Should you think about your audience as one person?

Voice Over: 00:00:00

Got dreams of being a professional podcaster, but have no idea what you're doing. This is impossible. That's about to change. A new kind of school. Welcome to the PodSchool Podcast.

Rachel Corbett: 00:00:10

Hello. Welcome to the show. Today I've got a question from Sophie, who says, do you recommend thinking of your audience as a singular person? Sophie?

Yes, I do. Good on you for thinking this way. This is awesome.

So one mistake I see a lot of new podcasters make is that they will talk to their audience as a collective. There's all of the crutch words like, ladies and gentlemen, you guys, all you people out there.

Now, for an audience member that's listening to your show, they're more often than not listening with their headphones in by themselves. And while it is a very, very subtle 1% kind of thing that can disconnect you from your audience because you're there. Like, who are they talking to?

Who are these people? It's just me here by myself, so could you talk to me, please?

It doesn't really matter if you've got a million people listening, if you are thinking about talking just to one person when you present, particularly when you are presenting on your own.

I think this is the absolute key to doing this well, because if you are thinking about somebody in your mind, even sometimes, I recommend looking in a mirror if you find that very hard and you're finding it difficult to actually talk like you're normally in a conversation when you're just by yourself. Because, believe me, it takes practice. It does take practice. It does not feel natural to begin.

A lot of people start doing this and they either lose a lot of their personality because they feel like they have to sort of, you know, they're treading so carefully with their words and what they're doing, or they go over the top because they're sort of thinking, hi, guys, here I am. It's like, oh, yeah, we can. We can see you here. We got you loud and clear.

But I often recommend looking in a mirror as you record if you have difficulty with that, because you can talk to yourself now, you might feel ridiculous, but you will actually feel a difference when you see another person there and you see another human. Yes, it's you. Yes, it's a reflection.

Yes, it might feel weird, but just having another body there instead of a camera lens or just a microphone can make the world of difference in terms of bringing into your body and your mind that energy that you require for a conversation with somebody. So talking directly to one person is key.

As I said, it is the most important, when you're by yourself, when you are with a co host, you're talking to them, you've still got to keep the audience in mind.

You don't ever want to leave the audience out so they feel like, you know, they've walked into a clothes shop and the attendants are having a conversation. You're like, have I interrupted something? Should I just leave? I just wanted to spend my money in here.

So it can feel a bit weird if you're not thinking about your audience, but you've got those people to bounce off. When you're in a co hosted situation, when you're by yourself, you have to think about that one person that you are talking to. It's a good idea.

Sometimes if you want to visualize somebody that you care about, someone that you like to talk to, that can be a good exercise. You also want to use the right language for that, and that means you. How are you doing? I want you to send me an email.

I'm looking forward to seeing you next week. You, you, you, you're talking to one person directly.

And if you're doing that, then every single person that is listening to your show, even if there are 50,000, a million, however many, they will all individually feel like you are talking just to them. And that is the key with podcasting. You want your audience to feel like you are having a conversation with them.

Even if you are with co hosts, you still want to bring the audience and the person that's listening into the conversation with you, because that is where the magic happens.

When people listen to a show and they feel like they're part of a conversation, they feel like they're part of the gang, they feel like they're sitting down at the barbecue and having a chat with you. That's when it's really, really so powerful.

So thinking about your audience as individual people, talking to those individual people, it will just make that connection with them so much stronger and will just improve how people feel about your show and the fact that they feel like fans.

You know, there's a real sense of connection that comes from a podcast and that is a really amazing thing to have people tuning into your show looking to conn. So you want to be sure that you are really doing your best to try and connect with them one on one, if you can. So fantastic question, Sophie.

Really great that you're thinking like that and that you have got that in mind because I feel like that is a very, very key part of this. But it's not always something that people clock or they think about.

And it's certainly something in radio that you're taught and it's drummed into you all the time to be doing that and to be connecting with your audience in that way. But when you're an at home podcaster, there's no reason you kind think that way.

You'd be thinking, oh well, I'm talking to all these people so I'll just present like I'm in a room. Not the right way to go.

Present like you're in a room when you're in a room, but present like you're talking to one person when you're, you know, recording your podcast so that everybody feels like you're talking to them. Because that's what we're here to do. Thank you so much for the question. If you've got one, head to the description in the episode.

You'll also find all the details of how you can work with me there and I will see you for another episode next week.

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That's all for today.