Podcasting with Dave. These first three words are a note I left for myself while writing the previous entry. As I wrote it occurred to me that this is something he and I have talked about and is something we can probably do very well. He and I don’t agree. He brings out the contrarian in me and a little conflict between the presenters might make for a great show.
Also, we are both likely to be living here for the next few years – oh, that just gave me the thought for the next entry. One moment caller. Ok, done.
So, what makes for a great podcast?
Presenters
The most important thing? Alongside the topic or topics discussed is how you feel about the presenters. I know this is true because I have downloaded audio versions of books I already know I like only to not listen to them because I don’t like the narrator’s voice. Every moment of listening can be unpleasant and difficult, equally every moment can be a small pleasure when the tone, manner and accent fit gently into your audio environment.
I listen to Ben’s podcast in two ways, first to listen. I ran through the Christmas episode yesterday while working in the house. That was a pleasure and a couple of times I had to stop while I laughed so hard I couldn’t see properly, the creases in my face restricting my vision. Is that a problem in evolutionary terms? Could you beat someone in a fight by first incapacitating them with a joke? Is this partly why it is so difficult to make someone laugh when they are angry, especially when they are angry with you?
Potential Audience
At some level, everyone is potential audience. If you make something interesting enough then everyone might dip in to listen to it. Perhaps that ought to inform the way you design a podcast. You want a sort of Venn between things which are direct and relevant to people who understand and know the space well. Discussions about rules and ideas and problems. Perhaps you also want to ensure the way you talk about those things means you make enough contact with the general themes and ideas of like that anyone could listen to you talk about it, even if they never intend to go deeper.
Topics
Closely related then are the topics you choose to talk about. I think our intent is to make a podcast about Warhammer: The Old World. That’s a tough one, as it is a niche game in a niche hobby, in a niche interest. Well, that’s still millions of people of course. The good news is that it is positively riddled with ideas and themes which can be opened up and made interesting to a wider audience.
There are already plenty of people talking about it and the quality level is very low. Like basement level. So there is a good opening for content which is more carefully and consistently produced.
But I think it would be better to refine our topic selection in a way which opens up the podcast for people outside of the Old World community. Perhaps the most obvious way to do that is to open it up to anyone interested in Fantasy wargames, even just the Warhammer Fantasy Battle games. There have been a series of them and there are people who own the models, like the stores, etc.
Consistency
This is the biggy. Ben and his crew have been super consistent. I should really ask him about it. There must have been many challenges along the way. This reminds me of the guy who runs a 5k every day. He talked about how this is usually very easy, but there are lots of days when it requires advance planning. For example when he flex long distance and needed to pack running gear in his carry on so he could run 10k (two runs back to back either side of midnight) to keep his streak running.
Planning for consistency right from the outset feels like a good idea.
An observation – writing with purpose is even easier than writing about myself and what I have been doing. Perhaps because of my desire to make myself sound more dynamic and interesting than I really am even to myself when I am alone and writing in my pyjamas? Hah, who knows?