You work so hard to attract listeners to your podcast. Growing the audience is a constant challenge for most podcasters. You do all you can to bring more people to the party. Are you sure you are not driving listeners away?

The most common questions I get are around growing an audience. But that is only half of the equation. You also must keep your listeners coming back.

Unfortunately, there are probably things you may be doing to reverse all of your work and drive listeners away. If you are not aware of these pitfalls, they could undermine your audience attraction efforts.

Your audience could be shrinking in spite of your hard work recruiting listeners.

There is good news. Once you learn to recognize these pitfalls, you can begin to eliminate each of them from your show. You can make adjustments when you know where to look.

There are seven common mistakes podcasters make that drive listeners away. Let’s walk through each of them. See if you recognize these within your show.

I also give you ways to replace them with good stuff on your show.

TALKING AT YOU

The first issue is the podcaster who talks at you rather than with you could be driving listeners away.

Great podcasters are not announcers. Great podcasters are conversationalists. If you can have a conversation with someone you cannot see nor hear, you have the ability to create a great podcast.

When the podcaster is giving a speech or monologue, the delivery is cold. There is very little connection with the listener. The lecture isn’t personal. The listener isn’t emotionally involved.

When you are reading to me during your podcast, you haven’t made it engaging. It will be tough to sound like you are truly connected to the content. You will have a tough time being in the moment and be truly present with your content.

Your content will typically sound like you are more concerned about reading the script than telling me a story.

I had an Architectural History professor in college that would read his notes to the class and call it a lecture.

Every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 8am, we would gather in the lecture hall. Professor would turn off the lights, turn on the overhead projector and start reading.

8am for a college student is hard enough. Reading in a monotone voice in the dark for a sure recipe for sleep.

I did not do well in that class. Do not put your listeners asleep.

CONVERSATIONS

Instead of talking at me, talk to me and with me. Let’s have a conversation. When you talk at your listener, you could be driving listeners away.

You won’t be able to hear the responses of your listener. However, how many times have you found yourself talking back to the radio or podcast host?

When the listener is responding out loud, you know the host has the ability to be conversational even when the other party isn’t present.

Use singular nouns like “you” and “me”.

We are having a very personal discussion between the two of us. When you use words like “everyone” or phrases such as “all of you”, the conversation becomes impersonal. Listeners think you are talking to someone else, because it isn’t one-on-one.

Picture this. You’re sitting in a meeting. It is you and 7 coworkers. Your boss is on the speakerphone. The boss says, “Somebody needs to organize the file cabinet this week. Work with (cranky, old office manager) Marge for the supplies you will need.”

Do you think the boss is talking to you? Of course not.

Surely there is some reason it isn’t you. You’re too busy. You have seniority. Last time you did it. Mondays aren’t your days to file. One of the guys owes you one.

By using “somebody”, the boss was talking to anyone specific. There has gotta be some reason that someone isn’t you. Somebody else will get it done.

Now, if the boss says, “Be sure you organize the file cabinet before I get back. Marge can help you.” This feels like it is a little more your responsibility.

Even if you’re not the one to actually organize it, you feel a little pressure to be sure somebody does it. The boss was talking to you. You can usually only mean you. Especially if you’re not sure.

Be personal and talk to your listener, not at her.

WASTING TIME

The wider the focus of your podcast, the better chance your topic will not interest me. It sounds counterintuitive. If you want more listeners, you need to narrowly focus your topic.

When you try to discuss a general industry on your podcast, you have too many options.

Let’s say you have a podcast about construction. Each week you discuss construction. Everything construction. If it has something to do with construction, you’re talking about it.

Now, my interest is high rise design. I love the design and development of high rise buildings over 30 stories. The architectural creativity is my forte. I could talk about high rise design all day long.

On the show today, if you are discussing foundation styles of residential housing, I’m gone. The topic doesn’t interest me. It has nothing to do with my business. Residential construction is a waste of my time.

When you are too broad, your listener doesn’t know what to expect from your show.

Instead, pick a niche. Make it a tight focus. Pick the segment of your topic that you most enjoy and really focus there.

Focus is powerful. When you are focused, your audience knows exactly what to expect. Your focus builds loyalty, because you aren’t attracting listeners who have no interest in your niche.

Since the niche is only focused on the slice of information that that interests your listener, your audience will almost always feel like you are delivering great content. You’ll never be wasting their time.

MAKE THEM CARE

When you only deliver the what, the listener has no real reason to care. You are only providing information. Facts are lifeless and could be driving listeners away.

You must provide the why before you can provide the what. The “why” makes your listener care.

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “what’s in it for me?”

Your audience will be asking this very question every time they tune into your podcast. The introduction of your episode better tell your listener exactly how your topic will affect them.

You need to hook them right at the beginning with an intriguing introduction. If you don’t hook them early, they will be gone in search of something more captivating.

Remember math class? Remember when you would always ask, “When am I ever going to use this in real life?” That is the “why”.

If your instructor explained that calculating the volume of a cylinder could help you determine how much cement you would need to build footings for your new deck, you might take a little more interest in the information.

When your audience knows what is in it for them, they begin to care. Making your listener care is the only way to get them to listen and more importantly come back again.

Provide the “why” early in the podcast. Make them care. 

