In today's episode, (not safe for work) I share clips from a podcast I set out (as an experiment) to be the Worst Podcast Ever. It would:
1. Have F-bombs.
2. Insult the audience.
3. Deliver no value
4. Use Potty humor and be overtly immature
The reason? I had two:
1. I wanted to test podbean.com (who during the test had a technical issue, and my files quit downloading).
2. I wanted to see what kind of downloads a horrible podcast would get. I've heard from Libsyn that many podcasters get around 200 downloads per episode. (get a free month at Libsyn using the coupon code sopfree )
The worst podcast ever gets about 10.
Rules for Experiment:
1. I could not use my real voice. I didn't want anyone to know it was me.
2. I could not promote it at all. Not a single tweet.
Doing a Podcast as a Character:
This is not new. “Madge Weinstein” has been doing yeast Radio since 2004. There are people who do not use their names such as School of Podcasting student Stargate Pioneer who does the Legends of Shield podcast. Cali Lewis has always been Luria Petrucci behind the scenese of Geekslife.com
You may feel more confident behind the microphone as your character then in your own skin. I say “Fake it till you make it” (you will get comfortable as yourself) but being a character is an option. People like Seth McFarland get away with tons of things on their TV show The Family Guy as the characters are cartoons. The Simpsons is another example of characters getting away with things a real person would not.
But in the end Seth still takes flack for his characters.
The down side of being a character is connecting with your audience. I met Paul David Peterson of Entrepreneur Explosion. Paul's show is a parody of all the Entrepreneur shows. Paul is not his real name. If I want to meet Paul at Podcast Movement or New Media Expo, I can't if he is completely incognito. In my case my character on the Worst Podcast Ever was simply named “Grumpy Old Man.” What if AARP wants Grumpy to come speak at a convention? These characters don't exist in reality.
The Stylizer 3000
Today I play a bit that I included in today's show to get you to think about all the different styles that you can use to create your podcast. There are SO MANY ingredients that you can use to create a completely unique podcast. I worry that people will not take me seriously as a podcast consultant if I'm too goofy on the microphone. I guess we will see.
Podcast Rewind: Formats on the Podcasters Roundtable
I participated on the Podcasters Roundtbale Episode 53 with +Ray Ortega,+Daniel J. Lewis +David Jackson +Colin Gray +Paul Peterson and+Doug Payton to discuss the various types of formats you can chose for your podcast. Check it out
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Dave, you do realize that everyone is now going to download all the Worst Podcast Ever episodes. You might see a spike in your numbers. Just sayin’.
Sorry man, you just lost me at monster truck something.
Point taken as worst podcast. As i didn’t finish the podcast, did you mimic tincans and string sound quality?
Hello,
When I saw what you’d include in your “Worst Podcast Ever” I thought, well those things are in some of the top podcasts I listen to. I listened for a few minutes, and when I heard the f-bomb bleeped out, I knew there was a problem. “Not safe for work”? Why not? I listen to podcasts with adult language all the work day long. Then I look up at the Podcasters Roundtable Episode 53 and see the usual suspects. I do like Ray Ortega’s YouTube videos. They are helpful. I’ve listened to Daniel J. Lewis…groan. Not impressed. I listen to the top podcaters (Adam Carolla; Jesse Thorn; Jimmy Pardo)—all use f-bombs, can be immature, and even tell some of their–at time–overly sensitive listeners to f-off. Very disappointed that I could not find helpful information on this site.
Sincerely,
Chuck
Chuck,
You missed the point. You tuned out too early. The “host” of the Worst Podcast ever insulted his audience, farted into the microphone, and did his best to absolutely waste their time. The F-Bombs were directed at the audience as in F-You. Now for me, I don’t want to offend everyone. My show is not about social commentary, so I don’t swear on my show. I do listen to Howard Stern, Marc Maron, so I’m no prude. Everyone has the right to do their podcast the way they want. What kind of advice were you looking for? Also, if you tune out because I don’t use F-bombs, wouldn’t that be just as bad as someone who tunes out of another podcast because they do.
Thanks for the clarification. I would not tune out because someone doesn’t swear. That would be silly. I’ve just seen some posts labeled “advice” and it seems that many people are willing to give advice and answer questions when they have none to give. I shall be searching for advice from time to time and would like to look to schoolofpodcasting.com for help in the future.
Always here for you buddy. Anytime. – Dave