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Feb. 25, 2025
Unlock Your Podcast’s Full Potential: Dave Jackson’s Secrets from School of Podcasting to PodPage
Are you a podcaster and serious about enhancing your podcast's sound and reach? Whether you’re a seasoned podcaster or just starting out, mastering podcast creativity, audience engagement, and unique show concepts is key to standing out in a crowded space. If you are interested in mastering podcasting, and learning expert insights from a podcasting veteran who knows the ropes, don't miss this episode!
In this episode of Podcasting Tech, we sit down with Dave Jackson from the renowned School of Podcasting to discuss the ins and outs of podcasting success and the industry's evolution.
Dave Jackson is a prominent figure in the podcasting world. He founded the School of Podcasting in 2005 and is currently the head of podcasting at PodPage. His School of Podcasting show has over 2.7 million downloads, and he has helped hundreds of people plan, launch, and grow their podcasts. In 2018, he was inducted into the Academy of Podcasters Hall of Fame. In 2024, after spending eight years at Libsyn, he joined PodPage as the Head of Podcasting.
Dave’s experience spans teaching, industry-level podcasting work, and continuous engagement with cutting-edge tools and strategies. In this episode, we cover Dave's journey from podcasting enthusiast to industry professional, valuable lessons on staying ahead in podcasting, insights into PodPage's latest audience survey feature, and why creativity keeps podcasts intriguing and unique.
IN THIS EPISODE, WE COVER:
- Dave's Journey into Podcasting: How an early laid-off teacher became a pivotal figure in the podcasting space through passion and curiosity. (00:01:44)
- Navigating the Podcasting Industry: Dave discusses the often tough balance of staying true to niche topics while growing a dedicated audience. (00:05:32)
- PodPage's Audience Survey Feature: Learn about this tool's development with inputs from Tom Webster, and how it helps podcasters understand and grow their audience. (00:08:40)
- Building the Right Audience: Insights into why focusing on the ideal audience, rather than everyone, will better serve your podcast’s success. (00:12:19)
- Engaging Your Audience: Strategies for getting actionable feedback from listeners and making your show more interactive and community-focused. (00:19:22)
Links and resources mentioned in this episode:
- School of Podcasting
- PodPage
- Tom Webster's Book - "The Audience Is Listening"
- Recommended hardware: Zoom PodTrak P4
- Podcast Movement and Podfest events -
- podcastmovement.com
- Connect with Dave Jackson on Social media:
- Follow School of Podcasting on Facebook
- Explore PodPage features - podpage.com/features
Discover all of Dave’s favorite podcasts:
This episode is important for any podcaster aiming to improve their skills, grow their audience, and tap into new tools. Tune in and unlock the full potential of your podcast. Subscribe to podcastingtech.com to keep up with podcasting trends and expert insights.
**As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases of podcasting gear from Amazon.com. We also participate in affiliate programs with many of the software services mentioned on our website. If you purchase something through the links we provide, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The team at Podcasting Tech only recommends products and services that we would use ourselves and that we believe will provide value to our viewers and readers.**
For additional resources and insights visit podcastingtech.com or follow us on social media:
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EQUIPMENT IN USE:
- Rodecaster Pro 1st Gen (No longer available). Consider the Rodecaster Duo or Rodecaster Pro II
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Transcript
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Welcome to Podcasting Tech, a podcast that equips busy
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entrepreneurs engaged in podcasting with proven and cost effective
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solutions for achieving a professional sound and appearance. I'm
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Matthew Passi, your host and a fifteen year veteran in the podcasting
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space. We'll help you cut through the noise and offer guidance on software and
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hardware that can elevate the quality of your show. Tune in weekly
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for insightful interviews with tech creators, behind the scenes studio tours, and
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strategies for podcasting success. Head to
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podcastingtech.com to subscribe to this show on YouTube or your favorite
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podcast platform, and join us on this exciting journey to unlock the full
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potential of your podcast. I would
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say we have a guest who needs no introduction, but we're gonna give him one
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anyway. We are chatting with the founder and creator of School of
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Podcasting, which began all the way back in 02/2005. He's
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also the head of podcasting at PodPage, formerly of
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Libsyn. He's a good friend to most podcasters, including myself.
