Datasheet

Practice 1: Selecting the Right Topic for Your Podcast
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Jot down what you like to do for fun
What else turns your crank that you enjoy doing in
your leisure time? All work and no play makes Jack a
very boring podcaster whom no one much wants to
listen to or talk with. And let’s face it, the possibili-
ties for entertainment-focused podcasts are endless.
Look — you don’t have to be in this for the money.
Some of the best-produced and most rewarding
shows are created by people for the sheer fun of it.
Perhaps you are an avid bowler and would like to
share your passion with others. Maybe you know a
ridiculous amount about beer. Perhaps your friends
all turn to you for information when it comes to
obscure knots and stitches, and everyone knows it
takes you half as long to knit a sweater than anyone
else on the block.
The idea is to find out what you are passionate about.
Jot down a few ideas and see if you can come up with
five or six subtopics worthy of further discussion.
And remember that you don’t have to be the most
knowledgeable person on the planet on a given topic.
If you have the passion, it might be fun to take your
listeners on the journey as you learn more.
Filling a Niche by Focusing on
a Specific Area of Interest
Deciding what topics you can talk about is an impor-
tant step, but it’s time for the application of what we
like to call Jurassic Park logic. JP logic requires you
to ask yourself this question: You’ve spent a lot of
time thinking about whether you could, but have you
figured out whether you should?
While we’re not trying to put you into tidy boxes or
for an instant suggest that adding your voice to a busy
conversation is a waste of time, we are suggesting that
you strive to introduce a new topic to the podos-
phere, or find an underserved audience. Yes, you
could create yet another music podcast featuring an
eclectic mix of podsafe music artists. But realize that
you will be competing with the dozens — perhaps
something that you (a) want to talk about and (b)
can talk about while (c) demonstrating that you
know what you’re talking about. So what can you
talk about? What do you want to talk about?
To be fair, you may have had the idea of doing a pod-
cast thrust upon you as part of your job. That’s fine.
Unless your boss has arranged for someone to hand
you a completed script to read in front of the micro-
phone (in which case, you probably aren’t reading
this anyhow), you’ll still benefit from the sugges-
tions in this section.
List what aspects of your job interest you
Like it or not, we spend a lot of time at our jobs,
developing skills and competencies we use in our
personal lives as well. While there is no question
that some of your daily tasks at a job might fall into
the mind-numbing category, examine those parts of
your job that you do find interesting.
Notice we didn’t say day job. The reality is that for
many people with the drive and ambition to even
consider becoming podcasters, the wearing of two
hats is commonplace. It’s not uncommon to take off
the Accountant hat at 5:30 and assume the mantle of
Community Organizer, Sports Memorabilia Collector,
or Classic Car Restorer. These are every bit as much
of a profession as that which provides the majority
of your household income. The pay just stinks.
We recommend making a list of the things you do in
your profession that most interest you, keeping the
following points in mind:
 You can get very specific or very broad — you
can always refine or group tasks together later.
 Be sure to include the aspects of professional
affiliations, groups, or associations to which you
may belong. Within all of these are hidden gems
that may very well lead you to the right topic.
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