If not, burnout is coming. — Doing a podcast should be inspiring and fulfilling, even if you cover the hard topics. I’m not saying smile and laugh when talking about, say, mental health, but you should be getting some type of satisfaction from putting together your podcast. You should be feeling a sense of accomplishment, or…

Because we all suck at first. — If you’ve done a lot of episodes, say 50 or more, you might occasionally be curious to go back and listen to some of your early shows. Chances are you cringed. Chances are you told yourself, “Wow, I wasn’t very good, was I?” Everyone sucks at first. Hosting a podcast…

You weren’t prepared for these, were you? — Do a podcast! It’s great! You’ll love it! It’s exciting! Doing a podcast can be great fun. Doing a podcast can be inspiring. There are a lot of things to love about creating episodes. But then there are the boring parts. Research. Guest preparation. Editing. This is another case in life where money will…

Doesn’t it seem like everyone is? — If you listen to a lot of podcasts, you may have noticed: there are a lot of experts out there. Everyone seems to be claiming they’re the best at something. That may even be true. And yet, there’s also the feeling people are skewing their credentials in much the same…

You’re not good enough to wing it. — There’s an old saying in radio for personality morning shows that also fits podcasts: “It takes two hours of preparation for every hour on the air.” Why do you need all that time? It’s just talking, right? Sure, if you plan on using a lot of ums and ahhs, or…

Go. — People decide pretty quickly whether they’re going to stick around for an entire episode. If I’m lost at the start, I’m gone. How do you start your podcast? Have you ever given any thought to it? It may be the most critical part of your episodes. Everyone seems to have…

Or “Why would you even want to do one?” — Have you ever had a partner ask you, “Why do you have a podcast?” Maybe that was followed by “They seem stupid. I tried one once and it was just people blabbering over nothing.” Or maybe, “Are you trying to be an influencer? Like the Kardashians? We certainly don’t need…

Feedback can be helpful, in the right way. — Getting and receiving feedback has always been difficult. Everyone hopes to feel like they’re so good at what they’re doing that nothing needs to be said, that the work is perfect and stands for itself. And yet we’ve been receiving feedback since we were a child. Parents, teachers, and now…

There’s not as much reason today, but some still do it. — I’ve used a lot of different names over the years. That happens in a 30-year radio career. I was George Matthews for many years, Robert Sanchez, Bryan Emerson, Crash Carter, and a lot more I no longer remember. Why did I do this? And how does it relate to podcasting? First, some history. …