How time flies.

In May 2022, I wrote a blog called The 5 Ps of Podcasting. By then, I’d presented maybe 25-30 podcasts and I was thinking/writing out loud to try to help myself understand what made a good one, and how I could do better.

I wrote at the time: “The world is awash with podcasts.” Now, it’s flooded, with big media players like Netflix investing heavily, and video podcasts taking centre-stage. (Is a video podcast really a podcast? Discuss.)

Anyway, I’ve now presented well over 150 podcasts for various clients, and I revisited the blog recently when asked to chat about podcasting to a group of university students.

My main point from 2022 remains very much the same. If you want to start a podcast, think about your Purpose (known henceforth as the first P of podcasting).

Back in 2022, lots of organisations weren’t really stopping to think ‘Why am I doing this? What’s the benefit? Is there an audience?’ Instead, they were just doing podcasts because their competitors were doing them, or simply because they thought they should.

There’s still an element of that, but overall, I’d say individuals and organisations are thinking much more clearly about the purpose of podcasting - the ‘Why?’

Without whanging on too much, all my other original 5 Ps flowed from understanding the Podcast Purpose - Preparation, Participants (including your Presenter), Personality, and Positivity.

They all pretty much speak for themselves, although Positivity doesn’t mean everything has to be perfect and wrapped up in a red ribbon. It just means there should be something obvious for people to take away - the podcast should end with a call to action, something useful, a next step (listen again next week, read our blog, watch these short videos, contact us here, etc, etc). When I revisited this blog, it struck me that there was definitely something missing in my list - so I’ve now added two more Ps, Production and Promotion. (I’m not sure what I’d have done if they didn’t begin with P), and it’s the 7 Ps of Podcasting.

Back in the day, a bit of home-made podcast production was OK (unless you were a professional broadcaster). Everyone was learning, and there was less judgement. Now, you really need your podcast to sound good - so learn to edit yourself, or bring in someone who knows what they’re doing, to get rid of the long, boring bits and stumbles, and to package up the pod by topping and tailing it professionally.
Finally, you have to be able to promote your podcast. Again, if you’re a big name, you’ve got ‘people’ to do it for you. If not, how are you promoting it, to make sure someone listens outside your immediate family? What’s your sell, why are you offering something relevant, or different?

If you know your podcast Purpose, you should know your audience, but how do you reach them - and how do you grow the audience from those initial targets?

Just to stress, I am not a techie, I’m a content guy and presenter - but I’m interested to hear from anyone involved in podcasts (in any way) what they think makes a good one, and what they have learned from making them.

Two final observations; what a lot of very relevant podcast-related words begin with the letter P. And finally…other letters of the alphabet are available…

• If you want an experienced podcast host who thinks quickly on his feet, and loves a pun and a pop culture reference, email me on david@davidleemedia.co.uk