What Makes a Good Podcast

I absolutely love podcasts. It's probably safe to assume everyone already knows what a podcast is, but just in case, Wikipedia defines it as:

An episodic series of spoken word digital audio files that a user can download to a personal device for easy listening.

There are podcasts on every topic under the sun, from comedy, to sports, true crime stories, health, business and everything in between. My favorite categories include programming, personal finance and alternative health.

One of the things I like best about the format is it feels like "hacking the brain". Since they're (mostly) free and so easily accessible, you can be learning and exposing yourself to new ideas while doing the most mundane things like commuting, going for a run, or chores around the house. In this post I'm going to share some opinions on what makes a good podcast. Keep in mind my preference is on education and always learning new things over idle chit chat.

1. Not making assumptions about the audiences' knowledge

With the exploding popularity of podcasts, new listeners are always joining in. So even if a podcast has been around for a while and has a distinct target audience (for example, Rails developers or do-it-yourself investors), it's still valuable to briefly define any relevant terms or acronyms that are introduced. Otherwise it can leave some audience members confused or feeling foolish that they're supposed to know what that term means. It doesn't have to take long, just a sentence or two does the trick. Some examples of shows that do a good job of this include Hanselminutes by Scott Hanselman and Syntax by Wes Bos and Scott Tolinski.

2. Clearly identify ads

Look, I get it, it takes valuable time to create and produce a podcast. Hosting is not free. If there's music and design involved in the logo and website, a designer needs to get paid for that. There are real costs involved in creating quality content, and yet, this content is available for free to everyone. So naturally, most podcasts are ad supported. The few I've heard that don't run ads are sponsored by a company and work in mentions of the company and what services they offer as part of the content. Examples of this include Financial Decoder by Charles Schwab, The Brian Buffini Show and Rational Reminder by Benjamin Felix and Cameron Passmore of PWL Capital.

However, for all the others that do run ads, it's important to clearly distinguish the ad from the actual content, otherwise, it can feel like you've been tricked. Some good ways of doing this are a verbal cue such as "And now a word from our sponsor..." or "Let's go to our second sponsor break". Another way is to play some background music that only plays for the duration of the ad and is the same on each episode so listeners can recognize it. Shows that do this well include Security Now with Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte, Shop Talk Show with Dave Rupert and Chris Coyier and Techmeme Ride Home with Brian McCullough.

3. Limit inside jokes

This can happen when there are two or more co-hosts that know each other well or have a long history of working together. Something will be said that causes all the hosts to start laughing hysterically or go on giggling for some time, but it won't be apparent to the audience what's so funny. This can leave the listener feeling left out of the "inside joke". If you run a podcast and find this happening, try to take a few minutes to fill in the audience on the joke, or if its one of those "you just had to be there" moments, try to limit how often it happens or even edit these out.

4. Limit the fillers

This one's a little tricky because I understand that guests may be nervous, or a new host may not yet have much speaking experience, but try to limit the filler words like umm, ahh, like, you know. These can distract from the main content. This may also depend on the nature of the show. For example those that are more conversational may have a few more filler words than those that are narrated, but as a listener, I really appreciate when everyone speaking is well prepared on the topic. Some great narrated podcasts include Swindled and We Regret to Inform You. On the conversational side, some shows that do a great job of this include Syntax and Planet Money.

5. Signal to noise

Wikipedia defines signal-to-noise ratio as:

A measure used in science and engineering that compares the level of a desired signal to the level of background noise.

What does this have to do with podcasts you ask? Well, allow me a small tangent... Suppose you have a speaker that emits a small hiss, so even when nothing is playing, if you turn the volume all the way up, you'll hear that hiss get even louder. That's the noise. Now the music you want to play on that speaker is the signal. Imagine if the hiss was really loud, then when you turned up the volume, although the music would get louder, it would partially get drowned out by the hiss, this would be a low signal to noise ratio. Ideally you want a high signal to noise ratio so that the music comes out clearly with little static. Really good explanation of this here.

Ok, now back to podcasts. Many will have some level of "noise" in some conversational banter or tangents that the hosts go on. The "signal" is the topic that's being covered. A good podcast, in my opinion, will limit the amount of noise the audience has to wade through to get to the signal. Of course, some podcasts are all about the banter and that's part of their charm, but I tend to gravitate towards educational shows and so value mostly signal. Some podcasts that do a good balance of banter and education include Dear HBR and Motley Fool Money.

6. Let the guests speak

This applies to the interview format - there's a host, and then each week a different guest is brought on to be interviewed. What I've noticed on some podcasts, is the host has a point they'd like to make, so they'll ask a question, but before letting the guest answer, the host keeps going on appending their opinion, so by the time they're finished asking their "question", it's lost the flow of the question and answer format. Or sometimes the guest will be interrupted when they're in the middle of answering a question. Presumably the guest was brought on for their expertise in a particular subject. A good podcast will give the guest an opportunity to share their knowledge. A podcast that does this really well is Software Engineering Radio.

Conclusion

Podcasts are a fantastic way to improve your knowledge on a variety of topics. If you're not already subscribed, I would encourage everyone to download the podcatcher app of their choice and start listening. Over time you'll discover what style you prefer and learn many new things.