The Healthy Way To Deal With Doubts About Your Podcast

You know that little voice inside your head raising nagging suspicions about some aspect of your podcast? It’s probably there for a reason. And you should probably give it voice.

September 22, 2020

Article

Blessed is the podcaster who harbors no doubts about their podcast, for they are truly a divine being. And a mythical being. Because, let's face it, we all have doubts about our podcast.

Doubts and suspicions about the content we make for public consumption are normal. We all have them. Even the most successful podcasters in the world have doubts about some aspects of the podcast episodes they're producing.

This gets back to imposter syndrome, which I've talked about previously on the program. Imposter syndrome is felt by every single human on the planet, with the possible exception of sociopaths or psychopaths. But assuming you're not one of those; you will face imposter syndrome. You're going to harbor doubts and suspicions that you are doing something wrong, or that some aspect of your podcast is not as perfect as you would like them to be.

Doubts Are Good. Shoulds Are Bad

When I speak of doubts and suspicions, I’m talking about specific aspects of your show. I am not speaking of vague and/or nebulous things you think you should be doing.

Should is a bad word. Should undermines your productivity and leads to depression. He said, speaking from experience. Yes, I used it in the subtitle of this article. But I only did so so I could have this quick aside.

If you can voice your doubts or suspicions in the form of a should, like “I really should be paying more attention to marketing”, that’s not a doubt or suspicion. That’s a should, and you really should stop using that word. It’s not helping. Let’s focus on real doubts and suspicions you can point to, not insidious mental traps.

Doubts About Your Podcast Are Quite Common

While the totality of doubts one might harbor about their podcast are far too many to list, here are a few common ones you might have heard that little voice inside your head harping about:

Episode length - If there’s one constant in podcasting, it’s the obsession over the ideal show length. Which is a garbage pursuit, you understand. I’m on record (many, many times) saying that a podcast episode should be as short as it can possibly be. But there’s a lot of room for interpretation there. It’s quite natural for you to have a sneaking suspicion that your podcast episodes are too long, and that you're losing people because of the time commitment you require of them. Or maybe the nagging suspicion is that your podcast episodes are too short, and that you’ve somehow edited out all of the humanity from your show.

Quality - Perhaps you doubt your ability to make episodes of a high enough quality to compete with other shows in your niche? You might have a nagging suspicion that you don't have the right equipment. Or that you're not using the equipment you do have properly. I could be that you’re concerned you're not spending enough time making each episode nice and polished.

Boring bits - It’s pretty common to have a nagging suspicion that your podcast’s episodes are boring. Either in totality or just certain segments or portions that drag on too long. So you worry that might be a turnoff for some of your audience (or your potential audience).

Running out of content - Podcasters new and old face all face the harsh reality of running out of things to talk about, people to talk to, or just having the energy to continue. Planning things out helps, but only to a point. And what are you going to do when you reach that point with your podcast?

Frequency - Is that little voice telling you that monthly episode releases are way too far apart? It’s probably right, but how will you find the time to make more content with your busy schedule? Or perhaps you’ve a nagging suspicion that putting out daily episodes is too much content for your audience - who are also busy - to consume?

Those are all valid suspicions that might be lurking in the back of your mind as a podcaster. That little voice may crop up when you're not thinking about your podcast. Or it may rear its ugly head when you deep in the throes of making your podcast, and you really wish it could go away.

We’ve all been there. Again, nagging suspicions and having doubts about your podcasting processes are normal and real. The healthy way to deal with them is not to squash them or ignore them, though there are plenty of people who advocate for that.

Instead, when these repetitive and nagging suspicions and doubts appear, give them voice.

Giving Voice To The Doubts You Have About Your Podcast

Giving voice means just that: talk about your doubts. To whom, you might ask. I’ve a few ideas.

Talk to your audience - It might feel natural for you to talk about those nagging suspicions on your show, sharing them with your audience. After all, your doubts might directly impact your audience. But I would exercise caution with this course of action. Anytime you ask your audience for feedback, it’s almost always only the hardcore fans who will reply. And hardcore fans always and only want one thing from a podcast: more. The desires expressed by your hardcore fans may not be in line with your vision for the show.

