Podcast Do’s and Don’ts

When I became a parent, there was no shortage of advice from anyone who had a kid at any point in their lives. From the most common, “sleep when the baby sleeps,” to the less common (but way more useful), “take the baby with you the first 2 months of their lives because all they do is sleep,” I was bombarded with a seemingly endless list of all the things I should and should not be doing as a freshly minted dad.

And while podcasting isn’t the same thing as being a parent, there is that same firehose of advice from everyone from people who started a podcast this week to people who’ve been doing it for 10+ years. This advice comes from a good place, but it’s easy to get overwhelmed.

Want to cut to the quick? Click: Do’s | Don’ts

Why This List is Different

When I started podcasting, I documented my journey. I wrote down the questions I had, and the answers I got. I made note of the hard parts, and the advice I didn’t get that I should have.

As a podcast coach, I check in with my students and clients. I ask them what they are struggling with. And I ask them what their revelations are, as they happen.

This list is the culmination of all of that — my 10+ years experience, and the new problems facing podcasters in 2023.

Podcasting Can Be Hard

As you start your podcast, you’ll be faced with tons of decisions to make, like format, if you should have video, what kind of gear to buy, and more. These lists should make it easier, without overwhelming.

Here are some dos and don’ts to help make your journey a little smoother.

Podcast Do’s:

• Determine the purpose of your show (why are you starting it?)
• Research your topics and guests
• Send it to more than just Apple Podcasts
• Send it to YouTube, even if it’s audio only.
• Record a few episodes before officially committing to see if you like it
• Make the audio quality as good as you reasonably can
• Encourage engagement with your audience (ask for feedback, reviews, etc)
• Have a website to share episodes
• Start building your list as soon as possible. I recommend ConvertKit.
• Grab the social media profiles
• Consider Mini Podcasting
• Have fun

Podcast Don’ts:

• Sweat the Audio Quality too much (it should be listenable, but you don’t need to sound like NPR)
• Feel like you need video (but consider it when it makes sense)
• Be afraid of experimenting.
• Stagnate. Change up the format from time to time!
• Assume it will make you rich
• Assume you will get thousands (or even hundreds) of downloads in the first week
• Make your intro music too long (DO get to the good stuff)
• Make it an hour long pitch (DO add value for your listeners so they trust you)
• Get discouraged. Podcasting is a bit of a grind so make sure to have fun.

A Few More Resources

Just in-case you need a little bit more:

1. Start a Podcast for less than $100
2. 3 Ways to Make Money With Your Podcast — and How to Plan Ahead
3. 5 Episode Ideas to Record Your Podcast FAST

And hey…if you want some pointed feedback, I have some, get in touch. I offer 1-on-1 coaching.

And Happy Podcasting!

Finding Your Voice (And Sticking With It)

When I listen back to the first ten episodes of my own show, I cringe a little. Not because the content was bad, but because I was clearly trying to sound like the podcasters I admired instead of like myself. I used their cadence, their catchphrases, even their pauses. It took a solid year before I stopped auditioning for a role that was never actually open. Your voice — and I mean that both literally and creatively — is the one thing no other podcaster has. Trying to copy someone else’s style will burn you out and leave you feeling like a counterfeit.

A better approach is to record a few “throwaway” episodes or even just 15-minute voice memos where you talk naturally about a topic you love with zero notes. Notice what makes you laugh, where you get animated, when you go off on a tangent that actually works. Those are the fingerprints of your show. Don’t sand them off. If you have a dry sense of humor, let it be dry. If you get technical and nerdy, own that. Listeners can smell an imitation from a mile away, but they’ll stick around for someone who sounds like a real person having a real conversation.

And your voice will change over time. That’s a feature, not a bug. The podcaster you are in episode one is not the podcaster you’ll be in episode one hundred. Let that evolution happen. Don’t lock yourself into a rigid persona because it worked early on. Check in with yourself every six months or so: do you still enjoy the way you sound? Does your delivery match the show you actually want to make? If not, tweak it. No one is holding a ruler.

