Hi everyone! In this inaugural episode, we explore the critical role of audio quality in podcast engagement and listener satisfaction. We examine a recent Twitter poll which revealed that over half of the 305 respondents consider poor audio quality the primary reason for abandoning a podcast.

Listener grievances include subpar audio, the perception of amateurism, the annoyance of excessive sound effects, and the frustration with easily avoidable technical issues.

We also talk about:

• The impact of audio quality on the listener experience
• Common audio pitfalls that plague podcasts and alienate audiences
• Simple yet effective strategies to elevate audio quality, regardless of budget

Listen now to discover how prioritizing audio quality can be a game-changer for your podcasting journey!

Mentioned in today's episode

• Dispelling the "Audio quality is less important than content" myth

Products Used for Be a Better Podcaster

Note: these may contain affiliate links, so I get a small percentage of any product you buy when using my link.

Equipment:

• Google NotebookLM
• Hindenburg Pro
• Auphonic

Recommended resources:

• Captivate.fm
• Substack
• Boomcaster remote interviewing

Be a Better Podcaster is a tips and growth podcast brought to you by Jamie and Jaayne. These are AI hosts - their voices are auto-generated, reading content created by Danny Brown, host of One Minute Podcast Tips and 5 Random Questions.

If you enjoy the show, we'd love for you to leave a rating or review on your favourite podcast app!

Please let your friends know they can listen for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, as well as their preferred podcast app, or online at Be a Better Podcaster.

Pod Chat is closing, as I continue more in my latest podcast. Here are the full details, as well as some shows you might want to follow to keep up with the podcast industry.

Check out One Minute Podcast Tips and be a better podcaster in just a minute a week.

Mentioned in this episode:

• The best podcasts for the very best tips to be a better podcaster.
• Pod the North | Kattie Laur | Substack
• The Podcast Accelerator by Mark Asquith
• Podnews podcasting news

Support the show: Become a Premium Member early access, exclusive content, exclusive live streams, and more.

Contact me: danny@dannybrown.me

Products I use for Pod Chat

Note: these contain affiliate links, so I may get a small percentage of any product you buy/use when using my link.

My equipment:

• Shure SM7B dynamic mic
• Rodecaster Pro II production studio
• Sony MDR-7506 Studio Monitor Headphones
• Elgato Wave Mic Arm Low Profile

Recommended resources:

• Captivate.fm
• Boomcaster remote interviewing

Support the show: Become a Premium Member for ad-free early access, exclusive live streams, and more.

Contact me: danny@dannybrown.me

Products I use for Pod Chat

Note: these contain affiliate links, so I may get a small percentage of any product you buy/use when using my link.

My equipment:

• Shure SM7B dynamic mic
• Rodecaster Pro II production studio
• Sony MDR-7506 Studio Monitor Headphones
• Elgato Wave Mic Arm Low Profile

Recommended resources:

• Captivate.fm
• Boomcaster remote interviewing

After a slight hiatus over the spring, Pod Chat will return in June. Also, news of a cool way to support Pod Chat from one-off tips to full community membership.

Support the show: Become a Premium Member for early access, exclusive content, stickers and more.

Contact me: danny@dannybrown.me

Products I use for Pod Chat

Note: these contain affiliate links, so I may get a small percentage of any product you buy/use when using my link.

My equipment:

• Shure SM7B dynamic mic
• Rodecaster Pro II production studio
• Sony MDR-7506 Studio Monitor Headphones
• Elgato Wave Mic Arm Low Profile

Recommended resources:

• Captivate.fm
• Boomcaster remote interviewing
• Reel.so audiogram creator

Mentioned in this episode:

Enjoy Pod Chat? Leave a review or rating on your preferred app and show the world you care!

Did you know every time Pod Chat gets a new review, a baby podcaster takes their first steps? Help a baby podcaster walk today, by leaving a 5-star rating or review on the likes of Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. Just head on over to podchat.ca/review and do your magic - these little feet are counting on you!

Review the show

For the last 14 years, I’ve been involved in podcasting. Okay, that’s not quite correct - I published my first podcast episode back in 2009 on BlogTalkRadio, but then didn’t record anything else until 2016. So, technically, I’ve been in the space for the last 7 years - my bad!

Over that time, as podcasting has grown in popularity both for podcasters and listeners, it’s safe to say that growth has also attracted the usual crowd of experts and gurus that offer their “expertise”, usually for a large sum of money, to unsuspecting podcasters looking to grow their show(s) and enjoy whatever modicum of success they’re looking for.

Now, that’d be fine - after all, everyone deserves to make a living. But, sadly, a lot of the advice given is misunderstood at best, and outright shilling at worst, where they just want to make a quick buck out of a new and eager audience.

So let's bust the myths that these "experts" shill.

Support the show: Become a Premium Member for ad-free early access, exclusive live streams, and more.

Contact me: danny@dannybrown.me

Products I use for Pod Chat

Note: these contain affiliate links, so I may get a small percentage of any product you buy/use when using my link.

My equipment:

• Shure SM7B dynamic mic
• Rodecaster Pro II production studio
• Sony MDR-7506 Studio Monitor Headphones
• Elgato Wave Mic Arm Low Profile

Recommended resources:

• Captivate.fm
• Boomcaster remote interviewing
• Poddin transcripts
• Reel.so audiogram creator

Mentioned in this episode:

Enjoy Pod Chat? Leave a review or rating on your preferred app and show the world you care!

