Ever gotten ribbed for something you did that wasn’t quite right? I do. All the time.
For example I recently put some text on a group photo posted by David Le Deaux from our last meeting. The last group photo was taken at Christmas, and with a New Year well underway, it was looking quite dated. I hurriedly threw on some text, which ran off the picture, and posted it as our most recent group photo. Yeah, I knew it wasn’t perfect, but figured I would fix it later. Did I get some ribbing? You bet. Is it fixed now? Yep. Will something like this happen again? Most likely.
It prompted me to think about a few things:
There are a several schools of thinking in the podcast world. “Make sure it’s perfect before we ship/release/do it” vs. the “Just get it out there and we’ll fix/change/edit as we go along.” There’s plenty of reasons for both.
In the “Make Sure It’s Right…” category you’ve got folks who think you shouldn’t release a show unless it is perfectly polished with intros/outros, sweepers, bumpers, promos, listener feedback, theme music, recorded at the right settings, levels, has a fast download rate, is downloadable in every format known to man, has a blog/webpage that perfectly compliments the theme/vision of the show and on, and on, and on……
In the “Just Get It Out There…” category you’ve got folks who for all their passion and excitement of recording (of course with bad levels and incorrect settings) send their show out into the podosphere. They are so thrilled with their creation (warts and all) you can’t wipe the goofy smile off their faces. They can’t wait to have everyone and their brother tell them how witty/funny/smart/amazing/cool their show is. Ahhh…ignorance is bliss!
I listen to quite a few podcasts and maybe half of these are in the perfectly polished arena but the rest are in varying degrees of the “Just Get It Out There” mode. Why do I listen to the shows I do? Many reasons, but I would say the personality of the host(s) more than anything else keeps me listening. So in other words, I listen to your show because of YOU. Entertain me. enlighten me, educate me, tell me a story, pique my interest, make me laugh so hard I spit the coffee right out of my mouth. Whatever it is, I listen because of you. Not because you have a kick-ass sweeper and your promo is ‘da bomb. Nope that’s not why I subscribe, download, and jam those earbuds in.
In case you don’t know, I belong in the “Just Get It Out There” category. Our first shows were mono and in one you can even hear the metronome in the background since I forgot to change the setting in GarageBand. Terrible audio? Probably. Hang my head in shame? No Way! You see there is something in those first few shows that shines through regardless of the audio gaffes. Passion.
We were so excited about what we were doing that it didn’t matter if it was “right” or not. I mean drinking coffee, chatting with my sister and recording it all? What fun! And we did have fun. A year and half later our audio has gotten marginally better and while there is still lots of room for improvement, we’re still having fun. And isn’t that really what matters?
It’s great when we, as podcasters, help one another out with suggestions and advice. We definitely need that to continue if we want to see podcasting grow. It’s true, we should all try to improve our shows as we progress. But don’t over worry or over obsess about what’s wrong with your show. Don’t listen to the naysayers who give you grief about what you’re doing wrong. Improvements will come with time and experience. Just get it out there and most of all have fun.
Cheers,
Jennifer Navarrete
P.S. As a big believer in “Just Get It Out There”, I’m in good company. Guy Kawasaki’s Art of the Start speech uses the first Mac shipped out as one example of “Just Get It Out There”.
Posted in Spot Light by sapodcasters on February 28th, 2007 
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