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He is the wonderful amazing Dave Jackson. Dave, thank you for joining us
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today. Matthew, it's always great to hang out with you. It's, always
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a good time, and, looking forward to this. I I
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usually ask everybody, how did you get into podcasting? But I have a feeling that
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story has been told six gajillion times by you on
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various podcasts, including the three gajillion that you have
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started on your own. So instead, real quickly, I
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just wanna kinda, like, take me through, you know, not
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when you started to podcast, but really when you started to work in podcast and
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really become part of the industry and what that was like for you
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as someone who, you know, just kinda jumped into the space on a whim.
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Yeah. It's kind of weird in a way. I remember the very first,
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like, event. It was in, I believe, 02/2006 in
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Ontario, California, the metropot metropolis of
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Ontario, California, which I never heard of. And we're in a Holiday
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Inn, and it was weird because all of a sudden you're like, oh, I'm not
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the only nerdy guy playing with this stuff.
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And so you start to make connections. Like, that's where I met Todd Cochran
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and a bunch of other people. And it wasn't
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until really when I got involved, like, the industry because I was
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doing the school of podcasting, and that's where it was fun. I I mean, I
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met I had Rob Walsh on the show. I had Ty Cochran. I was kinda
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like Switzerland. I could work with all the different media hosts.
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And when I, lost my teaching job,
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I was like, well, I'd like to work in podcasting. And I was like, well,
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where would I work? And I'm like, well, Libsyn's the best. So let's let's go
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there and, called up Rob and had a quick conversation.
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And so that's that's kinda where it began just when I,
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originally, when I got laid off at my teaching job, I called my then
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wife, and I said, hey. I think I'm gonna do the school of podcasting full
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time. And she went, yeah. No. You're not. And I went, what? And she's like,
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yeah. No. Sorry. Thanks. You know? And I'm like, but, honey, you're a nurse. You
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make tons of cash, and you have great health benefits. But, and so I
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that's kinda how I got into to Lipson, and it's just a
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matter of I'm curious. So I'm always,
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talking to people about new tools and different,
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strategies that they're doing. And so I think it was just a matter of like,
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podcasting is the bubble that I live in, and so there are other
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people that are you know, there's a whole there's a whole true crime thing that
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I know it's huge, but there's, like, little mini celebrities in
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there. And then, you know, the every every little genre
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has their own little bubble. I remember when I went to, I think it was
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called VidCon in Seattle, and I'd never seen cosplay.
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And if nobody tells you what cosplay is and you walk in and you're like,
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why does that guy have elf ears on? And it was Welcome to Night
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Vale. All these people were dressed like characters in Welcome to Night
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Vale. And then when I went into the big room, and it looks like a
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Metallica concert with two big giant screens, and the whole room is filled,
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and everybody was laughing at jokes that I had no idea what they
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were. They were all inside jokes. And if you listen to that podcast,
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you got them. I was sitting there scratching my head while people are rolling out
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of their seats like it's showtime at the Apollo. And that's when I went, wow.
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This is a whole other bubble that I've known nothing about. So it's kind
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of interesting how you you get immersed into what you think is
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the industry, and instead, it's just a little
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small, you know, chunk of it. It it's so true.
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Even going to events, podcast movement, pod fest, where you
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tend to see the same people, a lot of the same personalities, a lot of
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the same companies. And then you go to an event or you talk to somebody
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online, you bring up all these people like, oh, yeah. You're being a podcast. You
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know? So this, this, this, and, like, nope. And they've got a whole other world
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of people in podcasting who they think are the bee's knees, who they think are
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the the leaders of the, you know, the influencers and whatnot. So it is
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interesting how large this world is and yet how
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small it can feel, for each of those different communities.
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I'm curious. Moving from
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teaching and podcasting on your own and school of
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podcasting to, you know, getting behind,
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an industry player and, you know, seeing not just
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how the sausage is made, but how everybody complains about how the sausage is
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made. Was there anything that, like, jaded you on podcasting? Was there anything
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that happened that, you know, made you change
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the way you approach your content, your your stuff?