Did you know every time Pod Chat gets a new review, a baby podcaster takes their first steps? Help a baby podcaster walk today, by leaving a 5-star rating or review on the likes of Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. Just head on over to podchat.ca/review and do your magic - these little feet are counting on you!

Review the show

There are a lot of studies on how podcasting can benefit listeners when it comes to their mental health, but this isn’t the case when it comes to the creators behind the podcasts. And that’s more than a little disconcerting. Because podcasting can be such a lonely endeavour, this only exacerbates the issues someone might be going through that are multiplied when their anxieties about their podcast start to take over.

For those that are suffering, it’s often in silence. Even though it’s 2023, mental health still carries a stigma around it - according to the American Psychiatric Association, more than half of people with mental illness don’t receive help. A lot of this can come down to the fact that people are so unwilling to talk about it - going back to that belief they're weak, or there must be something wrong with them and only them. Or, worse of all, they believe it's "all in their head" because they've been told that often enough.

This is where talking about mental health, and encouraging open conversations around the topic industry-wide, can be an important step forward in recognizing the loneliness and fear that can come with podcasting.

Support the show: Become a Premium Member for ad-free early access, exclusive live streams, and more.

Contact me: danny@dannybrown.me

Products I use for Pod Chat

Note: these contain affiliate links, so I may get a small percentage of any product you buy/use when using my link.

My equipment:

• Shure SM7B dynamic mic
• Rodecaster Pro II production studio
• Sony MDR-7506 Studio Monitor Headphones
• Elgato Wave Mic Arm Low Profile

Recommended resources:

• Captivate.fm
• Boomcaster remote interviewing
• Poddin transcripts
• Reel.so audiogram creator

Mentioned in this episode:

Enjoy Pod Chat? Leave a review or rating on your preferred app and show the world you care!

Did you know every time Pod Chat gets a new review, a baby podcaster takes their first steps? Help a baby podcaster walk today, by leaving a 5-star rating or review on the likes of Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. Just head on over to podchat.ca/review and do your magic - these little feet are counting on you!

Review the show

Today it's my pleasure to welcome Alexandra Cohl to the show.

Alexandra is the founder and owner of POD.DRALAND, providing PR and marketing services for podcasters, as well as a place centred on amplifying women's voices in podcasting. She's also the host of The Pod Broads, where she interviews women in the podcasting industry about their lives and their work, and curator/editor of Podcasting By the Moon, a newsletter that focuses on women-centric podcast news, wins, and reflections.

In this episode, we discuss:

• the pervasive bro culture in podcasting
• how women in podcasting are still vastly under-represented despite creating much of the content
• the importance of events like the Black Podcasting Awards when it comes to increasing diversity in the industry
• why we need to change the thinking around the value of the podcast space when compared to movies and music

Connect with Alexandra:

• Alexandra on Twitter
• POD.DRALAND
• The Pod Broads
• Podcasting by the Moon
• Broads in Progress

Support the show: Become a Premium Member for ad-free early access, exclusive live streams, and Ask Me Anything sessions.

Contact me: danny@dannybrown.me

Products I use for Pod Chat

Note: these contain affiliate links, so I may get a small percentage of any product you buy/use when using my link.

My equipment:

• Shure SM7B dynamic mic
• Rodecaster Pro II production studio
• Sony MDR-7506 Studio Monitor Headphones
• Elgato Wave Mic Arm Low Profile

Recommended resources:

• Captivate.fm
• Boomcaster remote interviewing
• Poddin transcripts
• Reel.so audiogram creator

Mentioned in this episode:

Check out Trailer Park Podcast

Trailer Park Podcast focuses on the art of the audio teaser, and is hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt and Tim Villegas. Season 1 consists of 8 episodes featuring trailers from very different podcasts.

Trailer Park Podcast

Get your daily podcasting newsletter with Podnews

Pod Chat is sponsored by Podnews - get a daily email with all the latest news about podcasting. It's free at podnews.net. From jobs across the industry to events and conferences,...

An area I don’t think gets a lot of love in the podcast space is the podcast trailer. According to industry publication Podnews, only 14% of the podcasts they looked at had trailers marked in their feed. And that’s a huge missed opportunity for podcasters - because trailers are perfect for a multitude of reasons:

• they can be used as a great introduction to your show
• they can be highlighted on podcast apps that support trailer filters (like Apple Podcasts and Spotify)
• they can be great for trailer swaps with other podcasters
• they can easily be updated as your podcast changes over time

Think about it - how many movies or TV shows have you watched because a great trailer piqued your interest? The same goes for great podcast trailers - but they need to be effective to grab a potential listener’s attention.

Which is where Trailer Park: The Podcast Trailer Podcast comes in.

***

Support the show: Become a Premium Member for ad-free early access, exclusive live streams, and more.

Contact me: danny@dannybrown.me

Products I use for Pod Chat

Note: these contain affiliate links, so I may get a small percentage of any product you buy/use when using my link.

My equipment:

• Shure SM7B dynamic mic
• Rodecaster Pro II production studio
• Sony MDR-7506 Studio Monitor Headphones
• Elgato Wave Mic Arm Low Profile

Recommended resources:

• Captivate.fm
• Boomcaster remote interviewing
• Poddin transcripts
• Reel.so audiogram creator

Mentioned in this episode:

Enjoy Pod Chat? Leave a review or rating on your preferred app and show the world you care!

Did you know every time Pod Chat gets a new review, a baby podcaster takes their first steps? Help a baby podcaster walk today, by leaving a 5-star rating or review on the likes of Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. Just head on over to podchat.ca/review and do your magic - these little feet are counting on you!

Review the show