E607 - Funny Thing Is, Listeners Have Never Asked Me About These Things When Talking About My Podcast

Summary

Episode Summary:

Podcast: The How To Podcast Series
Host: Dave Campbell
Episode: E607 - Funny Thing Is, Listeners Have Never Asked Me About These Things When Talking About My Podcast
Release Date: February 24, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this solo episode, host Dave Campbell delves into a common disconnect between podcasters’ obsessions and what listeners actually care about. Drawing upon his experiences both with this show (about podcasting) and his other subject-based podcasts, Dave shares candid insights about the technical and vanity metrics that preoccupy creators but remain unnoticed or irrelevant to the audience. The overarching message: focus your energy on what actually serves and delights your listeners—content value, consistency, and connection—rather than the trappings of gear, numbers, or polish.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. What Listeners Actually Value in a Podcast

• Listeners prioritize:
  • Good content
  • A reliable publishing schedule
  • The ability to clearly hear the host
• Listeners seek value, entertainment, relevance, and companionship from their podcasts.

"All my audience is looking for is good content, reliable schedule, and the ability to hear what I'm saying... That's it."
— Dave Campbell [02:16]

2. The Obsessions of Podcasters (That Listeners Ignore)

Dave lists things about which podcasters commonly obsess and explains why listeners don’t care:

a. Gear and Microphone Perfection

• No listener has ever asked about expensive microphones or gear upgrades on his non-podcasting podcasts (“Dad Space” or “Living the Next Chapter”).
• As long as the audio is listenable, gear doesn’t matter to the average listener.

"Nobody has ever reached out...and said, Dave, your twelve hundred dollars shotgun mic upgrade, is that working for you? No."
— Dave Campbell [04:15]

• Emphasizes that excessive focus on gear is a niche podcaster fixation, not a universal need.

"Your audience doesn't care about your tech as long as they can hear what you say... Let's just move on."
— Dave Campbell [05:07]

b. Download Numbers, Rankings, and Analytics

• Listeners don’t see or ask about stats—those concern sponsors, hosting platforms, and other podcasters.
• Chasing numbers is about podcaster validation, not improved listener experience.

"Who cares about how many people listen to your show? That 47th percentile on Spotify. Zero impact on retention. Listeners subscribe if episodes solve their problems or if they entertain them or if you're a good companion."
— Dave Campbell [07:32]

• Audience growth comes mostly from word of mouth, not from rankings or featured lists.

"90% of your growth comes from shares from people Sharing your show, not from being on any chart..."
— Dave Campbell [08:39]

c. Fancy Editing and Effects

• Clever intros, layered effects, and heavy production rarely add value.
• Over-polishing can reduce authenticity.

"Are we creating an audiobook? Are we creating an audio play or are we creating a podcast?"
— Dave Campbell [08:58]

• Good editing is important for clarity, but overdoing it wastes time and doesn’t impress listeners.

"Do you need to spend 40 hours on a 30 minute episode? No."
— Dave Campbell [10:28]

d. Episode Length Precision

• Strict runtime adherence is overrated; listeners care about the value, not the time.
• Many listeners even play at higher speeds or skip intros/outros.

"My podcast must be 22 minutes and 37 seconds long in runtime. Okay, people, fast forward your intros and your outros anyway..."
— Dave Campbell [10:51]

• Let your episodes be as long as they need to be—with no unnecessary fluff.

"Every episode should be as long as it needs to be, with no fluff and not stretching short amount of content into a long format."
— Dave Campbell [12:16]

3. Where to Focus Instead

• Pour energy into connection, consistency, and ongoing content improvement.
• Get feedback and encourage audience participation.
• Over time, superfans will emerge and help spread the word.

