Many of us have listened to podcasts that sounded like they were trying to teach us how to suck eggs or had no real information, and were nothing more than a bunch of fancy words. The person doing the podcast certainly didn’t intend for you to feel this way, so why does it happen, and how do you make sure it doesn’t happen to your podcast or to you.
The answer is in understanding the level the person you are talking to, is at, and since the audience will be from all different levels, this makes it a challenge, but there is a simple solution.
I often give the example of a seminar, verses a workshop.
In the seminar the speaker tends to be more general, assume that those attending are at a certain level and already have certain concepts grasped.
For example, the speaker may be speaking about generating leads, and say something as simple as ‘so when you put together your TikTok campaign, make sure you run between 2 – 4 videos per day’.
Now on the surface this may sound good, that is if you are at a level that knows how to make TikTok videos, but what if you don’t? It is why at seminars; some people get a lot out of them, and others feel there was no substance.
The higher the level your audience is at, in relevance to what you are talking about, the less detailed instruction they need, they already get it. We have all experienced this, some asks us to do something we are skilled in, or have knowledge in, and its simple, we don’t need a list of actions given to us, we already know what to do. On the other hand, if it is something we don’t know what to do, or have limited experience in, we need a few pointers, that’s natural for all of us.
So how does this relate to our podcast?
If we just give broad sweeping statements, those with high knowledge levels get it and those who need more detail don’t and they quit listening.
Reverse that, and start giving breakdown details on all your points, and those will a high level of knowledge in that area will feel you are stating the obvious, and this is to low level for them and quit listening.
So, what is the solution? How do we talk to both sets of people, without alienating either of them.
The answer is to use ‘inclusive language’. That is to say, we give credit that people already know this, and we do it in a way, that it allows us to give brief elaborations that allow us to add depth to the information we are conveying.
Let’s use the TikTok scenario as an example. If I were talking about lead generation and wanted to introduce TikTok as a lead generator, I may something like: ‘ and as we all know, TikTok is a great tool for generating leads, that is easy to do and gets us fast results. Now I do get asked my method for constructing those videos, and I know we all have our favourite way of doing them. For me I like to get a simple message I want to make, and write my headline around that first, then write a short script, that if read it, would take between 20 and 45 seconds, that’s about it for TikTok for me. I know many write the script first and pull the headline out of that latter, I’d be interested to know what you do.
To turn the script into audio I use eleven labs. Do you use AI for your voice or do you record your own? I don’t think there is a right or wrong, but I think hearing how others do it, helps us assess what we are doing and if we can do it better, which is what everyone who is successful is always doing.
From there, I grab some free videos clips from Pexel, that I think relate to what I’m talking about…….’ And so on and so on.
Can you see how I’m giving credit where credit is due and for those people, they are nodding, saying, ‘that’s what I do, or I do this, or that, and those who are going ‘I have no idea how to even make a TikTok video’, I am delivering content that they can build on, so they feel there is real value in listening.
The other thing I state, is that successful people always listen to how others do things, and the classic tactic of always asking questions of the listener, for example, ‘is this how you do it?
The use of this style of inclusive language, solves the two problems as to why people stop listening to your podcast. It keeps those at a higher level engaged and not feel like they are being spoken to like they are dumb, and it keeps those with a lower level of knowledge in the topic engaged, as they are getting useful information in a way that tells them, this is what those being successful in this area are doing.
I think what really helps when doing any podcast is what I always say, make podcasts about what you are passionate about, and I know when you do your podcast, either as your own show, or a guest, or love teaching podcasting in workshops as I do, people will love listening to you and engage with you.
Till next time, do what you love, (and a shameless plug) listen to more great content like this on, The 101 Connection, Australia’s number 1 online radio station, connecting you, to success.
Michael Worthington
The 101 Connection
Australia’s No1 Online Radio Station
Connecting you, to success