, expand on it for as long as you’re not stretching, and then move on to the next point. This approach is the best because this is the closest to the social situation where you’re talking to your friends, and your voice will be more dynamic. Just make sure you don’t get off the track and start talking about something you didn’t mean to get into. Tangents take a long time to resolve, and you can lose the listener along the way.

Like a lot of the subjects we’ve covered in this course, this is your choice. Whatever you choose, write out your idea and rehearse it until it feels as natural as possible before you hit that record button, and I have a little bit of a mind trick that might help you.

Because I am of a certain age, I remember a show that came on when I graduated high school called Twin Peaks. Kyle Mclachlan played Agent Dale Cooper, and one of the things that Agent Cooper did a lot was talk to a recorder. When he did that, he always started by addressing a person named Diane. Diane was Cooper’s secretary and confidant, and he felt awkward talking to a recorder and asked Diane if it would be alright if he used her name to feel like he was talking to a person. So I’d like you to try doing that. Pick someone in your life that’s easy to talk to, and use their name while you rehearse. The trick is to deliver it in as natural a way as possible. Then, when it’s time to record, you can drop the name or edit the name out.

One last tip to writing a script. Say it out loud as you write it, and then read it aloud when you have finished. Sometimes the right thing to say is not the EASY thing to say, and you’ll know when you read it out loud what sounds awkward and what’s hard to say. Don’t be afraid to rewrite things to make them easy to read out loud. Podcasts do not have to be War and Peace. Say what you need to say as simply as possible. Your frustration level, and your audience, will thank you.

Something else I’d like you to consider when scripting your episodes is how you open and close them. I don’t know who to attribute this to, but there’s a saying that there is someone new on the planet who has never seen The Flintstones every day. It sounds almost heretical to say, but it’s true, and like the Flintstones, some people have never heard your podcast...

The Tech — Recording Equipment and Recording and Editing SoftwareYou knew that eventually, we were going to have to get to the gear, right? Now’s the time, but before we get to equipment, I want to make something clear. All the shiny gear and tools to make your podcast should slick amounts to nothing if all the things we’ve talked about before now aren’t clearly defined. Taking a pig to the makeup counter at Sephora means nothing except you have a needlessly pretty pig. The message is more important than the tech. That is your new mantra. Please remember it and chant it with the four-part harmony every time you look at a shiny thing you believe will kick your show up a notch.

Here’s what you need, at a minimum: You need a computer, a USB mic, and internet access to post your podcast. Because you may eventually grow your show to the kind of podcast that requires a mixer, I recommend you buy the Samson Q2U. At a price between 60 and 75 dollars, this is a very affordable microphone with room to grow. It has both USB and XLR connections and a headphone jack to monitor sound. It also comes with a little mic stand.

On your computer, you’ll need some editing software. If you’re just starting, you can use something free like Audacity, or if you have a Mac, you can use Garageband since it comes already installed right out of the box.

There are a lot of upgrades to this bare minimum. For example, I use a Rode Podmic to record my voice, I have a program called Audio Hijack which records the audio coming from my Mac if I need sound bytes, and I use Adobe Audition for my editing software. I’ve been using Audition ever since it was called Cool Edit back in the late 90s, and when I became a Multimedia Producer, I decided to pay for a subscription for the software to use the latest features. It’s pricey, though; a full subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud is slightly north of 50 bucks a month. If I didn’t make full use of the subscription, I would probably use Garageband.

I think it’s important to mention what many folks call GAS, or Gear Acquisition Syndrome. As you start down this new journey in podcasting, you’re going to see a lot of folks a lot farther down the road than you rocking all sorts of shiny stuff, and you’re going to like what you see. I’d warn you that higher-end gear means higher-end prices. I really like the RodeCaster Pro, and I’d like to get one. It’s shiny, it does more stuff than I need, and it’s six hundred dollars. I don’t have a use for it at this stage of my podcasting career, but I WANT ONE VERY BADLY. That, my friends, is how Gear Acquisition Syndrome starts. I haven’t bought it and don’t plan to, but the point is, if you don’t need it, I don’t want you to buy it either. Like the commercial says, only pay for what you need, and as you grow, upgrade as your budget allows.

Podcast FormatWhen it comes to what kind of format you choose for your podcast, the bottom line is that this is a decision only you can make. That said, this isn’t set in stone. Just because you might start with one format doesn’t mean you can’t change it up. For example, over the summer of 2020, I switched my solo show to an interview format to interview creatives and how they were coping with the pandemic.