"Pick a release schedule and stick with it. Focus on building the best content ever. Improve every episode. Practice, get feedback, ask your audience."
— Dave Campbell [12:48]

4. Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

• On Podcaster Insecurity:
  "It's like we're insecure as a creator in this space, chasing validation from our peers and from algorithms over actual listener joy."
  — Dave Campbell [04:03]

• On Episode Impact:
  "Listeners care more about your... aha moments in your podcast that make them want to text a friend...and go, oh God, I gotta tell somebody about this."
  — Dave Campbell [12:28]

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Important Timestamps

• Listener Priorities vs. Podcaster Worries [00:00-02:16]
• Listener Disinterest in Gear/Tech [04:03-05:07]
• Download Numbers and Vanity Metrics [07:32-08:39]
• Editing Overkill and Authenticity [08:58-10:28]
• Episode Length Myth [10:51-12:16]
• Host’s Advice on Where to Invest Your Energy [12:48-13:45]

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Listener Q&A and Bonus Segment [16:10–22:15]

Listener Question: "What if nobody listens to my show?"

• Dave reassures new podcasters: complete lack of listeners is highly unlikely.
• Importance of a “soft launch”:
  • Quietly release your show to test everything before announcing it.
  • Leverage search-optimized podcast and episode titles so people searching for relevant content can discover your show, even pre-launch.
• Encourages creating content for existing curiosity, not just personal interest.

"Just like a big wedding doesn't mean you're going to have a successful marriage. A big launch for your podcast doesn't mean you're going to be a successful podcaster."
— Dave Campbell [16:56]

• Listeners will find your show, especially with good naming and SEO practices—even before you promote it.

"Enjoy this. People are finding you and you didn't even tell them. That's a good sign."
— Dave Campbell [20:33]

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Final Takeaways

• Obsess less about the inner workings and trappings of podcasting that matter only to other podcasters.
• Focus deeply on providing value and connection to your listeners.
• Believe in organic audience discovery and growth through consistent, meaningful content and authentic engagement.
• Soft launches and careful content naming can help uncover and attract your audience before big promotions.

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For More Help:

• Dave offers direct help and invites listeners to join the How To Podcast Series community via regular meetups—find details at howtopodcast.ca.

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Tone of the Episode:
Friendly, candid, practical, and encouraging—Dave speaks with empathy and grounded experience, aiming to take the pressure off and redirect podcasters toward what most matters.

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Summary Curated by Podcast Summary AI — For podcasters, by podcasters!

Transcript

[A]

Okay, we're rolling. Hey, welcome back to the how to Podcast series. It's Dave with you. Hope you're doing well. We are just plugging away here, right? 365 days of content, just episode after episode every day. Well, it's great to be with you. We're going to talk about something that's interesting. The funny thing here is that there are things that no listener has ever asked me about when talking about my show. Like when I get to talk to people and sit down with a new listener or maybe a new guest who's coming on, who's listened to my podcast. Some things just don't come up in conversation about my show. Things that most podcasters obsess over. Like, it's all they think about, it's what they dream about. It's. They're in their nightmares, it's in their daydreams. They're just like, oh, my gosh, I'm so obsessed with this thing. And we talk to a listener, they're like, yeah, not really interested in that. And why is it that we're so focused on these things when our audience, as a non podcaster listener, doesn't really care about? And maybe we're spending too much time on things that don't matter as much to our audience as they do to us, and maybe we can lighten the load and stop worrying so much. So, as the title says, funny thing is, listeners have never asked me about these things when talking about my podcast here on the how to Podcast series. Here we go. So one thing that's my disadvantage is

[B]

this is a podcast about podcasting.

[A]

So I'm talking to podcasters and I do get some questions on this show that are unique to podcasting. So this show aside, because not everyone listening to this has a podcast about podcasting, I'm thinking of this in the context of my author show, Living the Next Chapter, or my dad show dad Space, or on and On. When I talk to those listeners, this is some of the things that they don't ask me about at all. They don't care about these things. All my audience is looking for is good content, reliable schedule, and the ability to hear what I'm saying on the microphone. That's it. That's it. That's. If they can't understand my words because I'm using a terrible microphone or I'm bad at editing, then there's a problem. If the content is crap because I don't give a crap and I just put stuff out because I have to, I record because it's Monday, not because I have something to say. Right. That's where we run into problems and the audience doesn't care about these things. And I'm going to run through them quick here. And maybe it's just time that we as podcasters focus on something that's more important, like building our audience or creating better content or something other than what these topics are that I'm going to list for you. That again, your audience doesn't give a crap about. Here we go. Listeners fixate on value. Listeners are interested in entertainment. Listeners are interested in relevance, interested in companionship. They want to connect with you. That's what listeners are interested in. They are interested in what you do in your podcast and in your episodes. Not the production, the polish and the vanity metrics that you sweat over all the time. They don't see your analytics. They don't see your listener numbers. They have no idea and have a sweet clue about any of that stuff. They just know that you have a podcast. Podcasters obsess because these tangibles feel like

[B]

success signals for us in podcasting.

