Why did you decide that podcasting and audio was the best medium for this project?

Cast your mind back to 2020 when public life as we knew it ended, abruptly. Fear was rampant as an invisible and deadly virus swept the globe, claiming the lives of family and friends within days of developing a cough. Every day, a hapless Boris Johnson announced startling new death statistics of people who had ‘died before their time.’

What medium could give voice, power, and immediacy to the kind of catastrophic, widespread loss not seen in generations? In my mind, it could only be the most personal of mediums: podcasting. What could be more personal than losing a loved one to Covid 19 without warning, goodbye, or funeral and then dealing with grief in isolation? This is how the Stolen Goodbyes podcast came into being… remotely and via a laptop in lockdown. In the scariest and loneliest of times, this most intimate of podcasts empowered people to give voice to the incomprehensible loss of a loved one in these circumstances while enabling hundreds more to feel connected and accompanied in a grief like no other.

Which podcasts do you take inspiration from?

I love a good story, happy or sad. As a journalist, I have spent my life listening to, investigating, and writing about stories so I tend to gravitate towards interview-based and story-led podcasts such as RedHanded. For audio design and innovation, it has to be George the Poet. The BlindBoy podcast is as funny as it is thought-provoking and as I’m a proper news junkie, I regularly opt into The News Agents. Given my Irish roots, I enjoy Mario Rosenstock’s take on the world.

Who do you hope listens to this podcast?

Other people who have experienced Covid grief.

Heather Hallett, chair of the public inquiry into the UK’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Politicians who made and broke the rules including Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock, among others.

Generations to come, be it in 2123 or 3023, as they will know what it was like to live through a pandemic and hopefully learn lessons. Thanks to the British Library, future generations will be able to do just that as the Stolen Goodbyes podcast forms part of the Covid 19 National Life Stories series.

Experts who can advise on how to unpack this most complicated, traumatic grief.

How has the project changed since the first season?

The first season was about capturing a historic event in real-time and giving a voice to the life, times, and unprecedented deaths of ordinary yet extraordinary people.

This latest season is about picking apart a troubling and as yet unexplored aspect of grief to Covid 19. I’ve called the season ‘Distorted Grief’ as we explore the manifestations of how losing someone to Covid 19 seems dreamlike and surreal like that special someone could walk through the door at any moment. The bereaved are experiencing this derealisation of reality because they were denied the rite of passage death rituals we took for granted such as saying goodbye, seeing and dressing the body of a loved one, and having a funeral.

This inability to confront death has produced some fascinating insights on the podcast, including one woman remarking: “I felt if I had stayed in lockdown, my dad might somehow come back again.” My guests join me in exploring the importance of sounds and voice recordings associated with loved ones, the joy of making unexpected connections, as well as sharing coping mechanisms, gratitude, and resilience in the face of adversity. We also examine our loved one’s legacies, including my own father who I lost in April last year.

Did you have to approach things differently with this season now that covid is less in the forefront?

I think that’s very much how here-today-gone-tomorrow politicians would like us to view Covid, as a thing of the past. We can’t afford to let moving on mean refusing to look back or to properly investigate what is happening now, in order to deliver a better, kinder, and better prepared tomorrow for the people who come after us. The reality is Covid 19 is unpredictable and will most likely remain a threat to our collective health for years to come.

The Covid 19 bereaved are still unable to close the circle of grief. They are stuck and need help to move on. The pandemic made an unequal society more unequal. However, the pandemic is also a once-in-a-generation chance to remake society and build a better future.

What you have personally learnt from podcasting?

Podcasting creates weird and wonderful connections and connections make life worth living. Listen…actively!

Which episode would you say is the perfect introduction to your podcast?

That’s a tough one as each guest brings unique and personal insights, experiences and stories. If I have to say, it would be: ‘Ten Months Without Our Husbands – Emma Charlesworth & Pamela Addison’. (Season one). I’ve chosen this episode because Covid 19 altered the trajectory of the lives of these two women when both their husbands died from the virus in their 40s. Despite being on opposite sides of the world, and in a sliding doors moment, they connected and became firm friends thanks to the Stolen Goodbyes podcast. It’s that thing about podcasting creating weird and wonderful connections!

There’s a lovely commonality and interplay between Emma and Pamela on the episode, where they share the (unexpected) highs and lows, the laughs and surrealness of suddenly navigating a life and parenthood without your other half.