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The the the only thing that really just makes me go, oh, it's
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one of those, is the person that more or less now they don't
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say it blatantly, but they come up to me and they basically say, what's the
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topic I can talk about where I can do the least amount of work and
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do and make the most amount of money, which I understand. Who wants to do
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a lot of work to make? But the person that's really looking for the shortcut
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and doesn't even care what the topic is. And I'm like, wait. So you have
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no passion about a topic. You're just gonna pick the one that makes the most
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money. And I'm just kinda that always makes me just kind of there's like a
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sad trombone going off in my head when that person asks the question.
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You know, it's just, in terms of, you
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know, things ways people move, it the thing I like about
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podcasting is is there are no rules. There are definitely best practices.
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So when I have a guy right now that is working,
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I'm not gonna tell you the exact name, but he's basing a show
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on his last name. And he's going to interview other
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people with the same last name and talk about famous
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people with the same last name. And I and he asked me, do you think
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this is gonna work? And I go, I gotta tell you. You
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get, like, a plus for originality because I've never heard
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anybody else do that. I go, now is this gonna work? I go, in
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theory, if somebody with that last name and they know their family,
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who I'm assuming have the same last name, I go, it
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could work. I go, but this is one of those recipes that, like, their only
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way to know if it's gonna work is to make it and then see what
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happens. You know? It's like a I've never had chocolate with my peanut butter
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before. Let's let's try this, and it may work. It may not. So
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I love to see people being really creative, especially when you
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go, this could fall flat, and yet they do it anyway. Yeah.
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An idea like that, it sounds interesting.
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Right? Terrible on paper, but interesting. And with the right host
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and with the right commitment, it probably could turn into a
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weird cultural phenomenon, right, that people are talking about. But,
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it's it's not a guarantee that just because you're niche or weird,
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it's gonna work. But, you know, those types of shows are the ones that
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tend to break through, the ones that break the mold that disrupt the
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space. And so, yeah, when somebody says, what should I
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podcast about? It's like, no. No. No. What am I passionate about? How do I
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share it? Maybe a podcast is right for you. Yeah. I just saw Sean Evans
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who does hot ones on YouTube was on, Jimmy
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Kimmel. And I'm like, that's a pretty niche show. I'm gonna
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interview people while they're basically, you know,
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throwing themselves. Yeah. Torture themselves with Hot Wing. And then I'm gonna do
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I'm gonna be a really good interviewer and ask questions that require them to think.
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That's a pretty strange premise. It is. And yet how many and how how many
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copycats have come up as a result? Right? Because it worked for one person. Yeah.
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So you you worked for Libsyn for a really long time. You've moved on over
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to PodPage, you know, a a great company. We had Brandon
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on the show, one of the first episodes. Always been a big supporter of PodPage.
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We use that for the show. But you guys are unveiling
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new features, including one that just came out at the time that we're chatting maybe
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about a week or so ago, surveys for your
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audience. Tell us what that's about, how, you know, how it's supposed to work on
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PodPage, and and why this one, got introduced. Yeah. There are, you
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know, multiple ways you can kinda see, and that's the the point. I can kinda
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see how people like my stuff by going to, you know,
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podcastconnect.apple.com and looking at my completion rate. I can
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see some of that in Spotify. If you're on YouTube, you
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can see that on YouTube. But, you know, the easiest way
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to figure out if your audience likes what you're putting out is to, I
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don't know, ask them. And so what we
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did is Tom Webster, hall of fame person,
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Tom Webster, right, inductee, has a great book called the audience
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is listening. And Tom's been measuring podcasting
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and before that radio for decades, and he had these really
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good instead of saying, is it too short or too long,
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ask a question like, if I were to remove something from the
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podcast, what would it be? That's kinda asking if it's too long. There these little
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subtle ways of doing it. And so we reached out to Tom and said,
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wow. You have these really great questions. Can we
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use them to make a survey and pod page? To which Tom said, yeah. As
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long as you put a link to my book at the the top of the
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description of the cert not so much for the public, but for the podcaster. And
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we're, like, done. And then we added five questions in the event
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that you wanna ask something that Tom doesn't. And it's been the
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people that are using it are getting this great data
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where one of the one of our customers was doing a
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daily show. And he said the number one thing I'm hearing from my audience
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is they don't need a daily show. They're kinda getting fed with a fire
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hose. He's giving them great topics to think about,
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and they're like, can I have a little more time to think about this topic
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before you hit me with another one? And, like, I found
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out, I, I primarily hang out on
