What makes a great podcast conversation?

Well, we all know the answer is nuanced, but after many years of producing podcasts I’ve certainly found the quality of the podcast has a lot to do with the quality of the questions being asked.

When I was thinking about who I could speak with to help podcasters craft better questions, Kendall Breitman came across my radar. A lot of you would know Kendall as the community manager for Riverside, but her role prior to Riverside was what piqued my interest.

Kendall knows implicitly how to craft quality questions, connect with your audience and build a sense of community around your show. She shared so much value in our recent conversation, and I’m delighted to share it with you all.

I received an Apple Watch for my birthday.

“Woop de doo,” I hear you say.

“People get Apple Watches all the time. What’s the big deal?”

Well, the big deal is that it has changed my life.

As a content creator and producer in the podcasting space, I am always on the hunt for the best microphones to make my voice and our client’s voices sound super fancy.

Introducing into the ring, the Electro-Voice RE20 and the Shure SM7B. Both microphones are similar in cost (around AU$800) and they are probably the microphones that you see used the most in podcasting and radio.

How would you promote your podcast without social media?

In fact, if we think more broadly about this; how would you promote your personal brand or business without social media?

This might leave you scratching your head. We have become so used to relying on social media to help promote ourselves and it feels hard to get off the train..

But as we all know, we don’t “own” these platforms. Well, unless you're Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk perhaps. But if you’re a normal person, you’re playing to the algorithm. You’re doing what you’re told to do, and you’re probably seeing decent enough results.

Or maybe you’re not.

It depends on how you define “results.

If you weren’t seeing results, you’d get off social media right?

Well, that sounds good in theory, but it doesn’t happen as often as we might like.

How much time and effort do you put into your podcast episode show notes?

As a podcaster, producer and judge on the Webby Awards and Australian Podcasting Awards, I am exposed to a lot of podcasts.

And one of the biggest variables is the quality of the show notes.

Show notes do not have to be just a summary of your podcast episode within a couple of sentences or a paragraph. They can be a valuable tool for engaging your audience and expanding your reach.

Starting a podcast may fill you with tiny nervous butterflies in your stomach.

You’ve planned out your episodes, batched a bunch of episodes and it’s all coming together. The whole process is feeling daunting perhaps, but you’ve got a launch plan organised and it all feels achievable.

But have you thought about the trailer episode?

Much like a movie trailer entices viewers to watch the film, your podcast trailer serves as the first impression of your show, enticing potential listeners to hit that subscribe button potentially before it’s even launched.