You can follow Karen and Stolen Goodbyes on Twitter @Ricekmc, Instagram @StolenGoodbyes and Facebook @StolenGoodbyes. Listen to Stolen Goodbyes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>

The post Karen Rice from Stolen Goodbyes: Exploring manifestations of Covid 19 bereavement appeared first on POD BIBLE.

Four years ago I realized how important it is for women professionals to connect on a personal level. I started hosting a series of dinners where a small group of women could meet. The first dinner started with only 12 women, but once word got out, a community was formed with over 200 women.

In fact, the conversations and connections that were made at these dinners is what inspired me to start the interview-based Women Authors of Achievement Podcast. I felt that a wider audience should have access to these inspirational stories, hearing them I often had goosebumps myself.

So how do you build a community around your podcast? Here are my 4 tips.

1. Start building your community before you launch your podcast (if you can)

That’s right, as mentioned above — the core WAA Podcast community of guests, listeners and supporters was formed long before I started the show. Still today, I am grateful for all the women (and men!) who encouraged me to kick start my own podcast.

2. Stay locally relevant before going global.

A lot of people that go into podcasting are overly excited by the extensive global reach of potential guests they can have on the show. They look for guests globally and not locally – which is not necessarily bad, but this makes it more difficult to form a community around the podcast.

From the start, I knew that I wanted to create a strong bond with the local community. At the moment I am exclusively interviewing in-person in a studio located at the heart of Kreuzberg in Berlin, Germany. The WAA Podcast represents women who are not only authors of their own achievements in life, but they are also building their successful careers in this city. Listeners and podcast guests can literally bump into each other on the streets, which creates closeness and proximity. And this physical aspect of meeting someone in person is a first step towards creating a community.

In the future you can always expand, but first try to establish yourself locally.

3. Stay close to your podcast guests “alumnus” network.

Don’t simply interview your guests and never speak to them again. First of all, it’s awkward. Secondly, didn’t you invite them to your show because you find them interesting? Exactly, so keep the ties close to people you are inspired by.. Stay in touch with your guests, also because they can be your biggest ambassadors and most loyal fans. What can be more rewarding than people you are inspired by, in return are excited about your work? Organize small get-togethers or simply find time for a small catch-up with your guests when possible. At the WAA Podcast we are starting to engage with our Season 1 guests by inviting them for a short written interview which is then published on our monthly newsletter.

4. Show some love to your listeners and supporters.

I know “love” is a very strong word, but I want to make a point. You should genuinely be appreciative of your listeners, followers and supporters. And I don’t mean flooding them with social media posts, I mean real gestures of appreciation. Sometimes it’s a small “thank you” or when bumping into a listener or supporter simply be present and engage into a conversation. To be treated with respect and to be heard is what matters to your community. My wish to other podcasters out there — be truly genuine to you listeners, guests on the show and people that support you.

Sometimes being a podcast host can get overwhelming, but your genuine interest and care of your community is what creates long-term and loyal connections.

How do you engage with your audience? I am curious to hear from you. Send me an email via hello@waa.berlin.

On the WAA Podcast, host Daria Suvorova interviews women in leadership positions, founders and investors, where each episode reveals a personal story of the guest and their path to success. You can listen to the episodes via waa.berlin or directly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or any other platform of your choice.

The post Building a loyal community around your podcast appeared first on POD BIBLE.

Why do you love podcasts?

Podcasts are a great way to learn and a great way to escape your day to day environment. I never thought I would be a podcast listening type of person, so you can imagine my surprise when I listened to a podcast for the first time and I felt like I was instantly part of the conversation taking place and I looked forward to listening to the next episode. There are different podcasts for different activities in my life. There is the podcast I’ll listen to while running or if I’m at the gym. There is also the podcast I’ll only listen to when I’m cooking or doing household chores. Then there is the podcast I listen to only when I’m on my commute. There’s a podcast for literally everything and that is why I love podcasts so much!

What was the first podcast you ever listened to?

The Read by Kid Fury and Crissle was the first podcast I had ever listened to. It was recommended to me by a woman I used to pole dance with. She tried to explain to me why it was so good and I just wasn’t grasping the concept of listening to people I don’t know chatting in my
ear for ages. During the Christmas holidays that year I was bored and decided to listen to one episode, by New Years Day I think I had listened to about three years of the podcast episodes. I was clearly a podcast convert.