Talk to your peer group - If you don't have a collection of podcasters who you respect and are at least producing content tangentially related to your content, I highly recommend you cultivate one. Having regular (or irregular) contact with just three or four peers is huge. The benefits of having a good peer group where you (and they) can voice your concerns, tell them what’s keeping you up at night, and get reactions from cannot be overstressed. Start building one today.

Talk to an online group - Similar to the peer group, online communities can be good places to give voice to your doubts and suspicions. It’s quite possible - probable, even - that someone else has dealt with a similar issue and found a solution that worked for them. But I’m again going to exercise caution for you. Those who respond might have wildly different goals and experiences than yours. Or they have vastly different audiences or experience level. How valuable is advice from random, unvetted strangers who also happen to have a podcast?

Talk to the people who support you in real life - We all know how hard it is to get your friends and family to listen to your podcast. But even if they aren’t listeners, you can still turn to the support group that cares more about you than they care about your podcast. No, they won’t be much help when discussing optimal frequency or the more technical aspects of making a podcast. But they do better understand your psyche and might help you refocus on why you decided to make a podcast in the first place.

You might find talking to any (all ?) of these groups quite helpful. More importantly, you’ll likely find a healthy way to deal with the doubts you're having right now about your podcast.

If you do one thing after reading this article, let it be this: please tell one other podcaster about Podcast Pontifications. The only way this show grows is by word of mouth, specifically when working podcasters like yourself share the show with other working podcasters.

If you do two things after reading, let the second be a trip to BuyMeACoffee.com/EvoTerra where you finally take the plunge and become a member. Members get some perks, and it's a nice way to show me that you enjoy these philosophical deep dives into the future of podcasting that I deliver to you four days a week.

I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.

Cheers!

Transcript

PPS3E37 The Healthy Way To Deal With Doubts About Your Podcast - Transcript

[00:00:00] You know that little voice inside your head, raising nagging suspicions about some aspect of your podcast. It's probably there for a reason and you should probably give it voice

Hello and welcome to another podcast. Pontifications with me, Evo, Tara. Blessed is the pod caster who harbors no doubts about their podcast for, they are truly [00:00:30] a divine being and a mythical being because let's face it. We all have doubts about our podcast doubts and suspicions about the things we do for the public are normal.

We all have them every podcast or even the most successful podcasters in the world. Have some doubts about some aspect of the podcast episodes they're producing something. And I mean, [00:01:00] every one of them, right? This gets back to imposter syndrome, which I've talked about many times on the program. The imposter syndrome is felt by every single human on the planet, except maybe for sociopaths or psychopaths.

But assuming you're not one of those. You're going to have this imposter syndrome. You're going to feel like things are wrong and doubts and suspicions are a portion of that. We get that. Now, when I'm talking about doubts and suspicions, I mean that nagging thing in the back of your mind going, I, [00:01:30] that thing isn't quite what I want it to be totally mean that, and I'm going to give you some suspicions and ways to deal with them.

But first at the intro of the podcast I use the word should and the word should. Psychologists tell us is a bad word. So I'm not talking about those nagging things that you think you should be doing. I'm not talking about all those things in the back of your mind, where you go, Oh man, I really should be marketing more.

I really should be doing this. And I really [00:02:00] should know kill the word should, should is a bad word. I'm trying my best to get rid of it. Even though I use it in the intro should is a bad word. No, I'm talking about things that. Not these, uh, you know, nebulous. I wonder if no, no, no, no. I'm talking about real suspicions.

Here's some examples of what, I mean, maybe you've got a sneaking suspicion that your podcast episodes are too long that you're losing people because of the length of [00:02:30] time you're doing it. Or maybe the opposite of that. You maybe you're having a nagging suspicion that your podcast episodes are too short.

Maybe you've edited out all of the humanity in your show. Perhaps you think that the episodes you are producing aren't of a high enough quality either because you don't have the right equipment or you're not using the equipment that you have properly, or that you're just not spending enough time making it nice and polished nagging suspicion, maybe you think [00:03:00] you have a nagging suspicion that your episodes are boring, either boring overall, or maybe there are certain segments.

