You Don't Have to Be a Podcaster to Get Involved

There's no getting around the fact that we need more women in podcasting. Women like Heidi Miller, Anna Farmery, Donna Papacosta, Heather Gorringe, and Penny Haynes are producing great podcasts, but only 13.8% of podcasters around the world are female. The lack of female podcasters is particularly surprising in fields like Public Relations, which are dominated by women. I'm not sure what's causing the gender imbalance, because all the male podcasters I know welcome women into the podosphere with great enthusiasm.

"Welcome," in fact, might not be a strong enough word. I've had guys attempt to drag me bodily into producing my own podcast.

There are worse things one could be dragged into. But just as not everyone can be a political activist, not everyone can be a podcaster. I have compelling personal reasons for not undertaking the kind of commitment which producing a podcast represents (or any other equivalent commitment, for that matter). And besides, I just don't find recording fun. I don't know why, but speaking into a microphone when I'm all by myself is hard, even though I enjoy public speaking and am perfectly comfortable getting up in front of hundreds of people.

Just because you're not a podcaster doesn't mean you can't get involved in podcasting, though. I'm a podcast evangelist. Heck, I'm a podcast junkie. I think podcasting is the greatest invention since the digital scale. I've always been a fan of spoken-word audio. I used to belong to an audiobook-rental store. Now I have thousands of podcasts to choose from (and about 70 subscriptions in my podcatcher): a free education on any subject I want.

I've made a name for myself in the podosphere by commenting on other people's podcasts. Try it. Respond to something you hear on a podcast that gets your mind going. You'll make friends, and you'll increase your profile. Commenting is marketing. When you type a comment on a show's blog (like this one), it links back to your website. If you call a listener comment line and leave a voice message, be sure to mention your business name or URL—or both, if you can do it quickly, clearly, and not too obtrusively. If you say things that other listeners are interested in, people will remember your name.

A podcast without listeners is an empty thing. You can make a real contribution to podcasting as a whole by listening and getting involved. Ask questions. Answer them. Join the conversation. Unlike creating your own podcast, it doesn't take much time, and you don't have to plan it out in advance. You can just pick up the phone or fire off an e-mail message. (Do make sure to tell the podcaster how to pronounce your name, if it's a difficult one like mine.)

And never be afraid to tell a male podcaster that he's suffering from an overdose of testosterone.

Comments

[Anna Farmery]

Sallie - great post and much to think about. I love the idea of joining the podosphere through commenting - it is an incredibly important role and should not be undervalued. As a podcaster who produces 4 shows a week - the feedback acts as fuel for my enthusiasm, a fuel to keep going. We need to find a way of promoting role models in both podcasting and pod "junkieism!" to highlight that it is not about your sex, it is about the content that you produce. We will be arranging a teleconference soon and I hope that you may be able to join us.

[Sallie Goetsch (rhymes with "sketch")]

Delighted to.

[Donna Papacosta]

Very good comments, Sallie. (Thanks for the mention, by the way.) You're right in that one can make great inroads into the social media world of podcasting without actually being a podcaster, as you have done. (Although since you started contributing segments to For Immediate Release: The Hobson and Holtz Report, I daresay YOU are a podcaster now.)

Why aren't there more women podcasters? I really don't know. Perhaps some are turned off by the techno/audio-geekiness associated with podcasting. Maybe this will change as the tools become easier to use.

I spent an hour in a music store yesterday drooling over audio equipment before buying some new gear and helping a male friend pick out his own podcasting rig. I was the ONLY WOMAN in a very crowded store. I was probably the oldest person, too, but that's another story!

[Sallie Goetsch (rhymes with "sketch")]

I am NOT a podcaster. But I'm with you on the "only woman in the room" experience.