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Facebook and and Twitter, and I asked my
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audience and a considerably large amount of
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people hang out on LinkedIn. And I kinda play in
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LinkedIn, but I was like, well, guess what? That's where my audience is. Maybe I
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should go hang out there more. So the more you know about your
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audience, the better you can make your stuff. And so
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I always say if your podcast is, you know, a dinner party and
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then you find out, oh, wait a minute. You know, Jill's coming over, and she's
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vegan. And, you know, Rob's coming over, and he's, you know,
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gluten intolerant or whatever. You're gonna have to change your your meal up a
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little bit. Or, you know, in some cases, you go, well, you
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know, gluten free people, sorry. You're just not my target audience. Depending on
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whatever it is, but the more you know about your audience
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and especially what they want, the more you can give it to them. Then the
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more you give it to them, the more likely they are to tell somebody
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to go listen to your show. That the interesting you bring up
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that concept of the vegan and the gluten free, and you start to allude to,
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well, maybe you're just not my audience. I shouldn't cater to it. But it's so
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hard for new podcasters to be told to
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limit your audience. Right? Everybody wants the biggest audience
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possible, but if they try to attract everyone, they're
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gonna attract no one. How do you how do you talk to
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clients or, you know, other podcasters and tell them
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fight that urge to cater to a larger audience and
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focus on just your target audience. Right? It's okay to reject
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outside ideas even if you're, you know, sitting in only a few
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downloads per episode. Yeah. Because part of that is based on, you know, we
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want huge numbers. And if we limit our audience, well, that
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doesn't seem to make any sense. And, look, I'm guilty of this as well because
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and I always at the beginning of it, if I'm doing a show for an
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absolute beginner, I will say at the beginning of the show, this
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is for an absolute beginner because a lot of my audience has been podcasting. They're
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like, hey. I wanna grow this. I don't wanna launch it. So I always do
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that, but there's a part of me that goes, you should split this off and
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just do a show about launching instead of occasionally giving people
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an episode that they may not want. But I always try to say that,
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you know, if you've already launched, you might wanna listen to this because I know
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a lot of people don't think about how am I gonna measure my success.
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And so it it is kinda tough, but it's it's a matter of
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not it it's about getting the right people, not a ton of
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people. Because, I I mean, I was just a
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pod fest, and I'm in a room full of podcasters. And we
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all have the same ideas and that we're all trying to grow our audience, and
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we're sharing insights and things like that. And when you have that community
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and you don't have to worry about leaving somebody out because you're all on the
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same page, that's a magical thing. And you don't wanna
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be just a good podcast. You wanna be someone's favorite.
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And I always use the analogy of, taking people
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out for pizza. I had an aunt in from out of town, so we had
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about a group of 12. And we went into this place, and my aunt
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and my niece are kitchen sink pizza. Right? Just
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whatever you got back there, throw it on there. We'll just anchovies, you know,
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whatever. And they were happiest pigs in mud because
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they got their favorite type of pizza. My brother looks at me and goes,
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hey. What do you want? I go, I usually do pepperoni. He goes, can you
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do extra cheese? And I go, yeah. Okay.
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So I didn't get my absolute favorite pizza. It was good. It was great, but
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it wasn't like, oh, this is the best pizza ever. And so our goal
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is to be someone like, the minute this comes out, they're like, oh,
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man. There's another episode for Matthew. I gotta go play this. And if
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you kind of give them what they want, that's probably not the result you're gonna
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get. And it's hard. This really is. It's it's tough to you know
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not every chapter gets highlighted. And so you you
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do your best, and it starts with knowing who your audience is, and you aim
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and you fire. And it's always funny. I'm I'm sure you've had this where you've
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worked on an episode forever. You put it out thinking it's the
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best thing, and it's gonna go viral or whatever, and it's just crickets.
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And then there are episodes I had one that I put out while I was
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at Podfest. It was kinda like, yeah. This is on point. It's not my
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best stuff, but I but and I had I got home, and people are like,
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that was a great episode. And I'm like, really? So
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but it all starts with knowing, you know, who your audience is, and
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that's where, you know, it all starts. And
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it is. It's it's hard to talk people off the I want I want in
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a you know, it's how far are we into the seven minutes? I'm gonna say
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the Rogan word. Right? When we hear Joe Rogan in this giant
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audience and I was just tell people, realize step one of
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that is be Joe Rogan. And and I I did this in my presentation. I
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said, how many people in the room are Joe Rogan? And, of course, nobody raised
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their hand. I'm like, good. So let's drop that strategy because we're just not
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gonna do it, but it is tough. And, it's
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also this is where you mentioned passion earlier.
