Podcasting from the Kitchen: 7 Lessons from Creating a Podcast

Last spring, I embarked on the adventure of creating my podcast. It’s in Polish, so promoting it here isn’t necessary. However, I want to share thoughts on the process and impart some universal lessons. What lessons have I learned from creating a podcast?

The Podcast as a Learning Tool

The podcast is a pretext for consolidating knowledge and experience, fact-checking, and acquiring additional information. Even if Dale’s Cone of Experience is considered an urban legend unsupported by research, preparing lectures or a podcast episode forces you to systematize knowledge and turn it into an interesting story. It’s an opportunity to find vivid analogies.

The Power of Voice and Argumentation

Hours in front of the microphone teach voice control and the art of argumentation. We communicate in many ways daily, but various factors influence our persuasiveness — beyond the content, there’s also its form. If we speak confidently, eloquently, slowly, and consciously, enriching our speech with data and examples, it’s much easier to persuade. In “The Art of Being Right” by Schopenhauer, the author states in the introduction that dialectics can win any argument, even when we’re wrong. This isn’t ethical, but we can practice rhetorical skills not to lose when we are right. Conscious use of voice and working with a microphone translates to better podcasts and better meetings at work and socially!

A Forum for Exchanging Opinions

The podcast is a pretext for exchanging opinions and discussing. Thanks to various topics covered in the podcast, many people wrote to me about their experiences, discussed my opinions, recommended books, or asked about them. I can’t count how many conversations this year, including with new acquaintances, started with a topic from an episode. Because I’m not afraid to speak publicly, I can change, refine, or confirm my beliefs.

Building a Personal Brand

Having your medium is excellent social proof for other people, companies, and universities that want to collaborate with me. Thanks to the podcast, I can more clearly show my experience and views, and my approach to work and life. You can hear what kind of person I am. I realize that sometimes a casual speaking style and corny jokes, or cringe-worthy movie and music quotes may put some off. But that’s me, and I know that if someone is put off by a light-hearted approach, collaboration probably won’t work either.

Differences in Episode Assessment

My own and listeners’ assessments can differ greatly. The episodes I thought were best, where I had a flow and enjoyed recording, weren’t the same ones that listeners favored. Sometimes I was skeptical about what I recorded, maybe tired, thinking I stated the obvious, but then I received feedback that it was someone’s favorite episode. The conclusion? Just keep recording — we can’t predict what will work and how listeners will judge the podcast, as there are too many variables.

First and Foremost: Pleasure

It’s worth making episodes for your own satisfaction. When a podcast is a hobby, recording should be a pleasure, not another hardship. Hence, I want to stick to the principle of recording what interests both listeners and me. That’s why the last year was diverse — from procrastination, through feminism, team management, creativity, marketing basics, stoicism, stress management, efficiency, B2B marketing, to cultural differences in business. In a healthy person — a healthy leader, so I don’t want to limit myself thematically and would like to continue to be a pretext for various, sometimes non-obvious, intellectual journeys.

Humility and Quality

Creating your podcast teaches humility. Initially, I planned to record episodes at least once every two weeks. I quickly realized that I demand a lot from myself in terms of preparation — I like to have them thought out, want to read up, and check data, and different perspectives. With a regular job and additional projects, there’s limited time for more intellectual activities, and I didn’t want to take shortcuts and lower expected quality. I preferred to let go during busy professional times or when I was ill last autumn, and record once a month.

What podcasts can I recommend?

I also listen to podcasts, and last year I spent 2688 minutes with them. I often listened to Huberman Lab, Tim Ferriss, Feel Better, Live Longer (by Dr. Rangan Chatterjee), Dua Lipa: At Your Service, The Economist, Search Engine (by PJ Vogt), and The Diary Of a CEO. The range of topics is wide, as you can see.

What are your top 3 podcast recommendations?

And… Happy New Year!