I’m not laboring under the delusion that the people who produce podcasts are reading my blog… but if they were, if they ever had occassion to stop by, I have some advice for them. (Just in case. It’s not, mathematically speaking, impossible that a podcaster could happen upon this blog….) Here goes:
1) Never, never, never begin your podcast (particularly the first-ever episode) with any kind of “cool” noise. I tried to listen to podcast once that (I’m serious) began with a very loud version of that old-fashioned static-ping-back noise that dial-up modems made. Maybe the person thought it would be nifty. What it was, in fact, was painful and annoying, and I never did listen to their show – not at all. (Way to lose listener there, pal.)
2) Don’t interview your friends or have them play co-host. Seriously, now. You like you’re friends because they make you laugh, they make you feel comfortable enough that you can say whatever you want around them, and together you’re both free to act as silly as you like. For all those same reasons, they should never be on your podcast. (Nothing ruins an otherwise good podcast like an endless round of: shrieking, giggling, and pointless meandering inside jokes.)
3) Childrens’ or pets’ toys that make noise should never, ever (not even once) be featured as part of the podcast.
4) Interview guests should not be interviewed in loud coffeeshops or in large, crowd-filled rooms at conventions.
5) Interview guests, unless they are strangers to each other, should not be interviewed together. (Guests who know each other are probably friends, and thus will the shrieking, giggling, and pointless meandering inside jokes ensue.)
I’m not saying avoiding these 5 things will result in a perfect podcast… I’m just saying it would help.
If you were a Podcaster….
I’m not laboring under the delusion that the people who produce podcasts are reading my blog… but if they were, if they ever had occassion to stop by, I have some advice for them. (Just in case. It’s not, mathematically speaking, impossible that a podcaster could happen upon this blog….) Here goes:
1) Never, never, never begin your podcast (particularly the first-ever episode) with any kind of “cool” noise. I tried to listen to podcast once that (I’m serious) began with a very loud version of that old-fashioned static-ping-back noise that dial-up modems made. Maybe the person thought it would be nifty. What it was, in fact, was painful and annoying, and I never did listen to their show – not at all. (Way to lose listener there, pal.)
2) Don’t interview your friends or have them play co-host. Seriously, now. You like you’re friends because they make you laugh, they make you feel comfortable enough that you can say whatever you want around them, and together you’re both free to act as silly as you like. For all those same reasons, they should never be on your podcast. (Nothing ruins an otherwise good podcast like an endless round of: shrieking, giggling, and pointless meandering inside jokes.)
3) Childrens’ or pets’ toys that make noise should never, ever (not even once) be featured as part of the podcast.
4) Interview guests should not be interviewed in loud coffeeshops or in large, crowd-filled rooms at conventions.
5) Interview guests, unless they are strangers to each other, should not be interviewed together. (Guests who know each other are probably friends, and thus will the shrieking, giggling, and pointless meandering inside jokes ensue.)
I’m not saying avoiding these 5 things will result in a perfect podcast… I’m just saying it would help.
Tags: Podcasts
This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 at 8:46 am and is filed under Advice You Probably Don't Need, Commentary, Miscellaneous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.