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If you do kind of put up a little bit of of
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guardrails to stay on topic, there are times
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after a year and a half where you're like, I can't talk about this anymore.
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And so you are allowed to expand out. I remember Lee still
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Lee Silverstein had a show called the colon cancer podcast. And
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after years, he finally rebranded the title,
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and it was we have cancer because when somebody in your family has cancer,
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everybody basically is going through that together. But it is tough to stay
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on track. But if you if you have that focus,
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then you're gonna end up you know, it's it's we're we're going from a
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shotgun approach to trying to be everything to everyone to a rifle,
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which I I hate that it's such a violent example,
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but, you're you're more spot on. These were,
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Nerf rifles and Nerf rifles. So they're very, very gentle and and very,
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very safe. So going back to the survey,
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you know, podcasters are always told, you know, talk to your audience, ask them
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what they want. Right? Check with them. And, you know, Podpace has has this
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feature. It's supposed to make it a little bit easier as my camera sits here
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and and plays all sorts of funny games than me. Sorry, audience.
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But sometimes people put that stuff out there and they get crickets. How do you
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how how would you advise someone
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to get their audience to respond, to engage,
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to interact with them? Because,
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otherwise, they're gonna feel even lonelier and frustrated and probably wanna give
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up. Yeah. This is, if we go back to the old
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Rush song, if you choose not to decide, you've still made a choice.
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So if you're trying to get feedback and you don't get
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any, you've actually just got a ton of feedback. It's not very
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good feedback, but your audience is letting you know,
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I'm not really feeling connected to you. And so
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everybody likes to benefit. And so you
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kind of you know, if if I got zero responses, I might come back and
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say, hey. You know, two weeks ago, I asked you to fill out a survey,
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and I've got a whole lot of nothing. And so I just wanna remind
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you that the reason I'm doing this survey is I'm doing this show for
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you. I mean, I love this topic, but I'm doing this show for you.
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And the more I know what you're looking for, the
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more I can go find that content and bring it to you.
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And then it won't just be me and you because I always talk to one
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person. It won't be just me and you sitting here talking
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about this this, topic. We can have a whole community
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of people. My goal is to grow this and have a community, maybe a Facebook
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group or a heartbeat group where we can all talk about this, but it's gonna
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start with making sure that I know what you want. So
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I would really deeply appreciate it if you could just simply
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go to mywebsite.com, whatever that is, slash survey,
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and fill this out. And, I'll be you know, if you wanna put
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your name in, I'll even give you a shout out, whatever it is, but everybody
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likes to benefit. And so it's like when people do this with
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emails, they'll be like, oh, just go sign up for my new you know, you
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can sign up for the newsletter. Okay. For for what? Because
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I didn't wake up today going, oh, I hope I can find a newsletter to
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sign up for. You know? Please fill my inbox with more stuff.
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Yes. So you've gotta give something to them. And so,
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you know, there's not now the survey at PodPage, you can give
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them a, you know, PDF or something like that. You can give them a little
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incentive to do it. But if the incentive is, hey. This show is
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gonna be better based on your feedback. So it's just one of
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those things, but it is it's one of those things. It is soul crushing
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when you put it out there, and there's just crickets. And you're like, well,
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that's my worst nightmare come to to live, and that's when you're just like, well,
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at least I know where I'm starting at, and I can only go up from
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here. I I love the way you frame that that
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and, you know, I always talked about this with my clients in the past. And
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and even today, when I talk to podcasters about their marketing efforts, it's not
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about what the audience can do for me. It's about what you can do for
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the audience. What value are you providing them? And so the way you
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frame that, I think was great. And, you know,
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I think if if everybody approached all of their content creation in that
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same way with here's what I'm giving you
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if you happen to listen. Here's what I'm giving you if you subscribe.