[A]

It's like we're insecure as a creator in this space, chasing validation from our peers and from algorithms over actual listener joy. Like real listener joy. So here's something that my audience never asked me about over at dad Space or Living the Next Chapter. Dave, tell me about your mic and your gear perfection. Nobody has ever reached out to me at dad Space as a listener and said, dave, your twelve hundred dollars shotgun mic upgrade, is that working for you? No. Hey, I don't have twelve hundred dollars for a shotgun mic, so I'll never buy that. But my audience has never asked me about the quality of my mic and where I got it and how much was it, and none of that never comes up.

[B]

Why?

[A]

Because they don't care. Listeners barely notice through earbuds or on a commute when you switch mics or you do something different. They don't care. You do. Because maybe you're a tech nerd. I'm not a tech nerd. I bought one mic and I use it every day. I'm good. 50 bucks. Done. Let's move on. Your audience doesn't care about your tech as long as they can hear what you say and as long as you're not blowing their headphones off their head or you're so quiet that they got to crank their volume, as long as you're listenable. Let's move on, okay? Let's just move on this microphone gear tech thing where everyone is just flashing Their mics. And when I listen to shows and they spend five minutes talking about their mic setup, just like skip, skip, skip, skip, skip. I'm not interested and I'm a podcaster. Then your audience for a non podcast about podcasting audience. They don't care at all about any of your microphone talk. They're like just you just move on now. Can you just move forward? Because you're nerding out and I don't know what you're talking about. They care if your voice is clear, they care if your voice is warm. And they don't care about anything else. That's it. Podcasters fixate here because gear reviews flood the forums. Flood podcasts about podcasting, turning hobbies into status symbols. Meanwhile, free audacity on a laptop hook. Superfans. Just fine. So enough of the mic and gear perfection syndrome, really. Unless you're a tech podcast reviewing microphones. Then give it a rest. Give it a rest. Mic and gear content first. What about download numbers and rankings? Do you think your audience really gives a crap about your download numbers and your rankings? Newsflash. No, they don't. You know who cares about your download numbers and your rankings? Top 100 podcast? No. You know who cares about that? Sponsors. Why? Because they love your show? No, because they love your audience. They just want your audience. They don't care about what you talk about on your show. Really, who cares? I just want to get in front of your people and sell them my crap.

[B]

That's.

[A]

