Hey. Is it as hot there as it is here? I’m not trying to chat you up; it’s just really hot.
As we speak I’m icing my muscles after a day of helping my parents move house. Lots of dismantlings of things that will later, one assumes, be remantled.
But that’s my Sunday. My Thursday was taken up, at least in part, by today’s interesting minute of audio. It comes from a podcast called the Daily Tech News Show, to which I’ve been a subscriber since episode one back in 2014.
I often cite Tom Merritt as an example of a great podcaster, and with reference to his work is the only time I’ll tell you it’s OK not to edit your show. That’s because they effectively do their editing before they hit Record, as it’s a live show prepped and timed to a tee. (They’re pros with longstanding media backgrounds.)
The clip I’m bringing you is at the back-end of the episode, which is where they keep their listener feedback segment.
I’m a big believer in podcasts showcasing more listener commentary. If you don’t have any yet, ask someone on WhatsApp for a comment on an episode… or just make it up (radio has done this for years… Janice from Dunkirk is almost always Sarah the student tea maker).
Showcasing listener comments, reviews, feedback of any sort, lets your listener know they’re part of a community. People love hearing their names and their contributions read aloud, so it’s another way you can tighten the bond between you. And if you’re so inclined, it’s grist to your social media mill too.
DTNS has a regular feedback segment where listeners write in with a smart comment or a slight disagreement. I picked this one from Thursday’s show because it’s batshit.
Basically a guy’s house was burned down and an iPhone was found in the wreckage.
What we soon discover is that the burn was controlled and on purpose, sanctioned by the local fire department, and even used as training. But the magic is that this wasn’t the interesting thing as far as the writer was concerned – he was far more interested in the mystery phone. 🥴
We can’t all hope to have feedback as bananas as this, so I bring this to you as a subtle nudge to remind you to weave listener feedback into your show.
So much of our work is about building relationships and having conversations that matter, so model that behaviour on your show. Make a welcome space for people to write in with their thoughts… or just read comments people have left on your social posts. It all counts. Just let your listeners know you’re listening too.
This can all be part of what I think of as the midamble in your podcast. If you want to have a chat about what that is, why it’s really useful, and how to put one into your episode to help bring you and your listener closer together, just hit Reply.
OK, that’ll do it for me this week. I’m off to draw myself a bath and soak in the self-righteousness that can only come when you spend 99.9% of your life at a computer and do one day of hard work a year. 😉
Have a great week.
x
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