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You'll definitely see better results in the long run
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if you're giving them something that they want. If you're giving them crap, I mean,
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right, nobody needs crap. And you're kinda coming up alongside
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them. Instead of you being the leader, you're you're kinda coming
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alongside of them and go like, hey, guys. Let's let's go ahead and and come
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up with the best content. We're gonna grow this community together. I just happen to
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be the person behind the microphone. And so it's it's
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tricky, and, you know, this is where, you know, we
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mentioned the survey. This is one of the things I do at when I go
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to an event like Podfest or Podcast Movement. A lot of me is just
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listening to seeing what people are talking about and what they're getting
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stuck on and things like that. And so that's where if you're not
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getting any engagement, you know, head out to a Facebook
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group or Reddit or wherever you're going, and you can actually see what people are
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stuck on. And, you know, that's really
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kind of the bottom line of what people want is, you know, I
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have a problem. How can I solve it? Or it's you know, you
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might be talking I I I see, not a lot, but
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there are podcasts about rare diseases. And
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those people, you know, you're not gonna get a ton. You're not gonna
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get thousands and thousands depending, I guess, on the disease. But
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when somebody else I know there's one. It's something something
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spondylitis, and the group themselves call
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it spondy. It's like a nickname. And the
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fact when they and it's a horrible disease. You're in pain all the
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time. And so Jason Sacco does a a show
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on spondylosis, whatever the beginning of that is.
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And he was talking about how just having somebody else that's going
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through the same crap you are is a huge
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benefit because you don't feel alone. And so when you can
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go out and see what people are talking about and then talk about it on
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the show, you know, that's one of those on paper, this should
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resonate. Yeah. I've I I remember when I was
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hosting call spots, talking to a lot of people who were doing shows about very
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rare diseases or, you know, very niche causes. And
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more than being informational, it was community. It
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was, right, just having somebody else who
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understands what you're going through talking about it. And, you
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know, 20 or 30 listeners doesn't sound like a lot to most of
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us, but in a group like this, you know,
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rare disease group where they are all fighting the same thing,
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the 20 or 30 of them able to get together,
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pool their resources, you know, write to different
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agencies and whatnot to get more funding or go out. Like, it made
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a difference. And that was all possible because, you know, one person
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who was going through this decided to open up the microphone and and
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share some some value with people. You know, we we can talk
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to Dave Jackson for probably days in a row, probably some amazing
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World Guinness marathon on podcasting. But if you've heard
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him before, he's not quite that 100% that we love to get from him, so
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we're not gonna keep him for too long. But, as a reminder, it's Dave
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Jackson from the Famous School Podcasting, head of podcasting at PodPage,
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which we encourage you to check out both of those properties. Before we let
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you go, Dave, there are questions we like to ask everybody. First one is if
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there's something in podcasting that you would like to see
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improved, what would it be? And that can be, you
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know, production, distribution, consumption.
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Right? Like, doesn't have to be from the creating a podcast. Just
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something that you're like, god. I wish we did this better. Well,
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I'm I've been someone involved at least paying attention to
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the podcasting two point o space, And that was not that
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it doesn't have momentum now, but I I feel, in my opinion, that
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we lost a little bit because there was this whole streaming Bitcoin thing. And it
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was getting easier and easier, still far from being easy, but
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it was getting there. And we tried to
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do things decentralized. We ended up, unfortunately,
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centralized on a company and nothing against this company, but there was the
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problem is if you have a lot of of Bitcoin going back and
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forth, you can kinda get the attention of the government because they're
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like, wait. Are you laundering money over there? And so
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that company was like, yeah. We will help anybody, unless you're in
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The US. And so that's kind of taken a seat back. And I
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feel like the one girl in Willy Wonka is like, I
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want it now, daddy. You know? And they are working on
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an a a different approach, but that's one that's
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that I'm kinda like, oh, we were we were really getting some steam going
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there. So there's that. And I I mentioned it earlier. I think the other thing
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that we just kinda need is a little more creativity. I I
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don't, in in the and it's just, you know, old curmudgeon of me. In the
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early days, there were some really weird shows. I remember one
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guy, as he was, shall we say, doing his business,
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in the first of the morning. It was called the daily download, and he
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was he was on his throne, shall we say, recording a podcast. Very
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weird. There was a show called Yeast
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Radio hosted by, Madge Weinstein,
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and Madge Weinstein had this wicked New Jersey accent.
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And and and back in the day, this is again, like, 02/2005,
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just swore like a sailor, like nobody's busy. Like, really outrageous.
