Podcast conference session BINGO!

This week I’m joining a number of executives from the podcasting and digital audio world for a few industry gatherings, such as the RAIN Podcast Business Summit and the Hot Pod Summit (plus there are a few others happening elsewhere, like Podfest down in Orlando). A lot of people at these gatherings will be offering their hot takes on the present and future of podcasting, including myself.

To prepare for my part, I usually spend a few days in advance thinking of some deep thoughts to share — then I realize that I’ve come up with a keynote worth of thoughts to squeeze into the very few minutes I’ll speak during a panel presentation. It leaves me with a lot of extra material. This week is no different, so I’ll share most of those thoughts here. All my current thinking surrounds one core idea I’d like to get across to those gathering this week who run podcasts, podcast companies, networks, and groups. It is this:

Listen to each other.

I don’t mean literally listen, as in “make sure to pay attention” — of course you should do that. I mean listen to the words and ideas others are sharing. Listen to what they focus on, who they are trying to serve, and, most importantly, listen to the specific words they use.

Those who will thrive in podcasting over the next year or two won’t be the businesses talking about business. Instead, the future thrivers will talk about their relentless and tenacious pursuit of finding new ways to surprise and delight audiences.

That relentless, tenacious pursuit is called “vision” — and I’m not seeing a lot of it said out loud in podcasting these days. Instead, industry conversations are filled with a lot of buzz speak — like “SAC/CAC,” “synergy,” “leverage,” and “multi-platform.” It’s the kind of start-up, techno-language that describes the process of business, without really talking about what makes the business actually work. These conversations happen a lot in podcasting, but they also happen a lot in any digital business — so much so that when you hear people speak, you often can’t even tell what industry they are talking about.

To help fill all that time sitting on uncomfortable chairs in conference rooms listening to the buzzword parade, I created a podcast keynote/panel/session bingo card. The linked PDF has eight variations (so you can play with your friends). There is even an online version so you can play right on your phone during the sessions.

Here are the words the cards contain:

Distribution

Multi-platform

Ranker

Campaign

Seed funding

Measurement

Dynamic insertion

Strategy

Analytics

Adoption

C.A.C./S.A.C.

Metrics

Leverage

Acquisition

Discovery

SEO

Synergy

Bubble

Data-driven

Monetize

CPM

Storytelling

Dynamics

Attribution

IP

Portfolio

Asset

101

Listen to any panel, keynote, or session related to podcasting and see how long it takes to get a “bingo.” Heck, I’ve heard some podcast speakers who could hit five of these terms in the same sentence.

The reason this is concerning to me is that people who use these words aren’t talking about vision. How do I know this? Because none of the hot topic words above are focused on the needs of the customer: in our case, the listener. Vision imagines the future, a future where the product we create solves problems for listeners. Not the industry’s problems, the listener’s problems.

Because in all things podcasting, the shows, apps, projects, ideas, and initiatives that win are those that focus on the interests of the listeners.

In his 2000 book Building a Bridge to the 18th Century, writer and technologist Neil Postman wrote a multi-question test for the efficacy of new technologies. Postman offered a six-question test, but when applying it to new ideas in podcasting, I reduce it to three. They are:

• “What is the problem to which this technology is the solution?”
• “Whose problem is it?”
• “What new problems might be created because we have solved this problem?”

It’s the middle of these that I end up applying to emergent ideas in podcasting: Whose problem is it? So often when I see new solutions for monetization, discovery, or other elements of the podcast user experience, I see solutions that solve industry problems, not a direct listener problem. Too many solutions in podcasting are focused on making things easier for creators, or for advertisers, or for networks and distributors. They hinge on needing listeners to change their behavior…with no clear benefit to the listener for doing so. Getting audiences to listen on your app/platform is solving a problem for you, not them. Initiatives aimed at getting better attribution and data makes things easier for you, but offer no delta for listeners. Consumers are historically loathe to change routines, even when those routines frustrate them, unless a new option emerges that has significant, obvious, measurable, and clear upside for them.

When examining new initiatives aimed at solving podcasting’s problems, the clearest way to see them is to ask “why.” Why does this exist? When someone answers, pay attention to the subject in the answer.

• “Because advertisers need better data before making larger buys.
• “Because I need to gain market share over the other platform.”
• “Because creators need better options to monetize.”

While those things may be true, not one of these is listener-focused, which means in an open ecosystem like podcasting, they are almost certainly destined to fail.

What are some listener problems?

• “I’m bored.”
• “I don’t hear things that speak to me.”
• “Everything sounds the same.”
• “I feel alone.”
• “I want to learn something new.”
• “I want to be amazed.”
• “I want to connect.”

There are undoubtedly thousands more, if not an infinite number. When you solve them, you create surprise and delight. And when you achieve that, listeners become your biggest evangelists. They just can’t shut up about the amazing thing you’ve done. And that’s a contagion.

Back to our podcast gatherings, while I am optimistic about the future of podcasting, I’m not optimistic that I’ll hear much about solving listener problems at these gatherings. I think this because I’m not sure many of the platforms, networks, and distributors are paying much attention to what those problems are.

The most bothersome part isn’t the buzzwords, it is that saying them is how people chose to use time together.

A gathering should be a source of new ideas and thinking. These ideas should inspire: inspire to steal the idea, or build off the idea, to come up with your own idea, or find your place within an idea — whatever, as long as it moves you and the podcast industry forward. It should not be a time for you to sit in front of a politely captive group and repeat the same buzzwords that the last person in the last session said.

If you are speaking at one of these gatherings, well, don’t be surprised if someone calls out “bingo” in the middle of your talk, it’s an occupational hazard this week. But what I really hope for you is that you might give some thought to what you plan to say this week. A positive, contagious, and exciting vision lies inside you — lead with that. Save the “dynamic insertion” talk for later.