April 26, 2023

Ask Your Doctor if Podcasting is Right for You

Writer: Jeff Sovel

All the cool kids are doing it

In 2023 there are something like 2 million podcasts, and growth is not slowing down. Perhaps you have considered starting a podcast yourself.

Does it seem daunting? The challenge may not be where you think it is.

Podcast “Mechanics”

In my opinion, the biggest challenge is not what I’ll call the “mechanics” of podcasting. There are hundreds of instructional videos on YouTube that show you how to do it – choosing mics, recording and editing, podcast hosting platforms, etc. The “mechanics” are probably way easier than you think.

Granted – finding the “best” tools to use (that you feel comfortable with and that are efficient for your purposes and fit your budget) takes a little research legwork, but it can be done. There are also Facebook Groups for podcasters where you can seek advice on these things interactively. Personally, I like to keep things super-simple. (I’ll list the tools I use at the end of this post).

What should your podcast be?

I think that the biggest challenge is how make a podcast that stands out in the crowd. With millions of podcasts for people to choose from, many produced by celebrities that have a natural advantage in attracting listeners, how can you compete?

My advice is to design a unique podcast. I don’t use the word “design” lightly. Very intentional decisions need to be made.

Long-form? Short-form? Solo effort? Partner or group effort? Interview show? Reviews? Audio-drama? Publishing commentary? Something else entirely? This is where you need to do some introspection. Take stock of your strengths and your limitations. Figure out what would be sustainable and fun for you.

For me – I had an idea for a short-form podcast related to books – with a quirky premise. It’s called The Page 1 Challenge. And by “short-form” I mean that each episode is less than five minutes long. That makes it easy for me to produce every week, and also is low-investment for listeners. I refer to it as “A little piece of podcast pie – like a dessert after a meal of long-form podcasts.”

Design Decisions

There isn’t space here to delve deeply into the reasoning behind all the podcast design decisions I made, but the structure of my podcast looks like this:

Intro music: Sets the tone (quirky, lighthearted), blends well with the intro phrasing. I spent many hours listening to examples to find exactly the right vibe I wanted.
Introduction: Instead of having a standard, boiler-plate intro that I use for every episode, I change the wording for every episode. It’s always very short – only about 30 seconds, but often humorous. Listeners come to expect this bit of novelty. “What’s he going to say this time?”
Reading: The show has “Page 1” right in the title, but books are formatted in all different styles, so I’m not a stickler. I’ll use a little of page 2 if it makes for a more coherent and interesting unit of narrative. Not every book is a fast-starter, so decisions have to be made.
Reveal: Here I share the title, author, and publishing date so the listener can find the book if page 1 did indeed captivate them.
Insider comment from the author: Since I communicate with authors to get their permission to use their books, I take the opportunity to ask them for an interesting snippet – so listeners get to hear me read something special from the author – which helps to make a connection with the listener. Another element of novelty and unexpected delight.

For me, this is a unique, tidy, and manageable format.

In Summary

Producing a podcast can be fun. It should be fun. Don’t do it if it isn’t fun!

But don’t shy away from trying it. The mechanics are not as daunting as you may fear, and heck – you’re an author: creativity is your game! Dream up an idea and design a brilliant new podcast that stands out in a crowd.

The tools I use:

Rode PodMic microphone and arm
FocusRite Solo audio interface
A laptop
Podcastle.ai – for audio recording and editing. SUPER simple. Very efficient workflow.
Buzzsprout for podcast hosting platform
PodPage for my website – designed for podcasters

Website: http://ThePage1Challenge.com

Also – I’m always looking for authors willing to let me use their book on the podcast, so… have your people call my people – is what I’d say if I had people. So just use the website.

About the Writer

Jeff’s day job is being a software engineer in healthcare IT. As a hobby podcaster, he was influenced by decades of listening to NPR shows like This American Life, Snap Judgement, The Moth, Hidden Brain, and Prairie Home Companion, and even a show called “Radio Reader”. He also has decades of practice reading out loud to his kids and now his grandkids. Jeff launched The Page 1 Challenge in January 2023. It is available on most of the major podcast platforms, as well as on the website.