Why Feedback and Self-Review Are Essential for Podcast Growth - Your Podcast Consultant: Podcast Tips To Avoid Podcasting Mistakes

Summary5 min read

Podcast Summary: "Why Feedback and Self-Review Are Essential for Podcast Growth"
Hosted by Dave Jackson
Release Date: June 26, 2026

Episode Overview

In this compact and insightful episode, Dave Jackson, Hall of Fame podcaster and podcast consultant, explores why actively seeking feedback and self-review is critical for the ongoing improvement and growth of your podcast. Drawing lessons from the legendary rock band Rush, YouTube phenom Mr. Beast, and his own decades-long experience, Dave urges creators to listen objectively to their own content, solicit honest feedback, and prioritize continuous self-improvement in order to truly resonate with their audience.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Lessons from Rush: Intentional Review and Improvement

[00:13–02:30]

Dave begins by recounting an interview with Geddy Lee of Rush, where Lee explains the band’s practice of releasing live albums after every few studio albums as a tool for self-assessment.
- Geddy Lee Quote (as referenced by Dave):
  
  "To do a record and then to listen back, it's really instructive, it's really educational to do a live album every so often so you can hear what people are hearing and you can see what you don't like about your playing or what you could improve about your playing." [01:32]
The band's intentional approach to review their performances offered valuable perspectives on improvement for podcasters too.

2. The Power of Self-Review

[02:30–04:00]

Dave encourages podcasters to revisit their older episodes with "fresh ears," aiming to identify areas of improvement that might have been missed.
- He shares:
  
  "I’ll listen to something from like a year ago...I will catch things that I’m like, oh, why didn’t I ask a follow up question there? Or this seemed to kind of go all over the place. Why wasn’t this more focused? Or the volume levels..." [02:38]
Self-review helps highlight recurring mistakes or areas that need tightening, from technical issues like sound quality to content structure.

3. Audience Feedback: The Underused Tool

[04:00–05:45]

Dave stresses the importance of surveying your listeners—not just about audio quality, but about how the content resonates.
He shares his experience working with PodPage, which offers a ready-made audience survey tool, and expresses surprise at how few podcasters make use of this feature.
- He warns that neglecting feedback leads to stagnation and can cause podcasters to plateau their audience growth.
  
  "When you aren’t doing surveys, when you aren’t reviewing your progress or your show, you continue to do the things that may not resonate with the audience." [04:55]

4. The Courage to Seek (and Act on) Feedback

[05:45–07:00]

Dave discusses the emotional challenge of inviting criticism, urging podcasters to prioritize service to their audience over fear of constructive feedback.
- Quote:
  
  "The reason that people grow when others don’t is because they have the courage...their passion is stronger. Like, I really want to serve my audience. That’s stronger than...getting my feelings hurt if somebody tells me I can improve my show." [06:35]
He emphasizes asking for honest opinions rather than settling for only positive reinforcement from close friends and family.

5. External Examples: Mr. Beast and Incremental Improvement

[06:45–07:10]

Dave references YouTuber Mr. Beast’s intense self-review approach:
- Quote:
  
  "Jimmy, right? The guy on YouTube, spent years almost going frame by frame as he got into YouTube. Why? To review his material and see if there was any way he could make it better." [06:50]
Practicing continuous, incremental improvement compounds over time, building a larger and more engaged audience.

6. Hot Seat Feedback: Constructive Critique as a Growth Engine

[07:10–07:30]

Dave describes his “Podcast Hot Seat” service as a source of tough but actionable feedback:
- Quote:
  
  "Everybody always says, that sounds painful, but everybody that gets out of the hot seat is headed in the right direction." [07:22]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Geddy Lee (via Dave Jackson) [01:32]:
"To do a record and then to listen back, it’s really instructive...so you can actually hear what people are hearing and you can see what you don’t like about your playing or what you could improve about your playing."
Dave Jackson [02:38]:
"I’ll listen to something from like a year ago...I will catch things that I’m like, oh, why didn’t I ask a follow up question there? Or this seemed to kind of go all over the place."
Dave Jackson [04:55]:
"When you aren’t doing surveys, when you aren’t reviewing your progress or your show, you continue to do the things that may not resonate with the audience."
Dave Jackson [06:35]:
"The reason that people grow when others don’t is because they have the courage...I really want to serve my audience. That’s stronger than...getting my feelings hurt if somebody tells me I can improve my show."
Dave Jackson about Hot Seat [07:22]:
"Everybody always says, that sounds painful, but everybody that gets out of the hot seat is headed in the right direction."

Practical Takeaways

Listen to your own shows, especially old ones, with fresh perspective.
Ask your audience for meaningful feedback, not just technical but about content resonance.
Seek honest, sometimes uncomfortable critique, and act on it.
Reflect, iterate, and don’t be afraid to revisit and improve.
Continuous small improvements build stronger, more loyal audiences.

Conclusion

Dave Jackson wraps with actionable encouragement for podcasters of every level: Regularly review your own work, courageously seek outside feedback, and be relentless in making each episode better than the last. It’s this discipline—and a genuine desire to serve your audience—that sets standout podcasters apart from the crowd.

For more tips and resources from Dave Jackson, visit School of Podcasting or sign up for his newsletter at podcastingobservations.com.

