{"version":"1.0.0","segments":[{"startTime":7.68,"endTime":11.44,"body":"Welcome back to Digital Creator. My name is Dylan Schmidt, your host. You know"},{"startTime":11.44,"endTime":15.2,"body":"what's funny? I spent an hour plus going down a Reddit"},{"startTime":15.2,"endTime":18.615,"body":"rabbit hole. If If you're like me, this is not your first time going down"},{"startTime":18.615,"endTime":22.295,"body":"a Reddit rabbit hole. Place leaves you wondering what life was"},{"startTime":22.295,"endTime":25.975,"body":"like before Reddit, before you had access to so much information. Now"},{"startTime":25.975,"endTime":29.755,"body":"this rabbit hole was particularly relevant to this podcast"},{"startTime":30.055,"endTime":33.89,"body":"where I share all sorts of stuff for creators and podcasters"},{"startTime":34.03,"endTime":37.87,"body":"alike. Someone had asked a simple question in the podcast subreddit. What"},{"startTime":37.87,"endTime":41.39,"body":"makes you instantly tune out of a podcast? And that struck a nerve"},{"startTime":41.39,"endTime":45.07,"body":"because hundreds and hundreds of people commented before the"},{"startTime":45.07,"endTime":48.864,"body":"moderators took it down for being too negative. But not before I was able to"},{"startTime":48.864,"endTime":52.485,"body":"extract the data, which I'm going to share with you because I analyzed it"},{"startTime":52.545,"endTime":56.385,"body":"using a simple Google Chrome extension and AI. So in this"},{"startTime":56.385,"endTime":59.905,"body":"episode, I'm gonna share with you what I learned from listeners, some"},{"startTime":59.905,"endTime":63.699,"body":"new, some old, but regardless, it's all kind of compiled"},{"startTime":63.699,"endTime":67.4,"body":"in one place around what podcast listeners absolutely"},{"startTime":67.46,"endTime":71.22,"body":"despise. The reason for me sharing this with you is so that you can make"},{"startTime":71.22,"endTime":74.659,"body":"your own podcast better or identify areas where you might be able to tighten up"},{"startTime":74.659,"endTime":78.465,"body":"your podcast. Having made a lot of content about podcasting the"},{"startTime":78.465,"endTime":82.065,"body":"last few years, naturally, with the way the algorithm works these"},{"startTime":82.065,"endTime":85.825,"body":"days, I get a lot of comments from people who aren't podcasters, but they're podcast"},{"startTime":85.825,"endTime":89.585,"body":"listeners. And generally speaking, podcast listeners, even if"},{"startTime":89.585,"endTime":93.29,"body":"they, I would say even if they don't listen to podcasts, it's seemingly negative that"},{"startTime":93.29,"endTime":97.13,"body":"they lean towards when they comment stuff. And I don't want this just to"},{"startTime":97.13,"endTime":100.65,"body":"be a negative episode. I want this to be, you know, us to be"},{"startTime":100.65,"endTime":104.455,"body":"squeezing the juice from these comments and kind of flipping them into a"},{"startTime":104.455,"endTime":108.055,"body":"positive because there's a reason why people are communicating of what they"},{"startTime":108.055,"endTime":111.815,"body":"dislike hearing in podcasts. Everyone's podcast is different."},{"startTime":111.815,"endTime":115.255,"body":"Everyone's audience is different. The goal of me sharing all of this with"},{"startTime":115.255,"endTime":119.02,"body":"you is not so that you make your podcast for everybody."},{"startTime":119.24,"endTime":122.84,"body":"It's so that you don't lose the people that you're trying to reach. It's so"},{"startTime":122.84,"endTime":126.36,"body":"that you make the most of the time and money that you're investing in your"},{"startTime":126.36,"endTime":130.199,"body":"show, and you just keep making little tweaks to improve it and make it"},{"startTime":130.199,"endTime":133.575,"body":"the best experience you can. Simple as that. And the patterns I was looking at"},{"startTime":133.575,"endTime":136.954,"body":"here right away was groups. Like, I wanted"},{"startTime":137.334,"endTime":141.094,"body":"to group all of these comments and then find out, like, what the sentiment"},{"startTime":141.094,"endTime":144.614,"body":"is amongst them and what seems to be, like, the top"},{"startTime":144.614,"endTime":148.01,"body":"frustrations of podcast listeners. So number 1,"},{"startTime":148.23,"endTime":151.77,"body":"and arguably the biggest gripes of podcast listeners,"},{"startTime":151.99,"endTime":155.51,"body":"was audio issues. I would say technical quality, poor"},{"startTime":155.51,"endTime":159.13,"body":"microphone quality, inconsistent volume levels, having background"},{"startTime":159.19,"endTime":162.805,"body":"noise and echo. Listeners hate when there's a tinny"},{"startTime":162.805,"endTime":166.485,"body":"or a muffled sound on a microphone. They also hate when there"},{"startTime":166.485,"endTime":169.845,"body":"is a consistent volume and then it gets really loud for a"},{"startTime":169.845,"endTime":173.685,"body":"podcast ad read. Kind of similar to commercials, which I'm sure you've heard on"},{"startTime":173.685,"endTime":177.33,"body":"TV where there's like, wow, this commercial is just all of a sudden way louder."