Which podcaster makes you laugh the most?

Definitely Kid Fury! I have a very deadpan sense of humour at times but I think his style of deadpan cuss you out type of humour far outshines mine. I love that he is so informed yet he delivers the things he knows in a really witty and irreverent way. A true King of comedy.

Which podcast has educated you the most??

Ooooh, this is a tough one. I think I’ve been educated the most by Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations because of the wonderful guests she has on the podcast and the amazing life experiences they share. It truly humbles me to know there are others out there on a spiritual journey and I could potentially learn from the things they’ve encountered and implement the lessons into my own life. The other podcast that has educated me is Esther Perel’s “Where Should We Begin” because I’m a no nonsense type of girl and Esther is similar in her approach to therapy. I’m a big advocate for mental health awareness and it is brilliant to listen to real people talk about the very human challenges they face in their relationships and how they are guided by Esther to work through them and to live through them.

Can you recommend a podcast our readers may not have heard of?

Shades of Black podcast is one that people really need to get into. I think in the landscape of podcasting it is dominated by white male voices. The reason I enjoy this podcast by Sam and Ola is because they shine a light on Black British parenting which is often left out of the narrative of mainstream parenting podcasts. One of my favourite episodes is the National Anti-Bullying Week feat Woke Babies because in this episode they explore how parents navigate the reality of their child being bullied in school especially if the bullying is also racialised. They are true, true Baby Girls and deserve to be celebrated.

Kelechi Okafor is the host of Say Your Mind. Tune in every Monday for her unique and hilarious take on Tarot, current events and pop culture sprinkled with bad language and an abundance of straws. Listen now on APPLE PODCASTS, SPOTIFY and ELSEWHERE.

Read more Podcast Disciple articles in the Pod Bible magazine, which you can read online or buy in our shop. 

The post Kelechi Okafor: “There’s a podcast for literally everything” appeared first on POD BIBLE.

Launching a podcast is not as tough as it might seem. The most difficult part of podcasting is, first, getting your audience to grow, and then, sustaining that growth over time. We all know that nothing is a success overnight, and podcasts are probably the most shining example of that concept. Compared to maintaining an audience, and your own enthusiasm, launching a podcast is easy.

Podcasters tend to fall into traps; all creative workers do. You can avoid them, however. Some of these traps are unique to podcasters, but other creative types might benefit as well. Let’s take a look at 5 things to avoid if you want to grow your podcast

1. Playing The Numbers Game

Some podcasters try to quantify success through their download numbers, chart rankings, and how many social media followers they seem to have. Hitting refresh buttons on demographics dashboards and hoping for some elusive score is just going to make you tired. Don’t look at statistics more than once a day (if that). Use the time, instead, to connect with the listeners you already have. Or to plan future episodes.

2. Social Media Overload or Avoidance

It’s true that a lot of podcasters use their social media channels to advertise episodes, communicate with their audience, and learn new information about their podcast’s topic. Unfortunately, social media platforms are meant to be addicting. How many times have you looked up from your screen and been surprised to see how much time had passed?

Some podcasters feel that it’s impossible to let people know about their show without social media. Paid advertising is expensive, and a good social media post can perform just as well as an ad. You don’t have to eliminate social media use completely.

A good strategy for social media is to set up a certain amount of time you’re willing to spend on social media per day or week, and stick to it. Set a timer, or use a screen time app to limit yourself, if you need help building a habit. Planning posts and responses in advance makes you share higher-quality, more mindful content, rather than just responding to the general chatter.

3. Taking Your Audience for Granted

Some people might feel disappointed if they only had five listeners. What if those five listeners love your show, and each of them convinced a friend to listen? What if they each told a friend? What if one of them were fabulously wealthy, and they gave you a thousand bucks a month, just to keep making your podcast? What if one of them let you borrow their vacation villa in the Seychelles for six weeks, so you can plan and write your next podcast season? I’d be pretty thrilled about those five listeners.

Typically, podcast audiences are small and loyal. You shouldn’t expect everyone to like your podcast, but those who do will care about your work a lot. They’re your best marketing team. When they reach out to you, thank them, and ask how they found out about the show. Mention listeners who reach out in your episodes with a quick thanks, if your show format supports it.