I was interested in whether the pandemic inspired them to begin a creative effort or how a veteran may have changed how they did things during the pandemic. Also, it came up during my conversations how vital self-care was for the creative to maintain their balance. After a series of about ten interviews, I felt that it had run its course, and I went back to my solo format.

So, it’s good to have a default format because your listeners will know what they’re getting when they listen to your show. There’s no problem with changing it up every once in a while.

Here are the most common formats for a podcast:

THE MONOLOGUEThis is all you, all the time. You’re a one-person band in writing, recording, producing, and distributing the episodes. I prefer this format because I own the show in its entirety, I can make any calls about monetizing the podcast, and I can direct how the show will go.

CO-HOSTED SHOWAs the title says, this is you and a friend hosting the show together. This can help the beginning podcaster if they feel they may not have the presence or personality to host a show on their own, and it can be a great experience with the right pair behind the microphones. However, a co-hosted show can come with its own set of problems, including finding the time to record, the possibility of a ‘show break-up’ when one of the hosts loses interest or has a permanent change in availability.

For example, I had a podcast years ago with a gentleman who was in the Navy, which ended when he transferred to a new duty assignment out of the area. I made that decision because I didn’t want anyone else to host the show with me after he left, and to have someone else in that role just didn’t seem right.

One other thing to consider when co-hosting a show is its ownership and how any income the show generates is split. My personal feeling is that hosts should divide any income evenly, but if you’re doing most of the work involved with a podcast and your host is just showing up on recording dates, it’s a discussion worth having. Make sure any agreements you make are in writing. I’ve seen many podcasts — some of the big ones — fall apart over a disagreement over ownership and money.

ROUNDTABLEThe news, politics, and tech world is saturated with this format, which would comprise one host and a rotating crew of guests speaking on a range of topics. This would be a hard thing to arrange if you’re starting unless you are well connected in your field. Also, it’s been my experience that a countable show like this is hard to edit, and sometimes getting people to cooperate and not talk over each other is a lot like herding cats.

If you intend to go this route, I would make sure everyone knows your ground rules, the first of which should be not to interrupt another person while they’re speaking. Depending on your format, it might be ok on few occasions to let the audience hear the tension of a heated discussion, but it should be few and far between. That’s something we can talk about, possibly in a later section or a different course altogether.

INTERVIEWThis is the bread and butter of podcasting, where you’re talking to a thought leader or exciting person in your space. It’s great because not only will your audience hear this, but the chances are that fans of your guest will tune in, and this really helps towards growing an audience. However, it needs to be said that interviewing is not easy. It’s an art that you need to work on to shine. It requires hours of prep work, especially if you’re interviewing someone that’s recently written a...

Seasonal Podcasting?I recently switched to Seasonal Podcasting, and it was a natural fit for me. I produced 12 episodes in about two weeks and dropped them in my feed to air weekly until the end of July 2021. I don’t want to call anything a magic bullet, but it was the best decision I had made for my show in a long time, and it reflected well in the downloads, unique listeners, and fan engagement for the podcast. Here are some reasons I found the switch to seasonal podcasting to work for me.

THEY’RE EASIER TO OUTLINEThe first decision I made was the number of episodes I wanted to produce in the season. At first, I thought ten was a suitable number, but after some thought, I upped it to twelve because I would let the next nine episodes drop weekly after an initial drop of three episodes. With that decision made, I gave a topic to each episode, wrote a draft, and then edited it down. Because I took the time to do this first, I wrote the scripts for all twelve episodes in about ten days. I found it was a much better process for me than the grind of prep, outline, write, and produce every three to four days.

THERE’S A BEGINNING, A MIDDLE, AND AN ENDA season of a podcast is the same as the season of a TV show. You’re telling a long story that arcs over weeks. In this season of my podcast, I spent the first three weeks establishing the character called ‘This Pirate.’ Then over the following weeks, I let him reveal more and more of himself until we get to the last episode, which is a callback to the first episode and a nice ending to the season. The first-person narrative of ‘This Pirate’ made the writing very easy for me. Still, as I move into the next season of my podcast and a third-person narrative, it will be vital to tell a complete story with a beginning, a middle, and an end.