},{"startTime":177.55,"endTime":181.23,"body":"Podcast listening is an intimate experience. You have headphones a lot of the"},{"startTime":181.23,"endTime":184.67,"body":"time in your ear. You're doing something. You're kind of like in this"},{"startTime":184.67,"endTime":188.51,"body":"meditative state, and it can be jarring or hard to get"},{"startTime":188.51,"endTime":191.745,"body":"into when there's just inconsistent audio"},{"startTime":191.885,"endTime":195.485,"body":"quality and levels. Now I'll say too that if you look at, like, the top"},{"startTime":195.485,"endTime":199.245,"body":"50 podcasts on Apple or Spotify right now, you can note that they"},{"startTime":199.245,"endTime":202.924,"body":"all have great audio. And great audio isn't one of those things"},{"startTime":202.924,"endTime":206.54,"body":"that costs a lot of money these days. You could get a $60"},{"startTime":207.0,"endTime":210.6,"body":"USB mic from Amazon and use something like Adobe Podcast"},{"startTime":210.6,"endTime":214.2,"body":"Enhance or Auphonic, and you'll have great audio. The next major"},{"startTime":214.2,"endTime":217.66,"body":"frustration was content structure for podcasts."},{"startTime":217.88,"endTime":221.605,"body":"Long rambling intros, unfocused conversations, and"},{"startTime":221.605,"endTime":225.045,"body":"poor storytelling. Listers noted if it took the"},{"startTime":225.045,"endTime":228.885,"body":"host more than 5 minutes to get into the show, they"},{"startTime":228.885,"endTime":232.644,"body":"were tuning out. And depending on how long your podcast episodes are, 5"},{"startTime":232.644,"endTime":236.209,"body":"minutes might be way too long anyways. 5 minutes might be"},{"startTime":236.209,"endTime":239.97,"body":"crazy. Because if you have like a 15 or 20 minute podcast episode, that's"},{"startTime":239.97,"endTime":243.569,"body":"a third of your show. And looking at the unfocused conversations or"},{"startTime":243.569,"endTime":247.33,"body":"poor storytelling, a lot of that can be fixed with editing. And"},{"startTime":247.33,"endTime":251.035,"body":"if you don't want to spend the time editing or direction or giving"},{"startTime":251.035,"endTime":254.875,"body":"direction to your editor, then that just requires you to do the work"},{"startTime":254.875,"endTime":258.654,"body":"before you press record on how you're gonna make sure this episode stays"},{"startTime":258.875,"endTime":262.395,"body":"focused and has great storytelling. The third point I want to"},{"startTime":262.395,"endTime":266.11,"body":"expand on here, the host's behavior. Things like forced"},{"startTime":266.11,"endTime":269.71,"body":"enthusiasm and fake laughter, talking over guests, and"},{"startTime":269.71,"endTime":273.389,"body":"inside jokes and exclusionary content. The forced enthusiasm and"},{"startTime":273.389,"endTime":277.15,"body":"fake laughter part is either by the host or guest. The listener knows a"},{"startTime":277.15,"endTime":280.794,"body":"joke didn't land, but there's still laughter anyways. Kind of reminds me of,"},{"startTime":280.794,"endTime":283.835,"body":"like, late night TV show where the audience laughs and they're like, why are they"},{"startTime":283.835,"endTime":287.675,"body":"laughing at that? As a podcast listener myself, I know"},{"startTime":287.675,"endTime":291.055,"body":"when something is forced or not, there's like this voyeuristic"},{"startTime":291.755,"endTime":295.55,"body":"kind of intimate experience with podcast listening. Like you're sitting in"},{"startTime":295.55,"endTime":299.39,"body":"on a conversation and long form content at that. You"},{"startTime":299.39,"endTime":302.99,"body":"know, when someone's being authentic or the host is trying"},{"startTime":302.99,"endTime":306.715,"body":"to please the person he's speaking with and working on the"},{"startTime":306.715,"endTime":310.155,"body":"editing side of things, the production side of podcasts, and seeing a lot of"},{"startTime":310.155,"endTime":313.915,"body":"raw unedited content. It's the mark of a host who is"},{"startTime":313.915,"endTime":317.755,"body":"not confident that starts picking up ticks, stutters that they didn't have"},{"startTime":317.755,"endTime":321.54,"body":"before and that forced enthusiasm when they want it to be"},{"startTime":321.54,"endTime":325.3,"body":"something else than what it is. It's like, just let the podcast be what"},{"startTime":325.3,"endTime":328.66,"body":"it's gonna be. Let it be natural. Let it be authentic, and"},{"startTime":328.66,"endTime":332.34,"body":"everything should be serving the point of that"},{"startTime":332.34,"endTime":335.795,"body":"podcast episode. And looking at these three main groups"},{"startTime":335.795,"endTime":339.635,"body":"here, we're really looking at listener psychology. It's interesting that there was such"},{"startTime":339.635,"endTime":343.415,"body":"a response to such a simple question, like, what makes you turn off a podcast?"