Some people worry so much about getting more subscribers and followers that they forget about nurturing the audience they already have. And, while we’re on the subject of word of mouth…

4. Making Your Interview Guests Into Your Marketing Team

It’s possible that if you interview a guest with a huge social media following, some of those followers might become your followers too. But, there isn’t a transitive mathematical property when it comes to social media followers and podcast audiences. Unfortunately, some podcasters believe that this is the case. If you have X number of followers on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, you upload your interview with a guest who has Y number of followers, don’t expect that by Friday, your follower count will balloon to X+Y. Guests aren’t under an obligation to promote your show to their followers. If they do, it’s very kind of them. Don’t expect them to.
Make sure that your interview is prepared, your guest is comfortable, and you have the right recording setup and gear. That way, your guest will have a good experience in your interview. They’ll probably mention the episode on social media voluntarily, which is better for you in the long run. Plus, you’ll get a better interview, which is what you really want.

5. Unrealistic Definitions of Success

When you make a podcast, you don’t get to hear applause, laughter, or any kind of audience reaction. It’s hard to know if your podcast is meaningful to others. You have to define for yourself what success would look like. Make sure that goal is specific, and something you can take action to achieve. Saying, “I want to be a rich and famous podcaster” is nebulous. Saying, “I want to create and upload fifty episodes within one year,” is something you can actually achieve. Some realistic goals would be:

• Convincing one person per month to review your podcast on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser
• Conversing with three audience members in the first month about how they found your podcast
• Celebrating or promoting a special moment in one of your episodes with a different kind of media, such as an audiogram or an image on social media.

Bonus Tip: Never Let The Cat Near Your Computer

Here’s a piece of specific podcasting advice which I learned the hard way, and hope you never have to endure. It is a truth universally acknowledged that whatever object you are paying a lot of attention to, the cat will investigate. Oh, they might seem cute, and like they just want to cuddle with you while you’re working. Be warned. The day will come that you’re an hour deep into editing dialogue waveforms trying to create the perfect audio experience, and the cat will lightly step its tender little paw onto the power button to your computer’s power strip. Save your work often, back up your data, and invest in the most impressive cat tree that you can afford. That way, they’ll lounge on it, instead of your work.

In all seriousness: don’t discount the potential for emotional impact when you make a podcast. It’s pretty easy to get lost in weighing the number of hours and dollars spent versus the number of downloads and tweets. What’s important is the connection that you make. Your podcast listeners are letting you into their heads. Treat them like partners in a conversation, and make your best content, and you’ll grow your podcast audience in a way that helps you grow, too.

Finally, if you’re struggling with your podcast editing (either through lack of time, or lack of technical know-how), be sure to check out Alitu. That’s our ‘podcast maker’ tool that’ll help you automate the production and publishing side of things. Sign up for a free trial and see what you think!

Lindsay earned an MFA in Playwriting from Temple University in Philadelphia, and took her live theatre skills straight to podcasting. She enjoys helping people find new ways to tell their stories. When she’s not writing content or participating in the Live Q&As for The Podcast Host, she enjoys making audio drama and learning more about the craft of interactive storytelling.

—

This article was produced as part of a paid advertising package. To enquire about advertising with Pod Bible head to our contact page or email info@podbiblemag.com.

The post Five things to avoid if you want to grow your podcast appeared first on POD BIBLE.

This article was produced as part of a paid advertising package. To enquire about advertising with Pod Bible email info@podbiblemag.com

The post Introduction to Playerz From The South podcast appeared first on POD BIBLE.

Who are you and what’s your podcast about?

I’m an actress, vegan activist and host of The ChickPeeps along with my co-hosts Robbie Jarvis, Momoko Hill and Tylor Starr. The ChickPeeps is a friendly, fun and free-flowing ethical vegan podcast driven by a quest to be more compassionate towards animals. We like to call our style of activism on the podcast ‘attractivism’ which means we are anti-shame. We take a very optimistic and compassionate angle on activism, focusing on the joyful aspects of being vegan and trying to reach people wherever they’re at on their vegan journey.

What’s the first podcast you ever listened to?