That's the truth. And that's. Who cares about how many people listen to your show. That 47th percentile on Spotify. Zero impact on retention. Listeners subscribe if episodes solve their problems or if they entertain them or if you're a good companion. Not if you hit 1000 downloads this week. Obsession stems from that fear of missing out on being a top podcaster. These clicks, these lists, these groups, usually curated of friends, of friends, of friends. And nobody's allowed to get in because they're such a tight group. Nobody else is welcome or you're a threat. I'm not a part of these groups and I'm fine with that. Podcast hosting sites feature your downloads at the top of the screen. First thing you click on. They're trying to gamify the whole idea of creating content. And they want you to stick around because they want you to be just like a lottery, just like going to the casino. They want you to stick around. They just want you to be addicted to the numbers. 90% of your growth comes from shares from people Sharing your show, not from being on any chart, any podcast award, any of that stuff. It comes from your audience. Sharing your show download numbers and rankings. A big from me on that one. It's all about your audience connecting with you and talking about you behind your back in a good way. What about fancy editing tricks? So are we creating an audiobook? Are we creating an audio play or are we creating a podcast intro music swells, 17 different sound effects, AI noise reduction and music beds upon music beds and this and then that and blah blah, blah, blah blah. Are we hiding content because behind special effects, are we trying to make up for a lack of commitment to making great content by hiding it behind all these different effects? I like putting effects. I have little things in here. I have little swipes between my this content to this content. I'm breaking it up into chunks to make it a little bit easier. I love, I love adding little editing trip like little things to my show. I just, I think it makes it more interesting. But I hear people that go way to the extreme with their fancy editing tricks and you're like, it's when. When raw authenticity is overrun by polish. That's where I kind of, I kind of wonder. Podcasting tools are created to make your show better and pull out clips and lot of la la la. We mistake busyness for quality. I sometimes believe in podcasting when listeners really just crave unfiltered stories and connection. They don't care about that other stuff. Fancy editing tricks. Do I believe you should edit your show? Oh yes. And I can tell when you don't because it's. It's not great edit your show. But do you need to go overboard? No. Do you need to spend 40 hours on a 30 minute episode? No. What about episode length precision? Here's a fun one. My podcast must be 22 minutes and 37 seconds long in runtime. Okay, people, fast forward your intros and your outros anyway to binge your show, sometimes even at two times the speed. So does the 22 minutes and 37 seconds really matter? I think value density matters, not the clock. Podcasters geek out on data driven formulas and they ignore super fans who devour 90 minute rants as if they're real gold. So you don't have the power over your audience you think you do. You can create and build whatever you think, but your audience at the end of the day is the ones that are going to decide if you're a success or not. So instead of worrying about hitting the clock and hitting the right time and being a 22 minute and 37 second episode. How about you just focus on giving great quality because value matters better more than how long the show is. Every episode should be as long as it needs to be, with no fluff and not stretching short amount of content into a long format. Be as long as it needs to be and make it valuable. There you go. That's the secret. Listeners care more about your. With the aha moments in your podcast that make them want to text a friend like middle of the year episode and go, oh God, I gotta tell somebody about this. Ditch the gear in envy. Stop with all the focusing on statistics and polish and focus more on the content. Focus more on the connection. Pick a release schedule and stick with it. Focus on building the best content ever. Improve every episode. Practice, get feedback, ask your audience. And over time, your superfans will emerge and they will start helping you and they'll tell more people. And by doing that, your show is going to grow. Does your audience care about your microphone? No. Does your audience care about your download numbers and your rankings? No. Does it. Do the audience care about your fancy editing tricks and your episode length? No. What do they care about? Connecting with you.

[B]

And if you can show up in

[A]

a valuable way and serve your audience the best of your ability and give them something to talk about, that's all that matters. So do that on your next episode and drop all the other stuff because they don't care. They don't. Thanks for being here.

[B]

Thank you so much for listening to the entirety of the episode, including this part.

[A]

You know what, A lot of people

[B]

leave right now, so we'll let them leave. Give them a second to go. Okay, now it's just you and me. We have our meetups that we do

[A]

for the how to Podcast series.

[B]

We do them during the week and we also do them on Saturdays. So twice a week you have the opportunity to meet other podcasters just like you. Some people have just started. Some people haven't even released an episode yet. Some have been doing it forever. And we get together and talk podcasting. We want to help you in community to continue with your show, to start your show, to grow your show. So come and meet listeners of this show in one space on meetup.com again through howtopodcast ca. You'll see the links. It's completely free to join. Come whenever you have an opportunity to come. There's no commitment. You don't have to sign any waivers. You can just come join us.

[A]

Come.

[B]

Come join the conversation. We'd love to have you there because the only thing that's going to make these meetups better is you being there. So I'm hoping you will say yes and you'll say, dave, I'm tired of podcasting by myself. I wish there was people I could connect with that are fellow podcasters and share my frustrations with guests who ghost me. And my editing software is crapping out on me and I'm just having this hard time. I'm having a hard time coming up with podcasts, episodes and titles and all the things. And social media. Wouldn't it be great to get in a room with other podcasters and share best practices and learn? Three of our four Saturdays every month are themed to have a topic. But that last Saturday of every month, it's open question and answer, ask anything. Come meet a podcaster. Come enjoy the podcasting community throughout a podcast ca come to our meetups. Can't wait to see you there.

