I'm back from my wedding and honeymoon, but still settling in with my wife. This is another prerecorded episode that started with a question about podcasting without passion.
Question from Minnie
I am getting involved into blogging, video blogging and soon podcasting, but I wonder what I can talk about passionately and not lose motivation. How do you decide on what to podcast about.
The POD of Podcasting If you don't remember POD (passion, organization, dialog), then go back and listen to episode 1, “You Need POD to Podcast.”
Podcasting without passion?
Podcasting is all about passion. Unless you're getting paid big bucks, podcasting without passion is doomed to fail. Listeners will like you for your passion, whatever it is. Think about the best salesmen—they're so passionate about their products that it makes you interested, too. That's because enthusiasm breeds enthusiasm. Take the P out of the POD of podcasting, and you'll get just OD—odd to podcast without passion, isn't it?
Podcasting without organization?
You can have all the passion and dialog in the world, but lacking organization in your thoughts, flow, and even your website can prevent you from growing or even keeping your audience. This doesn't mean edit out all of your mistakes—sometimes a podcast is a whole lot more personal if you leave in the spot where your cat jumped on your computer and it set off all of your sound effects! Spontaneity is wonderful, but you can never been good preparation and organized thoughts. Don't always “wing it.” Also try to overcome your verbal crutches to make it easier for people to listen to you. If you podcast without organization, you may be very hard for listening.
Podcasting without dialog?
People love to talk, especially about themselves. If listeners send you feedback appropriate to share, then share it! Also don't forget direct, personal communication. This whole episode is in answer to Minnie's excellent question. Thus, I am dialoging with one of my listeners. Your show doesn't have to be driven by dialog with your listeners or depending on a cohost, but if you take the D (dialog) out of the POD, then your listeners may just get PO'd.
Audacity tip: show clipping
Clipping (or peaking) is when your audio is too loud and overloads the system. This causes audio distortion. Fixing this can be tricky, but it's first important for you to see where your audio is clipping.
To reveal your audio clipping in Audacity, go to the View menu and click Show Clipping. When audio exceeds the limit and gets clipped, it will now be marked with red.
Need personalized podcasting help?
I no longer offer one-on-one consulting outside of Podcasters' Society, but request a consultant here and I'll connect you with someone I trust to help you launch or improve your podcast.
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Disclosure
This post may contain links to products or services with which I have an affiliate relationship and may receive compensation from your actions through such links. However, I don't let that corrupt my perspective and I don't recommend only affiliates.
I'm guilty of the 'ya know' phrase. Thanks A LOT for pointing that out! lol
I just got off of the phone with a friend of mine and was catching myself saying that A LOT.
Knowing that you say it a lot will help you overcome it. I hear every time I unnecessarily start a sentence with "and"; that is helping me overcome it.