MuggleCast! Way back in the day when nobody had ipods and you had to sit at your desktop computer and listen to the weekly episode while you played solitaire. It was so nerdy! I was such a massive Harry Potter fan and I longed for a community of people who were as nerdy and passionate as I was about the books and films and I really found that in MuggleCast. That podcast had a huge influence on me and in time on The ChickPeeps because it brought a sense of community and friendship around a subject where I lacked a community, at the time. The hosts all had such fun personalities, great ideas and a really charming, entertaining rapport with each other. It made me feel less alienated and that’s really what I want to do for the vegan community. Reach out to vegans all over the world who feel alone on this journey, who feel they’re the only weird little person worrying a lot about animals in their corner of the world, and make them feel supported. I want to create a feeling of fun and camaraderie around them and a topic that they feel really passionate about. Community is the most important aspect of a podcast to me.

Why did you decide to start podcasting in the first place?

I was bothered by the fact that a lot of the time the very aggressive, perfectionist vegans deter many people from engaging and I wanted to create a really positive, uplifting space where we could talk about veganism in a fun and entertaining way. I noticed that most vegans podcasts were really serious (because it is a serious cause) but that when I went to hang out with my vegan friends we were always just having a laugh and having interesting conversations. We aren’t always crying over dairy cows or ranting about the bacon bros. I really wanted to show people that you don’t have to be a hardcore activist to be vegan, that there’s not one type of vegan, and that you can just continue being your normal, chill self who just so happens to not exploit animals.

Which podcasts do you take inspiration from?

MuggleCast, definitely. And also Anna Faris Is Unqualified. I love all the games she plays with her guests and how she draws them out with really relaxed, silly conversations. She’s an incredibly skilful, charismatic host and creates that feeling of warmth on each of her episodes. I also love Victoria Moran’s Mainstreet Vegan for the amazing variety and scope of guests she has, that was a podcast that really supported and sustained me when I first went vegan and felt like I didn’t belong in my old communities anymore. She works so hard and she’s had everyone from the vegan movement on over the years so her pod definitely prompts a lot of ideas for ChickPeeps. And I also love Blindboy for his brilliant, entertaining and sometimes quite neurotic soliloquies. You feel like you’re in his actual mind sometimes and that’s such an interesting, intimate experience to get from a pod. Basically, I like podcasts where it feels like you’re getting a genuine, private insight into a person, rather than someone performing and really trying to impress you. Anything too rehearsed gets a bit boring to me.

Who’s your dream guest for the podcast?

One of them is fellow podcaster of ‘Happy Place’ and bestselling author of ‘Happy Vegan’ Fearne Cotton – so I’m pretty thrilled that we managed to book Fearne on the show in this upcoming season! Preacher Lawson is another person we all love among the hosts and he may or may not be on season 3 I’d also love to interview Deliciously Ella, her books helped me so much on my vegan journey. And Pamela Anderson is one of my favourite vegan activists, she is so cool! And Jonathan Safron Foer, he’s an amazing writer, his book ‘Eating Animals’ was the thing that convinced me to go vegan. However in his last book on the climate crisis I think he undermined the important animal rights message he’d written about in Eating Animals so I’d like to get him on the pod and grill him about that!!

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as a podcaster?

Probably how important and how difficult it is to truly listen. I’ve made the mistake too many times of over prepping and over researching an episode and then anticipating guests’ answers and not truly being present with them. Some of our better interviews have been when I’ve been least prepared and when I just simply asked things I was curious about. I think you have to be very intuitive to be a good interviewer, you have to know when to shut up and when to move things along too. I do love being prepared and having an episode plan but you kind of have to do all your research and then throw it out the window the minute you start the interview, and just be open to how a guest may really surprise you and show you a whole different perspective.

I’ve also learned that podcasting is really hard work and it helps to be very organised ahead of launching a season, and podcasting is so much more enjoyable when you hire a professional editor!

Which episode would you say is the perfect introduction to your podcast?

Probably our Vegan Dating episodes Part 1 & 2 from season 2 with Elliot Knight. It’s a mixture of banter, games and serious questions vegans have about how to manage relationships with non-vegans. These episodes really capture the vibe we’re trying to promote and bring into the vegan space more often. For more of a thoughtful activism discussion I’d recommend our interview with Leah Garcés or Colleen Patrick Goudreau. And Nikki Glaser’s ep was the most fun I’ve ever had interviewing someone.

Where can the Pod Bible readers find out more about you?

We’re available on Apple, Spotify and all major podcast platforms. Follow us on Instagram @chickpeepspod or visit our website https://www.thechickpeeps.com/. And I’m always quite active on my own Instagram account @msevylynch, I like connecting with people in the comments there.

The post Introduction to The ChickPeeps podcast appeared first on POD BIBLE.