Podcasting Mistakes: Top 13 to Avoid
Here are the Top 13 podcasting mistakes to avoid now and forever. These podcast mistakes come from experienced podcasters who’ve seen it all. Perhaps you know a few of these yourself. Are you making any of the podcast mistakes below? Maybe a lot of them? The only way to make sure is by reading this masterpiece.
1. Creating a podcast without a plan or strategy
When you’re starting out, it’s tempting to just dive in and start recording. But before you do, make sure you have a plan and strategy for your podcast.
To create a podcast with a strategy, first think about why you’re starting the show in the first place. Maybe it’s just to talk about things that interest you and share them with other people who are interested in those same things. Alternatively, it might be because you want to build an audience so that your business can grow—or maybe it’s both!
Whatever your motivation may be, once you’ve decided on what kind of content and platform will help reach those goals, then move on to step two: make sure that your plan is realistic for where you are right now. This includes deciding what kind of content you want to include, how often you’ll publish episodes, and how long each episode will be.
If you’re starting out with little experience in podcasting, then don’t try to start from scratch with every single episode being completely original and unique! Instead, try doing some research into how other podcasts have done it before
Once you have a plan in place, it’s easier to focus on creating high-quality content that will keep listeners engaged.
2. Asking your guests the same questions every time.
If you’ve been podcasting for a while, you know that there are certain questions you have to ask your guests. For example, it’s absolutely necessary to ask them what they’re working on right now, what their favorite book is, and how they got into the industry. But here’s the thing: You don’t have to ask all of those questions every single time. It is one of the easy podcasting mistakes the you can avoid.
If you have a good rapport with your guest and they feel comfortable around you, why not try asking them something new? Maybe they’ll open up about something they haven’t talked about before or give you an inside look into their creative process that will make your listeners feel like they’re getting an even more personal experience with that person than usual. Or maybe they’ll tell you their favorite movie or TV show instead! Either way, it’s worth trying something new—you might be surprised by how much more interesting things get when you switch things up!
3. Circularly promoting yourself on your own podcast
When you’re starting a podcast, it’s tempting to just talk about yourself and your brand. After all, that’s what you’re trying to promote! But if you want people to actually listen to your show, you can’t just keep talking about how amazing you are.
Instead, try building a community around your podcast by having guests who are more interesting than you are (or at least equally interesting), and ask them questions that will help draw people in. If you’re trying to build your audience, the last thing you want is for people to tune in because they’ve heard of you—they should be tuning in because they’ve heard of someone else on your show!
4. Cramming too much into a single episode
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when it comes to podcasting is cramming too much into a single episode.
This might seem counterintuitive, but hear us out: in order to keep listeners engaged and coming back for more, you need to ensure that each episode is as strong as possible. That means focusing on one topic at a time and not trying to cover more than one thing in a single episode. This will help you keep your audience’s attention with every episode by making sure that every one of them has something new and interesting to offer.
In addition, this strategy will allow you to build authority over time by becoming known for expertise in specific areas or topics.
If you find yourself struggling with how much content should go into each episode, think about what your ideal listener would want from an episode. What questions would they have? What information would be most helpful for them? Then use those answers as a guidepost when deciding how much content should go into each episode of your podcast!
5. Talking too much and dominating the conversation
We all love to talk, but there’s a fine line between talking and dominating. If you’re the only person talking, it’s time to rethink your approach.
A good rule of thumb is that if you’re talking more than 50% of the time, you are dominating the conversation. To avoid this, make sure that you ask questions, let others speak, and take turns talking.
You’ll want to ask questions like: “What did you think about that?” or “How did that make you feel?” or even just “What do you think?” These kinds of open-ended questions will prompt your guests to open up and share their thoughts on the subject matter at hand without having to tell them what you want them to say.
6. Not doing your research before inviting a guest
It’s a no-brainer: if you want to have a successful podcast, you need to book guests that are relevant and interesting. But do you know what can make or break your podcast? The research you do before inviting someone onto your show.
The best way to avoid making this podcasting mistake is to take the time to read their bio and listen to some of their previous interviews. If they don’t seem like the right fit for your show, there’s no harm in politely declining their invitation—and it could save you from wasting hours of precious time on an interview that doesn’t work for either party involved.
7. Not owning your opinions or recommendations
Owning your opinions is the best way to establish credibility with your listeners. If you’re afraid to stand behind your recommendations, or if you try to hide your own beliefs by saying “I don’t know” or “it’s up to you” instead of sharing your opinion, people will see through it and question whether or not they should trust what you’re saying.
8. Focusing on perfection instead of consistency
This mistake is easy to make, especially when you’re just starting out. You want everything about your podcast to be the best it can be: the sound quality, the content, the listener count, and so on. But you’ll never reach perfection if you don’t first focus on consistency. You need to record regularly and consistently in order for people to start listening and recommending your show to others
9. Being Unwilling to Spend Money
If you’re going to podcast, you need to be willing to spend money. You may be able to get away with a cheap microphone and laptop for a while, but eventually, you’re going to want to upgrade. And if you’re trying to make a business out of it, you’ll need something better than the free stuff on the internet.
You don’t need an expensive setup right away—you can start by using what’s already in your house—but once you’ve started making money off your podcast, it’s time to invest in quality equipment and assistance that will help you sound good.
10. Believing It’s All About the Production Value
The truth is that if your content isn’t engaging, then it doesn’t matter how slick your production is. And if you’re not engaging people with your content, then no one will listen to you—even if they love the way your show sounds!
So what can you do to avoid this mistake? Focus on creating content that’s relevant and interesting to your audience. Then work on making sure it sounds as good as possible while still maintaining its integrity.
11. Losing the human element by reading off a script
If you’re reading off a script, you’re missing out on the chance to engage with your listeners and take them along for the ride as you speak from the heart. When you read from a script, it’s easy to get distracted by what you’re saying instead of focusing on how you’re saying it, and this can lead to a less-than-effective podcast.
The human element is what makes podcasts so powerful—your ability to connect with people through your voice and personality makes listening more fun (and more effective). You can easily avoid this podcasting mistake. Don’t you agree?
12. Not editing your audio
If you don’t edit your audio, you will leave listeners with a bad impression of your podcast and possibly lose them for good.
Editing involves listening to your podcast and removing any parts that are too quiet or too loud, adding in any music or sound effects, adjusting the volume levels of each person so they’re all the same volume level, and making sure there are no long pauses in between words or sentences.
You can edit using software on your computer or by hiring someone who knows how to use professional-level editing equipment (and who will charge accordingly).
13. Failing to promote your podcast enough
You may have spent hours recording, editing and mixing your show, but if no one ever listens to it, what’s the point?
It’s tempting to think that once you’ve created your podcast, it’ll naturally get discovered and shared by word-of-mouth—but this is unfortunately not how the world works. You need to promote your podcast very actively and consistently in order for anyone to even hear about it.
If you want listeners to find you on their own without any effort from you (and who doesn’t?), then make sure your content is so good that they can’t help but share it with their friends.
Hopefully, these podcasting mistakes have pointed out some ways in which you can improve your content.. Keep in mind that podcasts are a medium unlike anything else, and you don’t need to fit certain criteria to be a success. Instead, focus on answering the questions your listeners have and delivering the information they need. Think about what makes for a good podcast and how you can add additional value to the podcasting world.
