157 | From Good to Great: Transform Your Podcast with Unique and Resonating Stories

[00:00:00] This is part 3 of a three-part series into what makes a really good podcast. And if you listened to the previous two episodes, you already know every good podcast has a good story.

[00:00:35] Hey, what's happening? How are you doing today? Thank you so much for being here. I am Chris and yeah, this is Podtastic Audio, the show which I have created and designed to help you. Yeah,

[00:00:50] you make an amazing podcast for your audience. We're in the middle of a three-part series on how you can make a good podcast, not a basic podcast, not an average podcast, not a podcast like somebody else is doing. I'm talking an actual really good podcast.

[00:01:10] And one of the key things with any good podcast is that they tell really good stories. But not just any basic plain Jane story. I'm talking stories that actually make a difference, stories that move the needle, stories that your audience are wanting to hear each episode,

[00:01:32] stories that hook them and keep them listening all the way through to the very end of the episode. Now how do you do that? Well, if you were listening to the very last episode, part 2

[00:01:44] of this three-part series, I told you the benefits and practices on how you can inject your own personal stories into your podcast that will resonate directly with your audience and get them hooked and get them to actually care about you and the things you're talking about.

[00:02:06] Now this is part 3 on what makes a really good podcast. And we're talking about telling great and amazing stories because every single good podcast that gets listeners to tune in and keep them tuning in all the way through to the very end of the episode is great

[00:02:25] storytelling. And if you look at things from the audience perspective, they want a good reason why they should even care about your story. And for us indie podcasters that can be a really

[00:02:39] hard pill to swallow. We want to make sure that the things we say people like and not everybody is going to like what you have to say and not everybody is going to like your story.

[00:02:49] The people that don't like your podcast, you know what they're called? They're called not your audience. That's what they're called. Your audience is going to come to your podcast to hear from you because they like you. They want to hear what you have to say.

[00:03:04] So today we're going to go over ways that you can craft and share unique stories that actually resonate with that audience. So here are the three ways that you can use unique stories that will definitely resonate with your listeners and kicking this off with

[00:03:24] number one. And that is crafting your own unique story. And I do mean you, yeah, you and your own uniqueness. You see, if you're identifying your own core message, the thing that you want to get across your own podcast, identify that knowing the key takeaways that

[00:03:47] you want your audience to remember. Hey, I get it. We all love telling stories. Have you ever heard a story from somebody and you're listening to them tell their story? It's pretty much just nonsense. And you're always wondering like, hey, is there a point to any

[00:04:01] of this? Is this going to have like an ending? Is there a message behind this? Is there a reason you're telling me the story? And it could be just because somebody wants to talk and someone

[00:04:10] wants to tell a story. I get it, but your audience came there for a reason. Sometimes you might want to put in key takeaways within that story. And a good way to do that is with story boarding.

[00:04:24] Now, story boarding basically is you are planning your story arc and key moments. It's almost like an outline for your own story. And if it was your story, you should have a pretty good idea how to structure the thing. And sometimes it helps to actually

[00:04:41] write these things down. If you're telling a story, you want to remember the key takeaways and the key moments in the story? Then sometimes it helps to jot them all down.

[00:04:50] I know on the Chris and Christine show, when we would do a big major vacation, we would do a podcast recap of our summer vacation. And we'd have to write them all down like day by day,

[00:05:02] what we did on each day so that when we did tell the story, we had an outline of things to go through and key points and key takeaways and key moments within our story of the things we did.

[00:05:15] And that's one simple thing that really helped us out, especially when we have two people telling kind of the same story from two different perspectives. And when that happens, sometimes the stories can get crisscrossed and the key takeaways from one person's

[00:05:31] perspective may be different than the other person telling the exact same story. That's always good to have an outline and a structure and a flow to your own story. And with any good podcast comes good storytelling and any good storytelling comes from unique

[00:05:48] experiences. So maybe leverage some of those personal unique experiences that you had, maybe highlighting how your unique life experiences will make your podcast stand out from the rest because I said before, your podcast is your podcast and your story is your story.

[00:06:08] It's not my story. It's not anybody else's story. It belongs specifically to you, but we always can learn from other people's mistakes, even if it is your mistake, even if it's my mistake. That's how we use storytelling to make that happen.

[00:06:23] Okay, moving on to tip number two with storytelling for your podcast. There are certain techniques that one can use to create effective storytelling. And effective storytelling is what sets a amateur podcast aside from a really good podcast. Now, how do you pull that off?

