I was messing around on Spotify when “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” came on, and about halfway through it hit me: there’s no real chorus. It’s the same riff from start to finish, broken up only by a quick background vocal moment and that famous chant near the end. (Fun fact: when one of the background singers asked what they were singing, Michael told them it didn’t mean anything.) Put on headphones and give it a listen. The production is amazing, but underneath all the percussion it’s one simple riff doing its job.

In this episode I share three lessons that song taught me about podcasting:

• Start simple. I see it on Reddit all the time: new podcasters asking about three-camera shoots, lighting rigs and neon signs. Then a few months later someone is selling that same gear because it turned out to be a heavy lift. When I auditioned for bands, I learned the few songs they asked for, not their whole 40-song set. Start with audio, or a phone on a monopod and a couple of wireless mics, and figure out if you like doing this before you spend $6,000.
• If it works, don’t change it. That one riff makes you bob your head and sing along. If your show is getting comments, emails or other signs of engagement, be patient and keep doing what you’re doing.
• Be creative. Michael found a way to insult the press that I’d never heard before or since. Find your own fresh way to say things.

Links mentioned

• “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” on YouTube

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I’m Dave Jackson, and I want to be your podcast consultant.

Back Up Your Podcast Before Your Hard Drive Decides For You

My 4TB solid-state drive started disconnecting from my computer about once a day. Luckily, my podcast files were already backed up. In this episode I explain what a real backup is, which files are worth keeping, and why a hard drive failure is a matter of when, not if.

In this episode:

• What counts as a backup. A backup means copies in two different locations. Your internal drive plus an external drive in the same house isn't enough. If your house burns down, you lose both copies.
• My setup. I keep my files on an external drive and back up everything, external drive included, to Backblaze. I also use iDrive as an extra cloud copy.
• How I organize my files. I have a Podcasts folder with a folder for each show. Inside each show are Production (intro music and similar files), Episodes (one folder per episode), and Finished (the exported final files). I record and edit from a saved Hindenburg template.
• What you can safely delete. In 20+ years, I've never gone back to rebuild an old episode from its raw files. I keep the project files for about a week in case someone spots a problem, like 10 seconds of dead air. After that, I keep only the finished episode.
• If your episodes are live, you haven't lost them. If they're still on your hosting platform (Captivate, Buzzsprout, Blubrry, etc.), you can download them again. The files you used to make them are replaceable.
• Back up your files, not your software. You can always reinstall programs like Audacity. Back up what you create: audio, documents, spreadsheets.
• Hardware always fails eventually. My drive was only half full and about four years old. Cars, dishwashers and hard drives all wear out.
• Export your email list regularly. Your email list is one of your biggest assets, and there's no algorithm between you and your subscribers. Export it every so often in case something goes wrong with your provider.

The bottom line: Keep one copy at home, on your computer or an external drive, and one copy online.

Links mentioned:

• Backblaze (affiliate link)
• iDrive
• Hindenburg
• Audacity

Want help with your podcast? Join the School of Podcasting at schoolofpodcasting.com and use coupon code LISTENER for a monthly, quarterly or yearly plan. Every plan comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

If you sent out a survey and got zero replies, that's actually an answer — it means you aren't connecting with your listeners or you asked the wrong thing. I know that stings, but hey, congrats, you found the sound of crickets. We need to sell the survey better, tell people how their answers will make the show better, and ask specific questions instead of "give feedback." Be persistent, offer a small prize, shout out anyone who helps, or take voicemails if forms feel stiff. I even tell a yellow-roses story to show that nice gestures alone won't cut it. If you want, I can help — we can fix this together.

Takeaways:

• I put out a survey and got no answers, and that told me we are not connecting with listeners.
• We learned silence can be useful: it shows either a weak connection or bad positioning of the ask.
• I tell podcasters to sell the survey like an ad, explain benefits clearly, and ask more than once.
• I used the yellow roses story to show doing what you think is romantic can miss the point entirely.
• I advise asking specific questions, giving shout outs to responders, and using voicemail if forms flop hard.

Links referenced in this episode:

• podcastconsultant.com
• schoolofpodcasting.com

You just finished recording. The audio is clean, the guest showed up on time... and the conversation was completely forgettable. Do you publish it anyway, or do you tell your guest "no thanks" and risk an awkward, guilt-ridden conversation?

A Reddit question kicks off this episode: a new podcaster recorded an interview that just wasn't interesting, and now feels guilty about shelving it. I break down why that guilt is misplaced, how to spot the guests who never cared about your audience in the first place, and the exact line you can use to say no without burning a bridge.

In this episode, Dave covers:

• Why a "meh" episode is sometimes on you, not the guest — and the research questions to ask before you ever hit record
• How to spot a guest who wants to pitch himself to you instead of serving your listeners
• The pre-interview trick that saves you from wasting a full hour on a guest who isn't a fit
• The exact script to use when you have to tell someone their interview won't air
• Why setting the "I reserve the right not to publish" expectation up front makes the hard conversation so much easier
• The goalie mindset: why protecting your audience from mediocre content matters more than one guest's feelings

A line worth remembering: "Do I want one stranger mad at me, or my entire audience going, 'Is it time to swipe left and unsubscribe?'"

If you're building (or fixing) your podcast and want help with exactly this kind of decision, Dave's been coaching podcasters for over 20 years at School of Podcasting. Use coupon code LISTENER for a discount, backed by a 29-day money-back guarantee.