[A]

You're still here. Well, that's good because this is extra bonus stuff just for you. Nobody else is going to hear this, just you. So thank you for sticking to the end. I appreciate that. Question came in. Dave. I'm starting my show, but what happens if nobody listens to this? Like, what if I get no listens at all? Like, nobody ever presses play and I record an episode, I put it up and I have zero downloads. What do I do? Do I stop? Do I keep going? Like, nobody's listening to this. So this has never happened to me. Knock on wood, this has never happened to me. But it could. It could happen to anybody at any time. Somebody's going to listen to this episode. Somebody's going to listen to that new episode you release. It's going. It's going to happen. Somebody's going to listen to it. It could be family and friends. It could be people who know you. Somebody's going to listen. If you tell people about it, there's a better chance that people are going to listen. If you record an episode, put it out there, and nobody even knows you have a podcast, I still think you're going to get found. What I do with new podcasters is we do what we call a soft launch of your show, and I do this for one big reason, is when people think that they need a big fancy launch schedule with a big announcements and balloons and toys for the children and a cake. It's like, no, you don't need a big launch for your show. Just like a big launch, just like a big wedding. Doesn't mean you're going to Have a successful marriage. A big launch for your podcast doesn't mean you're going to be a successful podcaster. So we do a soft launch. We release your podcast, we create the trailer and a couple episodes, get you set up on all the apps, make sure everything's working. And once we're ready and you feel comfortable, then we tell people your podcast is live, and then people can go. And you know it's on all the apps. You know it's on Apple. You know it's on Spotify and Audible and YouTube and all those places, because you've checked, right?

[B]

You're not guessing.

[A]

You know it works. Once it's all ready, you tell people, stores do this all the time. Restaurants do this. Bake shops, coffee shops. They have a soft opening. They open in advance of the actual opening date. They test everything. They make sure everything's working. They get people who are curious to come by and take a look at the new place. It's called the soft launch soft opening. So it happens all the time. So why not in podcasting? And during the soft launch, we're not telling anybody about the show directly. Maybe friends and family, okay. But we're not telling the world. We're not going on LinkedIn. We're not going on social. We're not telling anybody because we want to make sure it works first. And what's funny is we set up a podcast for a soft launch. Tell no one. And my podcasters I'm working with, they. They come, they reach out to me. They're like, dave, like, we're gonna launch the show in two weeks. But somebody listened to my show in Israel, and I'm like, yeah. They're like, but we didn't tell anybody. Huh? Well, how did they find me? And I say, well, remember how we worked on getting a really good name for your show that's engaging and highly searched, using keywords that people use and put into Google to find content like yours? Yeah. Well, it works. You. You followed the plan, and people are finding your show, and you didn't even tell them. So if you name your show properly, give it a good searchable term for your podcast, and then have good episode titles that talk more in depth about the topic of your show, leveraging search engine optimization, leveraging all the things we do behind the scenes without telling a soul, people will find you because they're searching for that topic. And I tell people, I tell my podcasters, when they're like, I don't understand why people are listening to my show. I haven't even launched it yet. Like, I haven't officially told anybody. Who are these people listening to my show?

[B]

I just go back to them and

[A]

go, that's the power of a good name for a podcast. That's the power of good content. Enjoy this. People are finding you and you didn't even tell them. That's a good sign. So when you do launch your show, you're in the right spot. It's proof of concept that your show matters and people are looking for it. People are pressing play and they don't know who you are and they're not your relatives.

[B]

So it's a good thing.

[A]

So the, the idea that you might release an episode or start your podcast and nobody listens is pretty rare. My suggestion to you is make sure you're creating something that people want, not something necessarily that you want to create about something that you're interested in or maybe nobody else in the world cares. Then look for a topic that people are interested in and do that because you already know they're curious. Build on their curiosity and be the

[B]

answer to their questions, and you'll have

[A]

a show and people will find you even if you don't tell them about it during your soft launch. You need help launching your show. You need help with your podcast title, which you can change at any time, by the way. You need help with your episode titles, your show descriptions, all of the things that go behind the scenes of your podcast.

[B]

Reach out to me.

[A]

Happy to help at a podcast. Ca Will somebody listen to your show? Well, I will. Just tell me about your show. I'll help all listen, and you'll never not have a single listener to an episode of your show.

[B]

I promise I'll listen if you tell

[A]

me howtopodcast ca take it.