Just One Tip from Your Podcast Performance Coach

Hands up if you start your podcast with a question like, 'How did you get started?' You, with your hand up, this one's for you.  There are many variations of this lazy first question but the main similarity is that the podcast host wants to start at the beginning. They want to share their guests story from the point of origin.  Ba or ing! As a listener, I don't care enough about this guest yet. I...

How many expletives have you unleashed during the act of podcast editing. I'm guessing a lot. I still let them fly and I've been editing audio for almost three decades.  Editing is no joke. It can be frustrating, time consuming and if you let it get to you, it can be the death of your podcast-affair.  Lots of podcasters decide to edit their own podcast when they start out. And they should. I'm a f...

If my last podcast left you feeling like, 'hot damn, I need to pivot!' then let's make sure you pivot right. In this episode, I cover how to do it and not eff it up.  In case you missed my last episode (how COULD you!) on determining if you should pivot your podcast, you might want to go back and give it an ear before listening to this one.  Now, if you KNOW you need to pivot (or you might in the...

VIEW SHOW NOTES ON WEBSITE - Episode 88 Be honest. Is your podcast delivering the results you expected when you committed the time and money to creating it? Are you considering taking it for coffee and gently explaining, "It's not you, it's me…"? If you're not getting what you wanted out of this whole podcast affair, it may be time to shift your approach. Or, maybe something even more dramatic. In...

Mega-downloads = successful podcast, right? Not so fast, podcaster. Look, I get it. Watching your download numbers grow feels good. It's like a whole bunch of gold stars on your homework. And, skyrocketing downloads seems like a reasonable goal.  But, park your ego for a sec. Just for a second, you can have it back in a minute.  If you're podcasting to market your business then sheer numbers is no...

You've heard me say it before. You have seconds, SECONDS, to grab the listener's attention. Don't squander it with a boring first question.  Picture it. A new listener has found your show. They made it through the show intro , the tease , the guest intro with the cautious anticipation that you might actually have something interesting for their earballs. But, they're still just one swipe and click...

You've been invited to be on someone else's podcast. Great. Now, don't screw this up! It's no secret that being a guest on another podcast is a great way to expand your reach, grow your authority, and potentially give your own podcast numbers a boost. Most importantly, you're reaching ears who may be completely unfamiliar with your voice. Hold the phone, podcaster. (For all of you youngens out the...

I can geek out about gear with the best of them. What I can't do is stand by while podcasters go so far down the podcast equipment rabbit hole that they risk never emerging (or launching their podcast).  I see a ton of posts in podcast groups about which mic, which cables, which mixer, which editing equipment will lead to podcast-glory. I'm here to pull you out of the podcast equipment weeds. To g...

Be honest. Do you think about your listener every single show? You should! It'll make your podcast better and it'll be better for business. If you're new here, let me clarify. I subscribe to the idea that podcasting should be listener-centric. Meaning - everything on and about the podcast is for the listener.  There are no exceptions. Well, unless you want to suck. In which case, my show is not fo...

What does your music say about your podcast? If the only thing a listener had to go on, would they guess your podcast genre and target audience? All too often podcasters go about picking their music all wrong. Here's the first mistake - they pick something that they like (and then they play too much of it ) and never really consider if it's telling the right story for their show.  The second mista...

Confession time. Are you being lazy with your episodes titles? Are you naming them with as much consideration as say a file name? If you are, then you're missing opportunities! Episode title names aren't fun. They're not sexy. They seem so inconsequential. And frankly, they seem so insignificant compared to the content, the performance and all of the technical stuff that we deal with as podcasters...

In a time when all podcasts are choking in an overcrowded sea of podcasts, one stands out and becomes the hero the world needs right now… The language of movie trailers might be formulaic and the butt of jokes, but that's primarily because they are memorable. Movie and TV trailers serve a critical role in the world of entertainment - they convince people to spend their time and money to see the re...

Are listeners turning off your podcast prematurely? Are you making critical mistakes that cause listeners to run screaming from your show? I hit the streets recently to find out what exactly makes people turn off a podcast. Metta side note: In the last episode of Just the Tip , I explained the power of using streeters or man-on-the-street interviews in your podcast. Now, in this episode, I'm demon...