INVOLVE THE LISTENER

A podcast that is only focused on the host quickly becomes a very lonely podcast. “Enough about me, let’s talk about me.” Listeners surely won’t stick around for that very long. If listeners are not involved, they feel like the host doesn’t care about them.

Make your listener the star. It is your show. You know where it is going. When listeners are involved in your show, it is always your job to lead your guest and make them the star.

There are many ways to incorporate your listeners into your show. Live interviews, live calls, recorded voicemail messages, and e-mail are a few of the possibilities. Incorporating listeners into the show gives your entire audience a vested interest in the show.

With guests, you must remember you always know more about your show than they know. You know the goals of your show. The plot and strategy was your design. You are always on the show. Your guests are new. Lead your guest.

Phrases like “I’m glad you mentioned that” and “I didn’t realize that” make your guest feel they are adding to the show … as long as you are authentic in your comments.

Get your listener involved wherever you can. Provide opportunities for listeners to interact with you. Even if you receive very little feedback, the opportunity to do so will send the message to your listeners that you care. The opportunity for involvement goes a long way.

HELP OTHERS

Focus on helping others.

When you do nothing but take, your listener will get annoyed quickly. When you visit a car dealer, if the salesperson starts trying to sell you a vehicle before even discussing your needs, you will rarely make a purchase at that dealership. You look for someone who will give their time to help you. Treat your listeners the same way.

Zig Ziglar had many great quotes. One of my favorites is, “You can have anything you want in life just as long as you help enough other people get what they want in life.” How true that is.

As you turn your information into engaging entertainment with your podcast, keep in mind that helping people is part of the foundation of a strong relationship. If you take, take, take, your relationship won’t last long. When you are there to give and help, you will develop friends for life.

Ziglar is a great example of helping people. His speeches always offered great tips to improve your life, sales or attitude. Great books, CDs and other products were also part of his business.

However, most of his time was spent on helping others. There is a lot of free Ziglar information available. He helped others and eventually sales came his way.

Get what you want out of life. Focus on helping others.

TRYING TOO HARD TO BE FUNNY

Many podcasters painstakingly try to be funny. Jokes are never funny when the joketeller tries too hard. The forced punchline is uncomfortable. The timing is off.

Trying to hard to be funny could be driving listeners away.

He will lead with something like, “This is funny” or “Here’s a good one” or “You’ll love this”. If I’m going to love it, do you really need to tell me? Won’t I know I love it once you tell me?

The good news is you don’t have to be funny. Stop trying so hard. The funny will come. You are focused on the wrong thing.

Spend time trying to have fun. If you are having fun, your audience is having fun. Your listeners will be able to hear the fun in your voice. Funny isn’t always necessary for entertainment. Having fun is usually entertainment enough.

Have fun and the funny will follow. It will be natural. If you force trying to be funny, you will rarely be funny.

Adam Carolla is always having fun on his podcast. “The Adam Carolla Show” is sometimes funny. However, it is always entertaining. He doesn’t force the funny or the fun. He simply does what he enjoys. Adam’s fun is contagious, because he is natual. The funny follows.

Funny will usually come along because you are trying to have fun and not because you are trying to be funny. Funny follows fun.

ASSUME

If you’re not explaining your podcast purpose each and every show, it will be difficult for new listeners to understand the show. Your audience will feel like they are joining a conversation in the middle. They will be lost. You will be driving listeners away.

Have you ever felt left out of a conversation due to inside jokes. Two other people are chuckling about something, and you have no idea why. “Oh, it’s an inside joke” they say.

Why aren’t you important enough to be in on the joke? Why is it inside only to them? Those situations are a bit offensive. You’re not included. 

When you are not explaining your podcast, you are not allowing your listener to understand the nuances of your show. They won’t feel like part of the club. Your listener will not feel important or that you care about them. It is quite possible they will leave.

The opening of your podcast should explain the purpose of your podcast and let your listeners know exactly what to expect as if this is the first time they have ever heard the show.

INTRODUCTION

A well-crafted introduction serves two purposes.

First, it tells the brand new listener who is hearing the show for the very first time exactly what to expect from the show.

It is like the intro to a late night talk show, like the old Late Show with David Letterman.

“From New York. It’s the Late Show with David Letterman. Tonight, Tom Cruise. Larry The Cable Guy. And Katy Perry. Letters from the mail bag. Tonight’s Top Ten list. And Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra. And now, former New York City Medical Examiner … David Letterman.”

You know exactly what is coming your way, even if you have never seen the show before.

Second, those that have heard the show before are confident that they are in the right place. Those regular listeners will find comfort in the opening of the show they hear each time they tune in.

Fans will also feel like they are “in the know”. This is similar to singing the theme song of your favorite sitcom. As soon as you hear the first few notes of the theme song, you know you’re on the right channel. Your show intro should elicit the same response.

As you create your show open, treat it as if every listener is saying, “Hey, I’m new here. What’s going on?” You’ll make everyone comfortable as the show begins.

MORE HELP

Eliminate these seven pitfalls from your show. You will soon stop driving listeners away.

This is the important second part of the equation that many forget. Keep your listeners coming back for more.

If you don’t have a mentor who can take your hand and walk you every step of the way, go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply, click the button and apply to have a chat with me. We will develop your plan and see how I can help and support you to achieve your podcast goals.