As a podcaster, how do you stay engaging?
I love listening to podcasts, but if you consider podcast vs video, a podcast is limited to fewer ways to delivery entertainment.
This seems like an advantage to me, because as a podcaster, you know you have to rely on your skills to orate, storytell, or X depending on your type of show. It's more of an advantageous limit to direct you on what you can improve on.
I'd really love to hear how you guys keep your podcast engaging, because I'd love to take those methods, tips, and tricks to my Twitch stream, and future audio uses.
As a listener I think solo shows are harder to get into but here's some things to consider:
What will your podcast be about?
I will actually be streaming World of Warcraft, but I want to take some of the skills podcasters have developed to my stream to ensure I'm able to engage my audience.
I think your first bullet point is something people forget. We came for the reason that's in the title, not for your messaging, ads, asks for follows, whatever, before it.
The third point is something that's difficult when streaming a game, but a story can be thought of broadly. I want to tell a story of someone who is very productive in their real life, but can also find a home and place to enjoy in a virtual world.
@tilikang and I are new to this. But, I find the topics that engage us the most seem to be the most engaging to others.
Maybe there's something to keeping yourself engaged (as the host)?
I think that sounds a lot like passion. If you're passionate about a topic, create content around that topic, then other people who are also passionate about that topic are going to be more inclined to listen in.
It sounds simple, but there may be a lot to that, though.
Humans are quite literally addicted to novelty, so we find it difficult to listen to the same people talk about the same things day after day. It helps to mix it up.
One way to make this easy on yourself is to interview people. Bring on different people every episode, or at least most episodes. Then focus at least 90% of your questions and comments on the guest, their story, their lives, their opinions. If you talk about yourself, it'll get real repetitive real quick, unless you're willing to do a massive amount of work bringing new thoughts to the table every week.
So, for someone who wasn't going to be working with guests, the lesson is:
Don't be mundane.
Don't be repetitive, unless it's interesting to your viewers/listeners.
I'd go one step further and say that repetition is almost never interesting. Familiarity is great, but repetition always gets old eventually.
Seeking novelty is a fundamental human drive.
It lights up our brains in ways that almost nothing else does. It's why kids get bored of toys they've played with for too long. It's why Facebook blows up your news feed and shows you totally new posts every time you refresh. It's why variety shows have always been popular. It's why the news is called the "news" not the "olds." Our brains evolved to focus on what's new and different, because anything that's old and consistent must be safe.
Thanks for the reply!
@csallen You're a pro at this - mind sharing a top tip or something you've learned to do over time?