What goes into the best podcasts?

I’ll grant you, podcasting is a simple medium. In its purest form, there’s the host, a microphone, and a computer. If they’re feeling particularly fancy, a pair of headphones. It’s not technically difficult to start a podcast and the cost barrier to entry is low. But does that make it easy to create a good podcast?

I’d argue no.

One central requirement to a good podcast, a podcast an audience wants to listen to, is a high quality host. A good host is a necessary condition of a good podcast, yet that’s one aspect the “how to start a podcast” guides seem to gloss over.

Which begs the question, what are the best podcast host traits to focus on?

What Makes a Podcast Host Like Joe Rogan Successful?

Being a good podcast host is all about connections. Creating a connection between the presenter of information and the audience.

And doing so in ways that are useful, practical, and entertaining. They’re engaging.

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That’s important because you’re asking an audience to come with you on a journey. It doesn’t matter if you’re espousing information alone or acting as a filter for a guest. You have to do it in such a way that you’re entertaining and credible.

You need to take the audience to a place where you’re happy to present in the space between their ears for a while.

The traits that make a host seem engaged, entertaining, and credible are the ones that make a host great.  The good news is those traits are, by and large, identifiable and improvable.

The Best Podcast Host is Curious

They are genuinely curious about whomever is on the show. And that is a pretty broad range for The Joe Rogan Experience. But Rogan is able to relate back the bluest comedian to a politician who he may not agree with.

But he tries to see the value and present the best of his guest to his audience. In that he brings his audience up. That shows a level of maturity that comes from being a genuinely curious individual.

He sees each interview as an opportunity. Interviews aren’t scripted and while you have to do your due diligence, you don’t know how they’re going to work out. The best podcast host will be nimble, think on their feet, and be present in the moment.

Empathy

A good podcast host wants to make connections. Connections to a guest. Connections to the material, even if it’s a monologue show. Most certainly to the audience.

Hosts like Rogan don’t shy away from trying to put themselves into the shoes of the other. It helps them to understand their guest’s point of view. They often do this by sharing their own life story, and most importantly, where that life story may have come off the rails.

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Host of Armchair Expert Dax Shepard has recently been open about his relapse. While a guest on Tim Ferris’ podcast, he shared an insight from a friend who helped him decide to share his relapse with the audience.

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The friend pointed out that Dax sharing his relapse was much more relatable to his audience than 17 years sober and a marriage to Kristen Bell.

The latter made him a movie star… the former made him human. Being able to recognize the difference made him a great podcast host.

A Diligent Listener

The best podcast hosts know that the show isn’t really about them. Sure, their name might be on it, but in the interview format, the show is about the audience and the guest. The host is just the conduit. But the conduit is the most important job in the relationship between guest and audience.

They can take what the guest is saying, rephrase, and repeat back the idea. They are masters of the Socratic method. As soon as a good host has absorbed what the guest has said, they can relate it to some broader theme. One they think will connect and resonate with their audience.

Kea Blackman hosts a show, Fireflies Unite, that exemplifies what it is to be a good listener. Drawing on her own experience she is able to distill and amplify the stories of her guests. In such a way that they stick with the listener well after the show is over.

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The best hosts remember their role as the prism through which information is refracted from their show to the audience’s ears.

Tenacity

Producing a show is tough work and doing so consistently is harder still. But you have to produce consistently to stay top of mind. Once people get into a rhythm or habit of listening to your show, you want to keep them in that pocket.

Joe Rogan does that, producing 3 shows a week for 11 years.

When you’re just starting out building an audience, you need to show up. You need to be consistent. An a-list host knows that requirement never really goes away. That’s the same in any relationship.

If you tell someone you’re going to be somewhere, you can only burn them a couple of times before they stop anticipating you’ll be the type to show up.

Confidence

A great podcast host needs the confidence that their voice is relevant. That they have something to say or are a conduit for something someone else has to say. They are confident enough to sell that idea. To sell themselves. To sell their podcast or a product. The confidence to simply ask your listeners for show reviews to climb the algorithmic ladder.

Otherwise… well, there’s no money.

Confidence allows the room for self-deprecation. Being able to poke fun at oneself gives the host space to disarm a guest that might otherwise expect something of a hostile environment. An interview with Bernie Sanders on Joe Rogan’s show unfolds in another way altogether on Fox News.

Tech journalist Kara Swisher’s podcast, Sway, is building a reputation for these types of illuminating gets. She’s pulling tidbits from guests who are notoriously tight-lipped.

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Inexhaustible Self-Improvement

Being a good host is an iterative process. Some have a natural talent that starts them further ahead in the race, but if they don’t hone that natural talent, they will burn out. You have to work on getting better.

Podcast host and author of the bestseller Choose Yourself, James Altucher, is a tireless advocate for trying to get 1% better each day. Self-improvement never ends. A good podcast host knows they can aim toward but never reach perfection.

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Keep pushing for better guests. For better understanding of the topics. Take deeper looks, and make more authentic connections with the audience. Keep working on your presenter voice. Enunciate. Record yourself reading monologues. Project.

It may not seem obvious but there is a physical component to podcasting much like there is any other profession. You have to work those vocal muscles to improve.

The audience needs to feel your passion for the work, or they won’t come along with you for the journey. They’ll excuse imperfection before they excuse apathy.

The simple fact that you’re reading this article is an encouraging signal.

Willing to Take Risks

Is every show Joe Rogan does a home run? No, of course not. Nobody’s perfect. In fact, Joe’s taken some liberties that may have crushed a smaller show.

It’s not even obvious that his risk taking is at all calculated as a result of his show’s size. It seems to come from a font of authenticity.

Take his little dust-up with the staff at Spotify. But it doesn’t deter a good host. They refer back to their tenacious nature and keep pressing record.

Tireless Networking / Engage With Their Audience

Again, it all comes back to making connections. It’s hard to grow a show these days without being responsive on social media or by email. You don’t have to be prolific, but you ought to be where your audience is. And that usually means social media.

Networking gets you new guests, which, if you’re tenacious, is a necessity for longevity. It puts new ideas in your head. Networking exposes a host to new opportunities to put their voice in an unfamiliar set of headphones. To grow their show and their audience.

Jordan Harbinger is the master of taking an unassuming show and booking some fascinating below the radar guests. He attributes this to his habitual networking.

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It only takes a few minutes a day to make these networking connections.

Conclusion

Well produced audio and a good idea aren’t enough to make a great podcast. If you’re going to go to all the trouble to make a podcast, you want to ensure it’s one that people are going to want to download. With abandon.

A great podcast host will work on the traits that make them a useful, practical, and entertaining host each day. They will work to build relationships with others, so they can build a relationship with their audience. They’ll focus on self-improvement and treat every conversation as an opportunity to be a better listener. A listener who is genuinely curious about what the other person is saying.

What are you going to work on today to make you a better host? Let me know in the comments or on twitter.