I've been playing with AI (Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, and an all-in-one tool called Magi ) and I finally did the thing most of us avoid: I picked one and went deep instead of bouncing between tools.

In this episode, I share what happened when I handed Claude a transcript and a few of my own blog posts and asked it to write my show notes, why I'm keeping AI on a short leash (folder by folder, not my whole Google Drive), and the bigger lesson underneath all of it: knowledge is only power when you actually do something with it.

Whether it's AI, or finally plugging in that microphone that's been sitting in a drawer for three years, the principle is the same: knowing isn't the finish line. Doing is.

I need to check and see what the difference of Claude in Magai, and a direct use of Claude. As Magai is $20 for a ton of tools, but much like many "all in one" systems, I may be missing some of the customizations.

• Pick one AI tool and go deep, rather than chasing whichever tool looks coolest this week. They're all converging on similar features anyway.
• AI should polish what you've already created, not create it for you. I fed Claude a transcript and my own blog posts so the show notes would sound like me, not like generic "let's delve into a deep dive" AI-speak.
• Watching tutorials isn't the same as doing the work. I watch AI tutorials, then immediately try what I learned, and sometimes it's great, sometimes it flops, but either way I learn something.
• Start small and contained. I'm giving AI access to one dedicated folder on my computer, not my entire Google Drive, until I trust it more.
• The same principle applies to launching or growing your podcast. You don't need to know everything before you start. You need to plug in the mic, watch the levels move, and take the next small step.

• Magi, the all-in-one AI tool subscription I've been testing (~$20/month)
• Claude, the AI tool I chose to go deep with
• ChatGPT, Grok, other AI tools I've tested
• Wispr Flow, the voice-to-text tool I use to dictate show notes
• Craig Van Slyke, AI Goes to College: aigoestocollege.com
• Podcasting Observations newsletter: podcastingobservations.com
• Audacity, free recording software mentioned in the mic-setup example
• The School of Podcasting, weekly classes on growth and launching

I've been helping podcasters for over 20 years. If you've got the knowledge but haven't taken the next step, whether that's launching your show or finally growing it, that's exactly what I do as your podcast consultant. Head to the schoolofpodcasting.com to join a live weekly class, or reach out about working with me directly.

I let Claude take a swing at the above show notes. I removed three of those stupid "M Dash" things, but the rest is AI. I'm not sold on how this is saving me time. It did write some social posts.

Most of the time, I cringe when I hear someone say "just start," because it usually sounds like advice from a person who isn't looking where they're going. Start what? For whom? Toward what goal? There is, however, exactly one situation where I will look you in the eye and tell you to just start your podcast, and it's the situation I keep running into over and over again on Reddit.

It shows up as a question that sounds reasonable but can't actually be answered: "Does my podcast idea have legs?" The person asking has usually done their homework. They've researched, they listen to plenty of shows, they have a format in mind and a list of episode ideas ready to go. What they're really asking is for someone to promise them their show will work before they ever hit the record button, and nobody on earth can make that promise.

In this episode, I walk through why that question keeps people stuck, the chocolate toast test I use to think about any untested idea, and how to get honest feedback once you actually have something recorded. If you've been staring at the same pile of Post-it notes for the 400th time, this one is for you.

School of Podcasting (coupon " listener ")

Fix My Podcast (auditing service)

I got an email from someone who has been podcasting three months and they wanted to know if my "Grow Your Podcast" live classes would help them.

Tiger Woods, Serena Williams, Oprah Winfrey, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Bill Gates all had personal coaches. With this in mind having a coach is good (as I spotted three things wrong with your show after spending five minutes looking at it).

Monetization? I wrote the book on it.

Yes, we have collaborations with members all the time. I also have a resource list where you can find guests, etc. Examples, Dr. Craig Van Slyke is the host of AI Goes to College. Ralph Estep Jr. has been an accountant and business coach for decades.

As always, "It depends" as I'm not sure 100% where you are, but for most people no if you're already going. In many cases you're just going in a slightly wrong direction. For example, yes YouTube is a discovery platform, but nobody is talking about how audio SMASHES video in audience 15 to 1 as there are many more opportunities to listen than to watch. So if you want to do video, do video, but you don't have to. Podcasting is simple (find out what the audience wants and give it to them in a fun and entertaining fashion), but not easy. I believe your downloads are equal to the value you deliver multiplied by your smart marketing efforts.

Only if you want less headaches, more exposure, and a tool designed for podcasters (vs trying to squeeze your podcast into a yoga studio theme). I've been singing the praises of Podpage since I was hired by the founder back in 2020 (which got me in trouble at Libsyn where I worked at the time). I eventually left libsyn and joined Podpage because it's so amazing.

School of Podcasting - Podcast Growth Course

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Podpage

• Joining the School of Podcasting can totally help you grow your podcast skills and audience.
• Monetization takes time and effort; you don't just slap ads onto a show and cash in!
• The community at the School of Podcasting is awesome for networking and swapping promos with fellow podcasters.
• Using tools like PodPage can save you headaches and help your podcast shine online, trust me!
• The Grow Your Podcast course starts on August 19th, and it's gonna be a blast!
• If you join now, you can participate in listener parties to get real-time feedback on your show.
• Join free with a money-back guarantee