How Do I Pick My Podcast Topic

Choosing the right topic for a podcast can be challenging for many. The first step is to pick a topic you're passionate about. This is important because starting a podcast involves several steps, and having a strong passion will drive you through. Consider what you like and what your friends say you're good at. Research the audience size for each potential topic and gauge their level of interest.

Ask yourself why you want to start a podcast - is it to become an expert, reach a global audience, find like-minded people, boost sales, build confidence, engage your community, or have fun with friends and family?

If you have multiple topics, think about the overall audience size and how much they care about the topic. Consider an example - Pop Tarts have a large audience, but not everyone is equally passionate about them. On the other hand, a topic like high-end stereo equipment has a smaller audience, but they are very passionate and may have money to spend. It all starts with your why.

It's important to remember that choosing a topic is just the first step. Once you have a topic, you need to record and release your podcast to help people. Just like a comedian can't know if they're funny until they perform, you won't know if your podcast is successful until it's out there. I always recommend getting feedback from people not named "Mom." You need HONEST feedback so you know your episodes will resonate with your audience.

For more guidance and to avoid common mistakes, check out podcastconsultant.com. The best time to start a podcast was back in 2004, but the second-best time is now. Get started today and launch your podcast in the right direction.

Need to pick my brain and want to try coaching without calendars? Check out "Dave in My Pocket" where we send questions and answers back an forth via my app.

Podcast Launch Checklist

Transcript

David Jackson 0:33
People come to me and they go, Dave, I want to start a podcast, but I'm having a hard time picking a topic. And in some cases, I say, Well, hold on, because they're ready to like, go by microphones and all this other stuff. And I'm like, wait, wait, wait, wait, if you can't pick your topic, let's let's slow down a little bit. And there's some things you can ask yourself. Number one, you're going to hear this a lot. You need to pick a topic you're passionate about. I want to use the analogy.

I had a stepson who was 16. And every time I walked in the house, he said, Can we go driving? Can we do driving, if you've ever been in that boat, you know exactly what I'm talking about. And so you need the passion of a 16 year old, trying to get their driver's license. Why? Because when you first start out, there are things that you have to do one time, but nonetheless, it's extra steps.

So when you sign up at your media host, you must put in a bunch of information. One time, when you submit your show to Apple podcast, you do that one time, and it's this is where the passion pushes you through. Because you're like, it seems like a lot of steps, I just want to talk into a microphone, the passion will push you through.

And you might ask yourself, well, what do I like? What do I really like? And what do other people say? I like, ask your friends, what am I good at? Because they might give you some tips on that. And come up with some topics, it may just be one. If you have multiple topics, and you're like, I can't really pick which one and ask yourself this. How big is the audience? And then ask yourself, How much do people that like that topic? How much do they really care?

And this brings up knowing your why? Why am I getting in to podcasting because there are a lot of reasons. Maybe you want to be seen as an expert. Maybe you want to reach a global audience. Everybody does that in podcasting, a global audience. Maybe you want to find like minded people, I once had a client that wanted to start a show about comic books. And he goes, I know there's a million shows about comic books. But my family is tired of hearing me talk about comic books, I want to find like minded people. And they did. Maybe you want to boost the sales of your own products or boost your speaking confidence. You're like, I'm not very confident when I speak well, this is a great place to just work on that. Maybe you want to engage your community or make additional income.

A lot of people say, You know what, I wouldn't mind making some extra income. Or maybe I love these. You just want to have fun with your friends and your family. I know people that are high school friends that get together once a week to record a podcast, mainly just to stay in touch. And they just happen to record that conversation and put it out.

But what if you have multiple topics? Well, again, how big is your audience? And how much does that audience really care? So let's, let's look at an example of Pop Tarts. A lot of people love pop-tarts. When you start talking about brown sugar, and cinnamon, now you have my attention. But how much do people that eat Pop Tarts, like really care about Pop-Tarts.

But then if you take something, I have a friend of mine, Michael O'Neill that does a show all about upper upper upper end stereo equipment. And so that's not a huge audience. But the people that are into that topic are really into that topic. Why? Because it's expensive. And Michael loves it because on occasion he gets free stuff. But also that audience has money. I used to do a show for musicians. And you've heard the old kind of, hey, it's starving artists. Well, that's kind of true, that audience didn't have a whole lot of money. Now, I wasn't doing that show to make a lot of money. So it didn't really matter.

But these are some things you should think about how big is the overall audience for this particular topic? How much do these people really care about that topic? And then again, how passionate are you about this topic that can help you kind of narrow down if you have multiple topics, which one to choose

Now, something to keep in mind. Once you get that topic, you can't help people from your bedroom, or your basement or wherever you're at until you actually record and release your podcast. There's a great quote from Kevin Hart. He's a famous comedian. He says you can't practice comedy in the basement. You don't know if you're funny until you actually get on stage and I want to help you To get on that global stage of podcasting, I want to help you avoid all the mistakes of using all the tools that you shouldn't be using and spending way too much money on equipment that you don't need.

I really would love to help you pick the topic that's best for you, and get it launched in the right direction. My website is podcast. consultant.com everything we talked about today you can find at podcast consultant.com/nine The best time to start a podcast was back in 2004. The second best time is right now. Go out to podcast consultant.com and let's get started today.