Certain bits that get a little too long and a little too boring. And you, you have this nagging suspicion that some of your audience might think that your content is a little boring. Maybe you've are really worried about running out of content. Maybe you've got the suspicion that, wow, I've got this many episodes planned and what am I going to do after that?

That's a nagging [00:03:30] suspicion that we, many of us have, especially those with it produce content forward a days a week. Speaking of that, maybe the frequency. Maybe you've had a suspicion, the frequency of which you release episodes is not what it ought to be. That it's either you're releasing things. Not often enough, you're only doing monthly because that's all the time you have.

And you know, your audience wants more or the opposite of that. Maybe you're producing content for, I don't know, let's say four days a week, and you're afraid that you're overloading your [00:04:00] people with content. Those are all valid suspicions that might be in the back of your mind. Either when you're not thinking about your podcast or when you actually are in the middle of your podcast.

As I said earlier, those nagging suspicions, those doubts are normal and real. And the healthy way to deal with them is to give them voice, not to squash them, not to quiet them. Although there are people who advocate for that, but I would suggest to you. That when these [00:04:30] repetitive nagging suspicious nagging suspicions and doubts, raised their ugly head, that you give them voice.

And by that, I mean talk about them. Sure. If you want to talk about them on your show and share them and give them, give voice to them with your audience, that might be a plugable, but I would exercise caution. Anytime you ask your audience for [00:05:00] a response, the ones that are going to respond or want to be your true hardcore fans.

And if we know one thing about what true and hardcore fans want it's that they want more. So keep in mind that your doubts and suspicions might not match the people who respond to you. On your show and your audience might not really have an opinion at the same, that is yours, or that would get you in the right direction.

So you can do that, but just be wary of what you're going to get. [00:05:30] You can give voice to your doubts and suspicions by talking to your peer group. If you don't have a collection of podcasters who do something similar to you, I highly recommend you build one. It doesn't have to be huge. Just three or four people who you can turn to who Reese, who you respect and also respect you.

Maybe they do the same kinds of shows that you do. Same kinds of episodes, maybe not, but just other podcasters who are similar to you, you need a good peer group and voice [00:06:00] your concerns to them. Tell them what you are thinking that you're worried about and get their reaction to them. You can also go to the online communities, which is a much larger peer group.

Again, I'm going to exercise caution with that because, well, you don't really get a chance to vet the people that are in those online communities. So are there goals in line with yours? Do they have a similar level of experience? Do they know the things, same things that, you know, [00:06:30] go ahead and ask, but keep in mind, you're talking to the peanut gallery.

Now, people who may have never heard of you or your show, or have any idea of what you're doing. So the responses you get may not be helpful. Although the great thing about online commuters is that you get a lot of varied and wide opinions. So sure. If you are engaged in online communities, share your doubts there, express those and see what kind of answers you get.

And lastly, don't neglect the [00:07:00] people who support you in real life. Maybe they're not even podcast listeners, as we all know, it's very hard to get your friends and family to listen to your own podcast. That's okay. But you can still go to this support group that is made up of your family and friends to share your doubts and suspicions.

Now they're not going to be able to help you too much if you're worried about frequency, if you were to, for your episodes are too long or those sorts of technical things, but if it's more. I don't know, existential, if it's [00:07:30] more, they're going to better understand your own psyche and why you're doing the podcast in the first place and what you're trying to do, they probably know more about your personality.

So even talking to them, you might find quite helpful. And more importantly, you find that a healthy way to deal with the doubts you're having right now about your podcast. Now, if you do one thing after listening to this episode, It is go tell one other podcast or about this [00:08:00] episodes or this entire show podcast.

Pontifications the only way this show grows is by word of mouth when working podcasters like yourself, share the show with other working podcasters. So please. Tell a friend. And if you do two things after listening to this show, the second is go to buy me a coffee.com/evo Terra, and sign up to become a member members, have some perks as well as it's a nice thing to show me that you enjoy these philosophical deep [00:08:30] dives into the future, a podcast in which I am putting out for you four days a week.

So that's it enjoy the rest of your day and I shall be back tomorrow with yet another podcast. Pontifications cheers.

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