Dear Podcasters: Ten tips to avoid annoying your listeners.

Here are some of my podcasting pet peeves. I bet you share some of them.

Note: You can hear me read this here.

1. Don’t talk about the weather. I’ve been guilty of this on my WET (Writing, Education and Technology) Podcast, and I know we do it from time to time on That’s A Wrap (a film podcast I cohost). In fact, I was listening to an old episode of TAW and we were talking about the weather in the our pickups (chat before the topic), and I thought to myself, “Who cares what the weather was like in Michigan 2 years ago?”
2. Have good audio quality. I heard a podcast recently where one person was in one speaker and the other two were in the other. This was annoying to listen to in the car and impossible to withstand with earbuds. Mix in mono or put all people in both speakers. Also, make sure your levels are even. I hate turning the volume up for a low speaker and back down for the booming other person. If you’re not good at audio stuff (I’m not. I don’t get db’s and all that stuff) run it through Levelator or Auphonic.
3. Edit. I don’t want to listen to your audio problems or your inability to get your guest to sign onto blab or whatever. I don’t want to listen to your filler while you wait for someone to find a website or log in or go to the bathroom. Edit that stuff out. Audacity is free.
4. Don’t click the mouse when someone else is talking. I was listening to a podcast the other day with multiple hosts and a guest, and one of the hosts was constantly clicking the mouse while the guest was speaking. Please, for the love of Google, mute the mic or move the mouse away, or just sit and listen. The hosts of this show were disengaged, not interacting, while the guest nervously fumbled on and on with no direction or engagement. Very rude and annoying.
5. Post links in shownotes. (Have shownotes) Have a place where people can go find a synopsis of the episode and links to things mentioned. Don’t read “double-u double-u double-u dot bit dot ly slash r54fskselgie” on air. Say the links are in the shownotes at your website. Have a website.
6. Don’t beg — It’s okay to ask for reviews or Patreon patrons.
   I know I do that on most episodes. (In fact, if you want to support me on Patreon you can go here) but keep it to a minimum.
   People don’t want to hear you beg the whole time — Maybe at the beginning and end of the show and that’s about it.
7. Keep ads to a minimum. I was listening to a podcast the other day where
   it was almost sixteen minutes into the episode before the host even got to the topic. Ads are a good way to generate revenue. I have no problem with them in general but they can be excessive and they can be annoying and they can cause me to turn your podcast off.
8. Keep a regular schedule. Or don’t. — I’m on the fence about this one, actually. I try to keep a regular schedule for the WET Podcast, posting every Friday, but sometimes I skip a week or two and sometimes I post on Monday. If people expect a certain frequency from you, especially if your podcast is timely, it’s important to keep to that schedule. If your listeners are less regular or don’t mind tuning in whenever you update, then maybe this isn’t as important.
9. Stay on topic. Or don’t. This depends on your brand. Some podcasts have a loose topic that they talk about — loosely. For some podcasts, going off topic is part of the brand of the podcast. People tune in to listen to the hosts blab on and on or joke around or riff on a particular topic and that’s great. But there are other podcasts where they are purportedly trying to get something across, explore a topic or deliver information.
   Little asides are fine, of course. You don’t want to just be a robot reading a Wikipedia article in a mechanical voice, but if your podcast is one that has a topic and your listeners are going there for that topic, then you should at least try to stay somewhat on topic.
10. Have a social media presence or at least a way for people to contact you. Whether it’s Facebook or Twitter, or an email address or comments in the show notes, have an easy way for your listeners to give you feedback to get back to you to ask questions to join your email list. This helps you stay in touch with your listeners and build a community. It also helps them if they have any kind of questions or want to get ahold of you for whatever reason Don’t you want them to do that? Of course you do. Otherwise you’re just somebody talking into a microphone for no reason.

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