Keep Your Audience Listening To Your Podcast

Control over Quality, Topic/Genre and Voice makes a podcast work.

Infographic put together with CoPilot.

Over the past months, I’ve been working on podcasts as an Audio Editor. With my multimedia degree and a fondness for well-told audio fiction, I welcomed the opportunity when it presented itself. I’ve poured many hours into making the three shows produce sound great, though it comes with its own hiccups.

When I’m not working on my podcasts, I listen to other fictional podcasts while doing chores or drive long distances. Sometimes I like to try something new, but it doesn’t always stick with me. Considering what it takes to keep me hooked onto any podcast, I’ve come up with this triangle infographic.

You might be familiar with the “Time,” “Money,” and “Quality” infographic, informing you that, in order to make a business decision, the client picks whichever two are most important to them, so you can adjust your project to the client’s need. My infographic works in a similar fashion.

The last fiction podcast I listened to I chose for its interesting topic: A near-future sci-fi set during a second oil age. The quality was great and something I expected from an iHeartRadio original podcast. The production choices, however, stood out as the deal-breaker for me and many others who left a review on their show. So to me and reviewers with similar responses, this podcast was not for us. However, for every negative comment, a positive one embellished the review section. These listeners could see past the flaws and found a world build with wonder that left them craving for a second season.

Thanks to this podcast, I started thinking about how a podcast can survive the way it did. What it takes to keep their audience listening to their show. Hence my infographic.

Topic

Interchangeable with “story,” the topic is part of the hook of the podcast and a promise to the listener. You dedicate your time to step into an amazing world or a fascinating subject you’ve always wanted to know more about.

Quality

The quality of a podcast varies per podcast. Some sound professional, others sound like the microphone stood in the middle of the bathroom. Some…