The Guest Booking Minefield

Booking guests sounds simple until you’re three emails deep with someone who keeps rescheduling, or you realize halfway through an interview that this person has absolutely nothing to say about the topic you prepared. Guests can bring fresh energy and a new audience, but they can also derail your production schedule and leave you with an episode you’re not proud of. I learned the hard way that a “big name” guest is not automatically a good guest. Relevance beats reach every time.

Before you send a single pitch, write a one-page guest brief for yourself. What specific topics can this person speak to? What questions would only they be able to answer? If you can’t answer those two things, don’t book them. Then, when you do reach out, keep the pitch short: who you are, why your audience will care about them, and exactly what you’re asking for (a 45-minute remote interview, a specific date range, etc.). Vague requests get ignored. Once they say yes, send a confirmation email with the date, time, time zone, platform, and two or three bullet points on what you’ll cover. That single email will cut your no-show rate dramatically.

Management is the other half of the minefield. Have a short pre-interview call or at least a list of house rules: no promo-heavy monologues, please speak within arm’s reach of the mic, and we’ll edit out any long pauses. Set a hard stop time and honor it. If a guest goes long, politely wrap them up — your listeners will thank you. And always thank your guest publicly with a link to their work. It costs nothing and keeps the door open for a future second appearance.

Promotion Without Feeling Slimy

Most new podcasters I talk to feel a knot in their stomach when it comes time to promote an episode. They don’t want to be the person spamming every Facebook group with “New episode! Link in bio!” I get it. Nobody wants to feel like a walking billboard. But promotion doesn’t have to be slimy. The trick is to lead with the value your episode provides, not with the fact that you made it. Instead of “My new episode is out,” try “I talked to a sleep researcher about why you wake up at 3am — here’s the surprising reason.” That shift alone changes the entire feel of your post.

Pick two or three platforms where your listeners actually hang out and do those well. For me, that’s Instagram stories, a private Facebook group, and a short email list. I don’t touch TikTok, not because it’s bad, but because I can’t sustain it without burning out. Consistency on two platforms beats chaos on six. And schedule your promotion in chunks: one post on release day, one mid-week reminder, one “if you missed it” post the following week. Then stop. Anything more than that starts to feel desperate to your audience.

Cross-promotion is another low-sliminess strategy. Find three or four podcasts in your niche that serve a similar audience but aren’t direct competitors. Offer to read a 30-second ad for their show if they’ll do the same for yours. Or do a guest swap: they come on your pod, you go on theirs. These organic exchanges bring in listeners who already trust the medium and are primed to subscribe. No spam required.

When Your Podcast Feels Like a Chore

There will be a stretch — maybe week six, maybe month fourteen — where you open your recording software and feel absolutely nothing. Or worse, dread. This is normal, but it’s also a signal. For a long time, I thought the only options were to quit or to grind through it. I was wrong. There’s a third path: change the thing that’s making it a chore, not the podcast itself. For me, it was the editing. I was spending four hours editing a 40-minute episode and hating every click. Outsourcing that task — even just for a trial month — brought back the joy I’d lost.

Pay attention to which parts of the production process drain you and which parts energize you. If you love recording but hate scheduling, use a booking tool and be done with it. If you love researching but hate writing show notes, simplify your notes to three bullet points. If the format itself is the problem, change the format. A weekly interview show can become a biweekly solo show, or a seasonal show with scheduled breaks. You are allowed to pivot. Your listeners can handle it. In fact, they’ll appreciate a host who sounds engaged rather than one who’s obviously phoning it in.

And if you truly need a break, take one. Announce it clearly: “We’ll be back in four weeks.” Then actually rest. Don’t spend your break feeling guilty or drafting episode outlines in your head. A rested podcaster with a fresh perspective will always beat a burned-out podcaster forcing out mediocre content. The show will be there when you get back, and so will your listeners.