[00:06:46] What do you do? Well, here are some ideas perhaps maybe try bringing those stories to life with conversations and interactions. I'm talking maybe a co-host like I said earlier or perhaps

[00:06:59] maybe an interview with a guest. I've heard a lot of interview podcasts and a lot of them do share stories, not all of them, but they do have their moments where they use storytelling to get the audience to physically care about what is being said on the podcast.

[00:07:16] Now another fantastic technique to leverage great storytelling, especially with an audio only podcast, is to weave in sound design and music throughout your episode. By doing that, that will enhance your storytelling experience for your audience. Maybe you put a bell in a certain point

[00:07:39] or different sound effect here and there, but like with anything when it comes to sound effects and music, anything sound related on a podcast, a little can go a long way. I know a lot of

[00:07:52] shows that will dump in 500 sound effects and music and all kinds of different things in a podcast. And eventually after a while, it just becomes annoying because if you're trying to really focus on the actual content, you're trying to listen to what's being said, you're trying to

[00:08:08] follow along with the story and then in drops another sound effect and in drops another sound effect and you're like, gosh, this is getting quite annoying. I'm just here for the story,

[00:08:17] man. I don't need all the fluff, but if you do decide to add music and sound effects throughout your podcast, just go for your light and put them in in the right places. And putting these

[00:08:28] sound effects in the correct places can help out if you're trying to tell your story and get in creative with the way you describe things using theater of the mind, especially with sound effects. You're telling your story, you're describing those things and you're sprinkling

[00:08:47] in a little bit of sound effects just to enhance the story. So if you're talking about a river or a creek, how you're fishing down by the creek, we all know what the sound of a creek sounds like.

[00:08:59] So if you're telling a story about a creek and you were down by the creek, if you have a sound effect of that creek kind of playing in the background ever so slightly

[00:09:10] because audio podcasts are definitely theater of the mind. And if you can paint that picture for them with your sounds, with your music, with your descriptions of your own story, it definitely will hook your audience into hearing what happens next.

[00:09:28] And the third thing I have here about crafting amazing stories that actually resonate with your audience, something that a really good podcast actually does. And that is they actually share and promote their own stories. What? Yeah, I know it sounds like a no brainer of course,

[00:09:50] really? Yeah. Just like sharing your own podcast episode, episode 10 is out come check it out. More than just that, you want to give your audience a reason to actually show up, a reason to actually listen. Now, how do you do that? With an engaging introduction to your story,

[00:10:12] hook your listeners at the start of your story. Give them a reason to stick around to the very end. They press play, they hear something quite amazing and they cannot wait to hear what happens

[00:10:24] next. That is really good storytelling. And since you're sharing your own story on your own podcast, it would help that your story is aligned with your podcast brand. If you are a podcast about snowboarding and skiing and snow activities, it would be kind of pointless to

[00:10:45] share a story about how you fell out of a tree in your backyard when you were seven. What does that have to do with snowboarding? Nothing. So what makes a really, really good podcast? Well, I can tell you this. A good podcast knows

[00:11:02] who their audience really is and they also know exactly what their audience needs to hear in that moment. A good podcast knows how to get straight to the point and stay on topic.

[00:11:17] A good podcast knows that the power of storytelling is how we all pay attention. It's how we all learn. It's how we remember things all through good storytelling. Storytelling came first before any other version of text was ever presented in humanity. Going way back to the caveman days,

[00:11:39] they drew pictures of stories on the walls. They told stories around the campfire. A really good podcast knows how to craft and tell a really good story. And the very best stories are

[00:11:54] the ones that we lived and have gone through. The best storyteller is the one telling their own story because they know all the details. They know all the things. They can bring out all

[00:12:05] the emotions of the things that they were feeling in that moment. A really good podcast makes you care. And I mean care about not only the podcast host delivering that story, but care about what happens within the story. Thank you so much for listening all the way

[00:12:25] to the very end of this episode today. I truly do appreciate you spending your time with me today. I make these episodes especially for you so that you can make an amazing podcast for your audience, deliver value, deliver content and deliver amazing stories that nobody

[00:12:45] can steal from you because they are exactly your story. And if you enjoyed this episode, please leave me a review wherever you're listening to this podcast right now. That way I know you

[00:12:58] like them and that way I know to keep making them for you. And until next time, happy podcasting.