This tactic has been used by radio and television for decades to make a story more relevant and compelling. Should you be using it in your podcast too? I love talking to strangers. There, I said it. I'm that guy. I will walk right up to you and ask the most inane question or share the strangest observation - whatever is on my mind - because I just can't get enough of conversations with new people....

If you're like most podcasters, you caught the bug and jumped right on the podcast trend train. Now, maybe you're wondering why people aren't flocking to your business after hearing your super awesome podcast. Maybe because you didn't follow these three key steps for starting an effective podcast for business. If you don't know this already, let me burst your bubble. Podcasting takes time and mone...

You've got a co-host - that's great. It makes creating the podcast so much more fun and easier too, right? Bad news - there's a much higher chance that you're effing it up because two hosts means double the chances you're getting it wrong. Translation, your listeners are suffering. They're being subjected to bad audio, uncomfortable silences, unnecessary babbling and, sometimes awkwardness that is...

There are three types of podcasts. Do you know which one you have? You better, or you could be doing a disservice to your audience and wasting your time and money. There are three types of podcaster Hobby Podcasters Professional Podcasters Marketing Podcasters That's it. So, which one are you? The answer to that question can be found in your intention. What is the podcast supposed to do? This goes...

Do you have a verbal crutch? You know that word or sound you lean on when you're struggling to find the next real word in your sentence. Um, ah, like, you know, I mean… it's natural. Now, stop doing it. Disclaimer. This is not a podcast about how to edit out every um and ah from your podcast (I don't believe in it). And, it's not a podcast about how to never say um or ah again. Ums, ahs, and other...

It happens to the best of us. Even the pros have bad interviews. Or, rather bad guests. So, what do you do when your podcast guest is crappy, drunk, an ass, incoherent or just pointless? You kill the interview. In this episode of Just the Tip, I walk you through the steps of killing a bad interview. Yes, there is a right and a wrong way to do this. So, what constitutes a bad guest? It's simple - t...

So, you're hitting the road and you want to take your podcast with you. Well, you're in luck because I love to travel and I know exactly what you should and shouldn't do to record decent audio on the go. A lot of podcasters need to record audio on the road. And my tip is DON'T. Seriously, if you don't need to, as in, if with just a little bit of planning and organization you could record before yo...

It's the holy grail of podcasting  - the secret to growing your audience! In this episode, I'm going to reveal the one thing you need to do to see those download steadily increase. So, get ready to have you mind blown. For a lot of podcasters, a big audience is the sign of success. But, should it be? Really, when you park the ego for a minute - do you really need astronomical downloads for your po...

You've got maybe a minute to convince a listener to keep listening. This is not a newsflash. But, do you know what three things are likely to stop them in their podcast enjoyment tracks and exit out before you get to minute 2? I do. Because I don't have a lot of patience for crappy podcasts. In this episode of Just the Tip, I share my 3 strike rule. The three things that if you do them in the firs...

Did you happen to notice the date this podcast was released? I'll give you a hint - it was Christmas Day, 2018. (I suck at hints) So, you might think it's perfectly natural for me me wish you a happy holidays on this podcast. You might expect to hear me open up some presents. Or, maybe share a touching story from my youth. You might even enjoy some carols or a spot of eggnog. Except for one thing....

My podcast disappeared from iTunes. Poof. Gone. No warning. Just gone. Can you imagine if every episode you ever painstakingly created just … vanished. That feeling in your chest right now is pretty much how I felt when I got a friendly tweet letting me know that my podcast had disappeared from iTunes (aka Apple Podcasts). And, yes, I found out from a tweet - not from Apple. So, after a moment of...

I love to talk to people about podcasting, and people love to tell me about their favorite podcasts. They also love to tell me what they hate about podcasting - which I also love because it gives me insight into the listener experience. You remember… the listener the whole reason you podcast? The other day, I was chatting with a buddy and of course, the conversation turned to podcasts. He wanted t...