Speaker 1: Hello again fellow podcaster and welcome back to Pod Theory. I'm your host Jason Sircone and today we're going to talk about four ways to make and keep your podcast engaging. No matter what the subject matter is there is seemingly a podcast about it these days. Pretty much podcasts are out there for everything. If there isn't a live podcast yet you can bet there's one on the way soon. So what does this mean as you bring a brand podcast to life? Well A. it means you're joining a platform that is gaining serious credibility and whose popularity is continuing to climb. But B. it also means that you're joining a platform with a lot of competition. Competition that could come from within your niche and competition just from the standpoint that your listeners have other podcasts in their rotations that they enjoy. Just like anything people will prioritize their favorites and the top shows that they listen to they're always going to come back to when new content goes live. That is as long as they have a reason to come back. Much like a blog or a YouTube channel or any content generating machine at your disposal, if people aren't engaged with what you're publishing it becomes easier for them to stop downloading new content. Especially when there are so many other podcasts that they can listen to. Remember we only have so many hours in a day and only a certain amount of those hours can be dedicated to listening to podcasts. So in order to stay at the top of your audience list of shows that they want to listen to first you want to be sure that you're releasing your content on a consistent basis with consistent sound quality as well as a good format and consistent subject matter. And it goes without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway, your content has to be consistently engaging. When a disconnect between you and your listener starts to take place that's when you lose them. To prevent this from becoming a problem nip it in the bud and be sure you're keeping the engagement at a high level every episode you release. And here are four tips to help you do just that. Number one, always bring your personality to the mic. No one wants to listen to someone who's monotone, someone who's boring, or someone who just flat-out doesn't sound like they want to be hosting a podcast that day. Undoubtedly we all have bad days and sometimes maybe that bad day unfolds when there's a podcast to be recorded. But to paraphrase Walter Sobchak from The Big Lebowski, you can't drag that negative energy into your podcast because it will impact the entire production. Your co-host will realize it, your guest will feel it, and it will flatten out the conversation flow which inevitably will lead to a bad production. When it comes time to shine on the mic do whatever it is you need to clear your head and get in the right zone. Exercise, meditate, read a book, do some handstands, do yoga, visualize the outcome of your show. Your listeners expect the same energy level each show they download and will keep your show in their podcast rotations because of the personality you exude. Never ever shortchange them and always bring positive energy to your podcast. 2. Always solve a problem. We're always looking for solutions to problems. It's human nature. Ensuring your brand podcast is set up to solve problems that people regularly face in your niche will not only help you get discovered, it will help with listener retention. If your content helps solve one problem on a listeners list, chances are it will help solve another and another. Combining this tactic with a consistent format and positive personalities on the mic will unquestionably keep your engagement levels at their peak. 3. Interact with your listeners through all of your platforms. If your audience likes your podcast, chances are they'll want more from you and you can deliver by leveraging the other networks at your disposal. Use a weekly email newsletter to share exclusive content that didn't make the cut onto the final production of your show. Run polls and do trivia on social media. Do live video feeds where your listeners can ask you questions directly. As I get ready for the full launch of my YouTube channel, this is something I'm really really looking forward to implementing. I'm not saying you have to spend 24-7 interacting with your audience, but give them a little extra on top of your podcast episodes and it will keep you on the front of their mind. 4. Run additional segments on your show. Having an additional segment is a nice added bonus to any podcast. I still remember when I was a kid when we'd gather at my grandparents house on Sunday nights, they always had to watch Andy Rooney on 60 Minutes. It didn't matter what happened the rest of the show, everyone had to shut up and listen to Andy's segment at the end, and they were always good. So the lesson here? A short segment that serves a strong purpose can have a ton of power and can keep your listeners engaged in your entire show. So what kind of segment can you do? That's totally up to you, but be sure your segment serves a purpose and serves your audience. You can have listeners submit questions and you answer one of them in the segment, or you can read a review that a listener left you on one of your podcast platforms, or you do something like I'm doing with my sponsor Poddex. Every Thursday release of Pod Theory, I play Poddeck Pandemonium, where I pull a random card from one of my decks, read it, and answer it. I do this segment totally blind and force myself to create an organic answer on the spot. And when I have guests, like I did on episode 90 with Sarah Makin, I'll pull one card from each deck and do a random rapid-fire session. It's a lot of fun, it adds a new layer to the show, and it most definitely will keep people coming back if you present it in an engaging fashion. We're definitely not splitting the atom with the concept of engagement. In fact, it's something you should be focused on from day one. A non-engaging podcast will not keep listeners coming back for more. It's as simple as that. And as I said before, your competition keeps getting bigger and bigger. That's okay, you can't control that, but you can control your consistency, your content quality, and your ability to add features to your overall efforts that will keep listeners engaged. Focus on what you can control. That's the key to sustaining your audience and bringing new listeners into the fold. And that will do it for today's episode of Pod Theory. I mentioned my YouTube channel a few minutes ago, and I'd like to take this opportunity to invite you to subscribe. I'm in the process of producing some new videos and will do an official launch in the near future. If you'd like to be the first to know when new videos drop, subscribe to my channel now and click on the little bell at the top of the page. Visit youtube.com slash Jason Sircone today. Good talk. I'll see you back here tomorrow. This has been Jason Sircone on Pod Theory.