3 Podcasting Lessons from Joe Ferraro, Host of the One Percent Better Podcast
(Photo Credit: Courtnie Lewis)
On this week's podcast, I spoke with Joe Ferraro. Joe is a teacher, professional speaker, and podcast host. He runs the One Percent Better Podcast where he has interviewed people such as James Clear and Seth Godin.
We discussed many aspects of podcasts, how he built and scaled a podcast, how to ask great questions and how to find exciting guests.
Why You Should Listen to this Episode
Joe is a friend of mine who I met on Twitter. He might not be well known, but he is one of the best podcast hosts I know. His podcast, One Percent Better, has interesting guests and doesn’t ask the typical questions. He challenges them—creating unique interview experiences. If you are interested in starting a podcast or already run one, I'd recommend listening.
Ari's Three Actionable Takeaways for Marketing, Branding and Communication Professionals:
1) Ask "High Velocity" Questions
I originally met Joe through his article "High-Velocity Questions". Joe writes:
"A high-velocity question asks one thing but accomplishes multiple things. It can set a tone, make the guest think, and even add an element of surprise for the guest and the audience."
Most podcasts start with a question like, "tell the listeners who you are?" or "what's your story?". Who cares. Just give a quick overview before the interview starts. Yes, are the background helps, but the host can set the stage. The moment you ask a question like this, you lose control of the conversation.
The interviewee can give a 5-10 minute response. Listeners lose interest and the conversation style is gone. I follow Joe's advice. For example, a few weeks ago, I had my friend Justin Mikolay on the podcast. Justin was formerly the head of communications for the Secretary of Defense. I explain that in the introduction as well as in the show notes. Instead of asking Justin his story, I asked, "How was working on a nuclear submarine?".
What a first question. As Joe writes, this serves two purposes:
"Opening with a high-velocity question lets the guest know that this will not be the typical conversation and forces the listener to sit up a little straighter in his or her chair."
2) Podcasting Is In Its Infancy
Podcasting is still in the early days. Both from the listener's and creator's point of view.
In terms of listeners, only 24% of Americans listen to podcasts weekly. 55% of the US population has listened to one. In other words, 45% of the US population has NEVER listened to a podcast.
As of now, the podcast industry is unsaturated. It's just a matter of time before podcasts will be just as popular as other mediums such as TV and Music. So why isn't everyone starting a podcast?
Well, they are and they aren't. There are 1.5M podcasting shows (not all are active). But podcasting isn't like writing. You can't write something and hit publish. The barrier to entry is high. It is even higher to gain traction. There isn’t an organic discovery of podcasting in the way Google is for web content.
Creating the content for a podcast is time-consuming as well. At a minimum, you need a decent microphone and some basic editing skills. And that is if you are cutting corners. Next you need to distribute it. You can use software like Anchor which syndicates to multiple platforms or list it directly.
What I'm trying to say is, creating a podcast still is not that easy. And not everyone is listening to them.
I wouldn't recommend that everyone start a podcast. You definitely need to play the long game, but it's by no means a saturated industry. We are just getting started.
3) Start Sooner
Many people I speak to have ideas for content then put it off. All you need to do is start. You'll never regret starting, but you'll always regret it if you don’t.
There is never a "right" time. If you wait for the "perfect" time, you'll continue to procrastinate. When you hear that "little voice in your head" telling you to begin, then start. Joe regrets he didn’t start earlier. As you create more content, it will keep improving.
What are you waiting for? Start your podcast or your content idea today.