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.
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