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So You Want to Podcast There’s an audience waiting for you. Do you know how to reach them? words & photos By BEVERLY BRIDGES
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odcasts. There are millions of them and each day more are added to the list. There’s a podcast available for just about every taste and interest, and include a wide range of topics and stories. Perhaps you’ve downloaded podcasts from I-Tunes, Spotify or other outlets. If you have, you’re not alone. As reported in Forbes, in 2020, an estimated 100 million people listened to a podcast each month and it’s expected to reach 125 million in 2022. Advertisers have taken notice, spending $800 million in 2020 on podcast ads. It is anticipated that figure will more than double to $1.7 billion by 2024. Last year’s five top-earning podcasters earned a cumulative $70 million from their titles, and each year the dollars grow along with the number of listeners. If you’ve thought about becoming a podcaster, here are some things to consider. What’s Your Story? Podcasting, first and foremost, is about storytelling, according
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Orange Appeal | 2021
Improvised, at-home recording booths are common for amongst podcasters. A bedroom closet full of clothes is ideal, helping the recording sound warm and creates an intimate atmosphere.
to Melodie Berquist-Tutori, associate professor at Saddleback College. With over ten years of experience in audio production, Berquist-Tutori stresses that successful podcasting is about creating an emotional connection to your story. “At its core, podcasting is about people. That’s why the storytelling aspect is so important. If you tell a great story people will listen.”
Define Your Audience NPR’s Project Blueprint, a guide for helping new podcasters refine their ideas, suggests you ask yourself how your audience could benefit: Will it inform them? Empower them? Connect them to other people? Inspire them to take action? Improve their lives? Change policies? Imagine who would listen to your podcast on an on-going basis –– aside from your family and friends. Who is your podcast for? What kind of person are they? What are their interests? What do they do for fun? Where will they listen to the podcast – on the way to work or school? What are they doing as they listen? Why This Format? Kristen Meinzer, successful podcaster and author of So you Want to Start a Podcast, recommends thinking about why potential listeners would choose to play your podcast rather than switch on the radio, watch YouTube or turn on the TV. Are there better ways the audience would get the information you present in your podcast?
Listen, Listen, Listen No two podcasts are exactly alike. Some are conversations, other have guests. Others include sound bites that come in and out of the narration. Other formats include news, advice, recap, episodic documentary, investigations and magazine. At the other end of the spectrum is serial fiction over multiple episodes. Berquist-Tutori recommends listening to a variety of podcasts to learn what works best for you. “Listen to lots of different podcasts that you don’t like,” advises Berquist-Tutori. “Think about why you don’t like that podcast and why you do like others. When you’re becoming a writer you read. New filmmakers watch films. Find some podcasts you’ve never heard of and study them. It shapes you as a storyteller.” Determine Length The length of your podcast episode depends on your format. The majority of podcasts fall into the 30 to 70-minute range, allowing for longer interviews and conversations. Podcasts that
