When producing a podcast, hosts need to think of themselves as a listener and make a note of things that can be annoying or distracting to their audience. Identifying these minuscule noises and habits and eliminating them can only help to improve the quality and credibility of your podcast.
Let’s take a look a 5 things that your podcast listeners hate to hear in your podcast episodes.
Filler Words
We are all guilty of using filler words at some point or another, but phrases, such as, um, like, you know, etc. can make you appear like you don’t know what you’re talking about and give you less credibility with your listeners. Instead of using filler words try pausing and collecting your thoughts before articulating them. This will give people the impression that you are more articulate and are educated on the subject talking about.
Dead Air
Have you ever heard the awkward silence in a solo show or an interview where the host left dead air? Audio interruptions are very distracting to listeners and can seem unprofessional. This period of silence can easily be edited out of a podcast and should be eliminated before publishing your podcast to the public.
Static Audio
The sound of static is very irritating and not something anyone longs to hear. It can turn listeners away and immediately stop listening. To keep this from happening, make sure you’re using a quality microphone, the correct input is selected for your program, and you’re wearing headphones during interviews to eliminate interference as much as possible. Before you start recording, do a simple test in the program you’re using to determine the best set up for you.
Inside Jokes
Inside jokes are okay when you are chatting with friends or family, but it is not something that you want to incorporate in your podcast, because it leaves your listeners out of the loop and left out of the conversation. Overall it just doesn’t have any value to your discussion. Remember that you are making your podcast for your audience and if there are any inside jokes, you need to fill them in to keep them from feeling left out or just eliminate them all together.
Rambling
Rambling is very distracting and can make the listener forget what was being discussed in the first place. I get it, it’s easy to trail off and go on a rant… but if you’ve made your point and do this, you can cut it in post production. Another version of rambling that listeners don’t like is repeating things multiple times in different ways. This tactic can make the podcaster seem like they are unprepared and are repeating the same thing multiple times to give themselves time to make up the next scenario or just nervous in general. If you find yourself rambling or repeating a topic multiple times, try giving yourself a script or some type of guideline and follow it as much as possible.
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