},{"startTime":343.635,"endTime":347.395,"body":"Listeners have strong reactions, again, because the intimacy of"},{"startTime":347.395,"endTime":351.08,"body":"podcast listening and the listeners wanting the host"},{"startTime":351.14,"endTime":354.66,"body":"to respect their time. They don't know what was and wasn't edited"},{"startTime":354.66,"endTime":358.42,"body":"out, but they know that they have pet peeves. It's funny that something as"},{"startTime":358.42,"endTime":362.12,"body":"simple as tinny audio could make someone"},{"startTime":362.42,"endTime":366.075,"body":"tune out of their episode. And you might have heard me talk before about,"},{"startTime":366.215,"endTime":370.055,"body":"similar to a restaurant, it's not about how many people you can get through"},{"startTime":370.055,"endTime":373.415,"body":"the door. It's about how many people you keep coming back. Same with your podcast."},{"startTime":373.415,"endTime":377.095,"body":"Same with any of your other content. Thinking long term for having"},{"startTime":377.095,"endTime":380.77,"body":"tinny audio, if the fix is as simple as running your audio through something"},{"startTime":380.77,"endTime":384.61,"body":"like Adobe Podcast Enhance before it's published, well, a 10"},{"startTime":384.61,"endTime":388.229,"body":"minute step could have more people coming back to your podcast."},{"startTime":388.53,"endTime":392.235,"body":"Knowing how to hold back and not talk over your guest might give your"},{"startTime":392.235,"endTime":396.075,"body":"guests the jumping off point to lead into sharing something that they've never"},{"startTime":396.075,"endTime":399.595,"body":"shared before and could help elevate your show to the next"},{"startTime":399.595,"endTime":403.435,"body":"level. If you were like, Dylan, this all sounds awesome. I don't even know where"},{"startTime":403.435,"endTime":406.975,"body":"to get started. Like, how do I self audit my own podcast?"},{"startTime":407.25,"endTime":411.03,"body":"Here's what I would do. Focus on the things that you can control. Things like"},{"startTime":411.09,"endTime":414.71,"body":"your audio quality, then move on to you as a host,"},{"startTime":414.93,"endTime":418.45,"body":"then move on to your show structure. So for something like audio"},{"startTime":418.45,"endTime":422.175,"body":"quality, listen back to your last 3 episodes and be"},{"startTime":422.175,"endTime":425.935,"body":"honest with yourself. Does it sound comparable to what you're hearing"},{"startTime":425.935,"endTime":429.775,"body":"in, like, the top 50 podcasts on Apple Podcasts and Spotify? Unless you need"},{"startTime":429.775,"endTime":432.655,"body":"to listen to all those podcasts, but play a couple of them. Do you have"},{"startTime":432.655,"endTime":436.41,"body":"an idea of a baseline? Can you confidently say, yes,"},{"startTime":436.41,"endTime":439.87,"body":"it sounds on par with those? Then you as a host,"},{"startTime":440.09,"endTime":443.93,"body":"are you talking over guests? When you listen back to episodes, are you giving your"},{"startTime":443.93,"endTime":447.725,"body":"guests room? Are you telling inside jokes and stories that the"},{"startTime":447.725,"endTime":451.265,"body":"audience has no backstory on? Are you forcing any enthusiasm"},{"startTime":451.485,"endTime":455.245,"body":"or fake laughter or just, like, inauthentic behavior? What do"},{"startTime":455.245,"endTime":458.925,"body":"you need to do differently to fix that? And then 3rd, your"},{"startTime":458.925,"endTime":462.74,"body":"show structure. At a high level, when you start out an episode, are you"},{"startTime":462.74,"endTime":466.42,"body":"giving the audience a clear expectation of what's gonna be in"},{"startTime":466.42,"endTime":470.26,"body":"that episode and where they'll be going? Because it's easy to just"},{"startTime":470.26,"endTime":473.7,"body":"look at, again, like the top 50 podcasts on Apple Podcasts and"},{"startTime":473.7,"endTime":477.365,"body":"Spotify and see how they do things, But that's not useful if you're"},{"startTime":477.365,"endTime":481.125,"body":"in the building phases. If you're still in the early phases of growing your"},{"startTime":481.125,"endTime":484.884,"body":"audience, meaning you have under a 1000 monthly listeners, because"},{"startTime":484.884,"endTime":488.59,"body":"there's a tipping point. Once you're big enough, you can get away with certain"},{"startTime":488.59,"endTime":492.27,"body":"things. Once you're just starting out, it's like you have higher churn. You have more"},{"startTime":492.27,"endTime":495.31,"body":"people coming in and out the door, and you wanna keep as many people as"},{"startTime":495.31,"endTime":499.07,"body":"you can. So by breaking down your episode structure and looking at it"},{"startTime":499.07,"endTime":502.707,"body":"from a fresh eyes of someone who's never listened to you, you can set up"},{"startTime":502.707,"endTime":506.467,"body":"future episodes that keeps more people coming back. Let me know if you found this"},{"startTime":506.467,"endTime":508.212,"body":"useful and I'll talk to you in the next one."}]}