Podcasting is pretty lit right now, amirite? It’s certainly trendy, if nothing else.
The trajectory of listening keeps going up, and just over half of Americans 12 and older say they’ve listened to a show.
I’m lucky enough to be at the party. I made the switch from print to podcast host and producer in fall 2015, after several years as a beat reporter at the Tampa Bay Times.
This will be a breeze, I thought at the time.
In reality, not so much.
I had to change my mindset, question my professional identity and close the distance between me and my audience. So if you still want to be a podcaster — and I hope you do — it may help to know these things:
First, be ready to challenge your own thinking about everything.
Yes, I had to learn what it meant to interview people in a different way. Less verbal confirmations, more nonverbal cues. Writing in present tense. A jumble of new jargon: Ambi! Room Tone! Fades! Butt Cuts!
But more than that, I had to figure out: Who am I…
