The secret to a great podcast? Passion!
Whenever I start listening to a piece of audio I ask the question ‘why should I care?’, if I don’t know the answer within about 60 seconds, I don’t keep listening, its that simple. My Spotify playlist is a smorgasbord of half nibbled, slightly chewed, briefly tasted and then spat back out podcasts and programmes. My time is precious and I spend it judiciously on stuff I care about, so my challenge to any piece of audio is to make me care.
So what makes me care about a piece of audio? I often bang on about making content relevant to the audience but that’s no easy task if you’re talking about something which they might not be able to relate to and doesn’t directly or obviously connect into their lives plus, while we can have a good stab at who our audience might be, we often don’t really know and it’s all guesswork. Back when we were making the Brainwaves science series for the BBC a great swathe of our production time was given over to thinking ourselves into the shoes of our audience. We’d scratch our heads long and hard about how to come at a programme about algorithms, fracking, selfies or conflict resolution – asking ourselves repeatedly and obsessively why anyone should give a shit became our tinnitus. We’d long contemplate those first precious seconds of each and every episode and apply every possible approach and trick in the book. I like to think it worked, or at least we were anything but predictable!
Sometimes though, the creative route into how to make someone stop and think ‘hell yeah, that’s so about my life’ just isn’t that obvious. If you can’t make it relevant (though I suggest you always try until your fingers bleed), my next go-to is to bend over backwards to make it sound like you as a producer or presenter or in some kind of creative opening gambit, really truly care. Your programme or podcast needs to really give a shit, in fact you need to make it sound like you’re so invested in the subject matter, any audience member would be crazy to pass up the chance to find out what the hell it is you’re all getting so excited about. You want the audience to feel they’ll be missing the party if they reach for the pause button.
If you care passionately about what you are talking about, you will draw your audience in. I’ve talked to all manner of extraordinary and inspiring academics over the years on every possible topic but the one feature all the ones I remember best have in common is their utter passion for their subject. I couldn’t begin to explain what it is that Catherine Heymans actually studies, all I know is I’d be prepared to listen to her talk about it endlessly. She makes you excited about her subject quite simply because she’s so excited about it, the universe becomes an utterly enthralling place in her company. Mark Evans, who we’ve been working with on the Heart of Arabia project, is an extraordinary communicator, he instinctively knows how to make you care because he cares, really cares. I didn’t really know what I thought about the Middle East and certainly had never harboured any desire to visit but having spent time listening to Mark I’ve literally found myself googling flights to Oman, I can feel the soft drift of sand under my boots, I’m haunted by the song of the hoopoe.
The joy of pursuing passion and trusting to wherever it leads you is, as an audience member, you get a doorway into all manner of subjects you wouldn’t have naturally turned to. Passion is sneaky, its stealthy, it gets you hooked before you have had time to wonder why you ever wanted to know about the science of how beer is brewed (Professor Geoff Palmer is how) or how Edinburgh’s Arthur’s Seat was formed (thanks Iain Stewart), what makes the perfect burger (Neil Forbes is the man in the know) or why following in Harry St John Philby’s footsteps is all you want to do that day (i steer you back to Mark Evans). I’ve travelled the world pedal stroke by pedal stroke with the hugely charismatic Jenny Graham, stepped into crime scenes at the shoulder of Niamh nic Daeid and sunk to depths of the deepest of oceans with Jon Copley. Even as I write, images all these people I've journeyed with through sound rise up before me. You see passion is also memorable. I have no problem recalling each and every shiny and brilliant expert I've lent my ears to over the years.
Let passion be your guide and you won’t go far wrong although there’s an important caveat. It has to be genuine and honest. As human beings our ears and brains are amazing tools for rooting out anything disingenuous, I can smell a fake within about 5 seconds. Fake passion doesn’t hook, in fact I’d argue it positively harms your product. None of us like to feel we’re being hoodwinked and for me, I hate the sense I’m being sold a dud, serve me up fake passion and I’ll not only turn you off, I won’t ever turn anything else you do back on. I’m a bitch about this stuff. But I don’t think I’m atypical. Audiences are fickle, in a digital world where they’ve got millions of options for how to focus their attention, why should they linger unless you give them good honest reason?
So, when it comes to compelling audio, as a programme or podcast maker be passionate about what you produce, care about your subject and find contributors who share that passion and communicate it brilliantly. And if you find yourself trying to make something you don't care about...don’t, life is just too short.
If you’re passionate about your project but are not quite sure how to translate that into compelling storytelling in your podcast or programme, get in touch with us. As well as producing first class content we offer flexible, made to measure training at whatever level suits your needs.