Key Segments with Timestamps:

Rush's Approach to Review: [00:13–02:30]
The Value of Self-Review: [02:30–04:00]
Soliciting and Applying Audience Feedback: [04:00–05:45]
Overcoming Fear of Critique: [05:45–07:00]
Mr. Beast and Incremental Growth: [06:45–07:10]
Hot Seat Feedback: [07:10–07:30]

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Transcript5 lines

[00:13]
A
Welcome to your podcast consultant. Small lessons with big value. With more than a decade of experience and millions of downloads, this hall of fame podcaster is a featured speaker, author, and mentor to thousands. Now he wants to work with you. He's your podcast consultant. Dave Jackson. I was not a huge fan of the band Rush when I was growing up. Their music was a little too complex for me. You couldn't dance to it, basically, and it wasn't super heavy. But I always respected the musicianship. And I was listening to an interview from Rick Beato and he was interviewing the bass player from Rush, who is now, after taking many years off because their drummer died, they're on tour with a new drummer, celebrating their music. But in the process of doing this, they had to look at their catalog. And in the past, they would do three albums and then they would do a live album, and then they would do another three albums and then they'd do a live album.
[01:26]
B
And.
[01:26]
A
And Getty talked about the importance of listening and reviewing your content.
[01:33]
B
We kind of like the idea of like every four records or so doing a live album for two reasons. One, to update how we sounded live. Yeah. How we were playing. We felt that's important to make note of what does that, you know, because you're on stage, you're. You're involved in the notes, you're not listening. And so to do a record and then to listen back, it's really instructive, it's really educational to do a live album every so often so you can actually hear what people are hearing and you can see what you don't like about your playing or what you could improve about your playing. And with a band like us, it was never about being happy with a live album. It was purposeful. We needed to know where we're at and how we can move forward from there. So. So that was intentional.
[02:30]
A
That was intentional. And it's something you should be doing. I always find it odd. I'll go back because I've been podcasting so long and I'll listen to something from like a year ago. And I. The reason I picked something old is because I don't want to remember the episode. I want to come at it with absolutely fresh ears and I will catch things that I'm like, oh, why didn't I ask a follow up question there? Or this seemed to kind of go all over the place. Why wasn't this more focused? Or the volume levels or it's too bassy or what? There are always ways you can improve. And yet when I Ask people that hire me. I'll say, did you do an audience survey? Because one way to find out how you sound is to ask people, how do I sound? And what I mean by that is not so much the audio quality, although that's part of it. But ask them, is this resonating with you? And when I was a musician, it was easy to tell if the music resonated with people because they would get up and dance. But the minute I got off stage, I was like, how's the volume? Is everything okay? And then I would ask them, are there any songs you want to hear us play? Because an easy way to figure out what resonates with the audience is to ask them. And yet, I work for PodPage, and we made a audience survey based on the book. The audience is listening. So you have a bunch of questions that you can use or not. You can make your own or make your own version of this. And yet it is probably one of the features that I won't say gets used the least, but we really expected people to jump all over this. And what's really weird about this is when you aren't doing surveys, when you aren't reviewing your progress or your show, you continue to do the things that may not resonate with the audience. And then ask, why isn't my audience growing? Because you're giving them something that may. It's doesn't mean it's horrible. It's just like, oh, well, there's nothing else on. I guess I'll consume this content. That's not what you want to be. My buddy Ray always says, you want to be someone's favorite. And so if Geddy Lee and Alex and, you know, everybody in Rush, Neil Peart, the drummer, would take time to go, look, we just spent the last eight months making this stuff. Maybe we should. Now that we've got some time down, let's listen to how we sound and see if there's any way to make things better. Mr. Beast. Jimmy, right? The guy on YouTube spent years almost going frame by frame as he got into YouTube. Why? To review his material and see if there was any way he could make it better. And when you make as many videos as that guy does and you make each one a little better than the previous one, you're going to start seeing that snowball effect where your audience is growing. And so I just urge you, as you listen to that, take some time today, find an older episode and listen to it if you have the nerve. And you should do this, because the reason that that People grow when others don't is because they have the courage, and their courage is. Or their passion is stronger. Like, I really want to serve my audience. That's stronger than. I'm going to get my feelings hurt if somebody tells me I can improve my show. So when the need to serve is greater than the worry of maybe getting some constructive feedback, you will get some feedback. So find somebody who will tell you the truth. Because I have helped so many people that they ask me for my opinion, I'll say, well, this could have been better. This should have been moved to the end. This, your volume level is great, because that's funny, because my family said it sounded amazing, and I'm like, oh, I'm not saying it's horrible. I'm saying you need some icing on this cupcake. It's a little dry. So get some feedback from anybody. I have a website podcast, Hot Seat, and everybody always says, that sounds painful, but everybody that gets out of the hot seat is headed in the right direction. So hang in there, grab some courage, and make each show a little better than the previous one. I'm Dave Jackson. I help podcasters. It's what I do. I've been doing it for over 20 years. And if you need some help, you can have hours of consulting with me every single month for 99 bucks right now. Normally, I don't say the price because on occasion it goes up or down or whatever, but right now, the school of podcasting is 99 bucks. And if you were to use all of your consulting and you weren't a member of the school of podcasting, that would be $1,000. It's a crazy price. Why is it so low? Because I like to help people. That's what I do. Check it out. Schoolofpodcasting.com it's even less when you use the coupon code Listener, and that could be on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis. I'm Dave Jackson, and I want to be your podcast consultant. Want more podcasting tips? Join the 1700 people who read my newsletter at podcastingobservations.com that's podcastingobservations.com.