YOU CAN EXPLORE A VARIETY OF IDEASThe following season of my podcast will continue the This Pirate line, but I have other ideas for future seasons. One of these ideas has been in my head since 1989, the rest since around 1999. Of course, they’re fictional and will require more resources than just talking into a mic. Nevertheless, this switch to seasonal podcasting has lit that fire underneath me to start writing these stories and put them out in the real world in a way I never could do before. Perhaps it’s better to say that I’ve never felt as empowered to put these stories out in the world before now. Regardless, I’ve never been as positive that I can produce these figments of my imagination as I do right now.

I FIND THEM LESS TAXING THAN A WEEKLY PODCASTA daily or weekly podcast is a Sisyphean effort of prep, outline, write, produce, distribute, repeat. It’s almost too much for one person to do, and I respect anyone who can. I can’t. I’ve repeatedly tried, and with kids and a job and obligations, it’s just too much for this guy. While the effort it takes to create a whole season of a podcast in one shot may seem just as much a struggle, it’s just for a short time. Once done, I can move on to the next thing on my list, like promotion, community building, and scheduling some downtime to get ready for the next season. The weekly grind creates anxiety for me, and when I have that anxiety, I can’t perform consistently. I would rather be anxiety-free and consistent than be bouncing off walls and podcasting on a hit-or-miss basis.

THEY CAN BE PRE-PRODUCED AND PRE-SCHEDULEDAfter I wrote the 12 episode season, it took me another four days to produce and distribute them. So from the initial idea to distribution, I created 12 episodes in about two weeks. Pre-scheduling these episodes to drop means that I have a podcast season that runs weekly until July 30th. I plan to add one more episode out of the Pirate character, but I plan to record that closer to the end of the season to include more behind-the-scenes material. So this podcast will end on August 6th, and by then, I hope to have most of the next season produced, tentatively scheduled to start around

How Often Should I Drop An Episode?Frequency is another one of the evergreen podcast questions that has as many answers as there are podcasts. The truth is, there’s just no correct answer to this question. Having tried everything from daily to monthly frequencies here, I think I’ve come up with a rule of thumb that everyone can agree with, and that’s to find a schedule you can commit to and stick to it. If you can’t do a weekly podcast, then consider twice a month or even monthly.

There is one thing I’d like you to take into consideration as you think about what your show frequency will be. After you make the first three to five episodes and get into a workflow, consider how long it takes you to make an episode, from idea to finished product. In all likelihood, that time will come down as you get better and better at your craft and as you find tools that will help you speed up the process.

Once you’ve done this, look at the other obligations in your life. If you have a full-time job, kids, and other commitments that take up the majority of your day, a daily podcast may not be the way to go for you, and in some cases, a weekly podcast may be a dicey situation. You see, your ability to make a consistent podcast of some set frequency will be essential in your attempt to attract and keep listeners. My advice is to find the frequency that will allow you to do your best work and will enable you not to be ‘at work’ all the time.

That’s the fastest way to burn out, and I want to be right upfront about the subject of burnout. It’s happened to me because I stopped working one job and started working on another, and I don’t mean an eight-hour day followed by a couple of hours here and there. I did an eight-hour day job, followed by six to eight hours every night on the podcasting for years. Eventually, I burned out, and I stopped podcasting for about a year before I had a new idea. By that time, I had learned a little more about time management and balance, and I felt able to commit to consistent podcasting.

One other hazard to daily or weekly podcasting is just phoning it in. There were days when I had to make a podcast for the week, and I wasn’t feeling it. I felt the material was lackluster, and I didn’t have the energy in my voice that I should for the kind of podcast I was doing at the time. Looking back on those episodes, I can tell which ones were inspired and which ones were for the sake of consistency. A common myth is that more episodes mean more downloads, and while that’s true in the short term, if your show’s quality takes a hit because you’re just not into it every week, your listeners will drop off, and you won’t keep them.

Listeners will tell other people not to download your show. Just like the retail or restaurant worlds, word of mouth is still king in podcasting. Self-awareness is essential here; if you’re ‘not feeling it,’ there’s something that you need to address, and more often than not, it’s the frequency of the show or the amount of time you’re putting into it. If you’re serious about podcasting, find the episode frequency that’s right for your situation, and commit to it.

If, after a time, you feel like you need to scale back, then announce your plans to the audience clearly. Your loyal audience will understand that, but they won’t understand the hit-and-miss style of podcasting that has no consistency. Often, that’s the first step to Podfade.