7 Reasons You Should Start Listening to Podcasts in 2024
By the tender age of 6, I already was glued to the Role and Impact of Radio Listening. My father’s possessiveness and love affair with his transistor or stereo radio sets, was the catch for me. Growing up in Aba, a famous city, which was then in the old Imo State of south-east of Nigeria, I was fascinated by various child-friendly and family-oriented shows being aired on then Imo Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) Owerri. The innocent imagination in me over the humans behind the microphone and the radio speakers, always had my mind inquisitive as how they would look in real life, the voices, the choice of music they played, and how it could place all of a host of the community on a platter of happiness. I can go on and on to recount my relish and connection to listening to the radio till this present age despite the advent of cable TV, the internet, etc.
During my days at Government College Afikpo, as a boarding student, there were certain items not allowed to come with you to school, however my love for the transistor radio had me always smuggling my companion (my radio) into the hostel, and I was never caught till my senior years when I could openly use or bring in such items to school. Someday, I will write on all I have gained from listening to the radio all my life.
When the thought of writing about this topic came to me, I took it to heart, being that, coincidentally this week, the media all around the globe just observed and celebrated the World Radio on the 13th of February, with the theme: “A century informing, entertaining and educating”.
However, the digital age, where we are now, has creatively handed us another blessing/gift called PODCAST, and people like me who love the radio to date, are stunned like teenagers in love because this is another version of radio life propagated digitally, with newer exciting spices, endless potentials, and mindblowing opportunities and benefits. Realizing how much I enjoy listening to podcasts, you must know that they offer a wide range amount of topics and the interesting part is that they are free! There is something out there for everyone. As I am writing this piece, I am listening to Trevor Noah’s Podcast “What Now?!”
So, with this exciting, flashback, let us dive into 7 Reasons You Should Start Listening to Podcasts in 2024.
- You Can Become a Better Listener: Podcasts can become your go-to platform for grooming and enhancing your listening skills, through your daily life. When you tune into a podcast. you indirectly practice targeted and focused active listening with the concentration of your mind and its audio formats help this process flow through, as you are soaked in the discussions, dynamics, ideas, and narratives being dished by the speaker in episodes.
- Reduce Screen Time By Getting Used to Listening to Podcasts: Frequent scrolling of our digital devices, and spending a large amount of our time in the trap of internet addiction, causes us eye strain and visual overload. Podcasts can truly become a healthy alternative that will engage the human mind and time profitably by allowing you to become free from the disadvantages associated with it.
- It is an Entertaining Medium When You Are Performing a Task: Even if it is cooking, sorting items, laundry, cleaning, or running errands, these uninspiring activities can become more interesting and engaging by just tuning into a podcast, which also provides you opportunities for entertainment, learning, and mind growth at the same time.
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4. Listening to podcasts can help you grow your network and connect with like-minded people: Referring to Tony Selimi’s thoughts on this topic, on LinkedIn, I will quote him directly. “Podcasts are a great way of connecting with like-minded individuals on different topics that interest you. The best part about podcasting is that it’s not just limited to one subject. There are hundreds of various podcasts out there covering topics ranging from business, marketing and entrepreneurship, self-development, and much more”!
5. Podcasts Can Benefit You Psychologically: Listening to podcasts is also a mighty tool that nurtures our basic psychological needs. It can help us feel more competent, proactive, ready, and independent. When we listen to podcasts our brains get busy, just like in reading books or listening to a radio show, and we create pictures in our minds as we follow along with the podcast host, participating actively rather than passively consuming content as we all do nowadays on social media. This habit of creating mental images has significant benefits for our cognitive health. Trust me, it is mentally therapeutic if you can fall in love with listening to podcasts.
6. You Can Listen to Podcasts Anywhere: One of the happy realities about podcasts is that they don’t need any special tools or equipment. You can latch on to them anywhere, including on your mobile phone in the middle of nowhere if you have a data plan, and can also download them to listen to if you happen to find yourself where do not have data or connection to a Wi-Fi. Connect to your car radio to listen while you drive, or use earbuds to listen as you walk. This can help you maximize your time because you can take advantage of podcasts whenever you have a few minutes of downtime.
7. Podcasts May Improve Your Vocabulary: Another gain of listening to podcasts is making yourself available to new conversations that improve your vocabulary. You will surely encounter new words, slang, buzzwords, trends, or grammatical terms that will challenge you, and yes, this entirely depends on what shows you are listening to regularly.
In Conclusion:
With an abundance of podcast genres available, ranging from storytelling, fiction, politics, romance, crime documentaries, culture, art, fashion, religion, and comedy to educational and informative content, there is something for everyone’s interests and preferences, anytime, any day. The wide range of topics available allows listeners to focus on subjects that interest them most or learn something new entirely — further contributing towards personal growth.
If you are seeking a good reason why you should give podcasting a dedicated chance, I hope this list of benefits convinces you. And, if you fall in love with it enough, you can also create your own podcast, as I have already done via Spotify Podcast and the name is Unfiltered Random Thoughts (URT) with Kardinal Smart. Feel free to check it out. Cheers!