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And you're like, woah. You could do that on the radio. And then I found
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out later that Maj was a dude, and it was an actor. The whole thing
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was just an an act, and it was hilarious at the time. So
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there are times when, you know, there are and there's
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nothing wrong with the typical solo show and an interview show and things like that,
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but I kinda like can we kinda mix it up? Throw something in there
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so that you can't be copied? I just inducted George
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Robb into the, the hall of fame, and the one thing you can't
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do is copy George Robb. There's only one of him, and
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he's, so sometimes I'm like, I I'd like to see a little
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more creativity in being different, and that's hard. I mean,
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that's one of the hardest things about podcasting. When you go, well, how is your
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show gonna be different than everybody else's? And people go,
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and it is. It's your background and your thoughts and your perspectives that are gonna
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make it different, but sometimes I miss the really super creative
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stuff. Well, I suppose today, it's a lot harder for that super creative stuff to
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break through with the the deluge of new shows that are constantly coming out, you
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know, with the barriers to entry being lowered even more so.
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So, but, yeah, you know, be creative, be fun,
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and, be determined. Don't give up. We, we could use your your good
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shows. What about tech? Is there anything on your wish list, hardware,
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software, something that is out there that you wanna buy that you haven't
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yet or something that you're like, god, I wish somebody would make this. Yes. I
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love the PodTrak p four. Okay?
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It it is the Swiss army knife, and it came out years
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ago. It's about a hundred and $50 now. And if we
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went back to, you know, 2,010, this would have been a couple thousand dollars or
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maybe a thousand dollars. But, anyway, I have I actually emailed
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Zoom this week, and I'm like, any chance a 32 bit float
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version of this is coming in the future? And they didn't say no,
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but they didn't say yes. And but they do have the new h
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one XLR. Or the h six essential,
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that's 32 bit float with all the same features as the p four. So
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it does because the thing that's nice about the p four is it's a recorder
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and an interface at the same time. Yes.
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Okay. Well, that's beautiful. Because I saw where the h one is two
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microphones in, only one headphone out, which is that's kinda
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like, but if you're a solo person, it works. But it I heard
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it does record and be an interface at the same time. So if the h
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six does that, I might have to check into that. But,
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I I love my p go ahead. Yeah. PH six does that.
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Obviously, it's not gonna be a hundred and $50. Right. And you also
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are stuck with just the one headphone jack. Yeah. So you just buy a quick,
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you know, headphone jack, headphone, headphone amplifier, and
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you're good. Oh, don't worry. Zoom makes one that they'll happily
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sell you. Yes. Exactly. So that's that's the piece of gear.
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And, look, that doesn't mean that the p four is bad. It's just
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everything and the the big magic phrase is 32 bit float because it's kinda hard
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to record bad audio with that. And I'm like, oh, if we could only marry
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32 bit float into a p four, life would be
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so fulfilling. So Well, if anybody wants to buy Dave a cup
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of coffee, AKA Zoom h six essential, I'm sure he would be grateful for it.
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And, of course, this is gonna be the hardest question because of what you do
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and how long you've been doing it. But are there any podcasts in your life
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that you cannot live without the shows that regardless of what else you're
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listening to, they drop a new episode you're gonna stop, or you just you're
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never gonna let one of their episodes get by you that week. There there are
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probably two. One is I I mentioned him earlier. George Robb does a show called
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the Geologic podcast, and it's just it is the epitome of I
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don't know what I'm gonna get. So as much as you should be consistent with
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your content, George is consistently funny,
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but he he's it's the basis of that show
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is science. It's a lot of sciency kind of
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animals that morph into this or do this and that. And he also has a
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segment called the religious moron of the week because George is a skeptic
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or atheist. Take your pick on whatever verbiage you wanna use there. So I always
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joke and say, why listen to make sure I'm not the religious moron of the
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week because I'm not a skeptic, but but it's just entertaining. And it's one of
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those I wonder because I've been listening to George since
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02/2006, maybe 02/2005. And I always wonder
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if I hadn't been listening this long and found him today if I would still
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feel that way, but I definitely feel like I know him. And then the other
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one is no agenda with, Adam Curry and John C.
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Dvorak just because I keep hearing news that should be
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on the news, but it's not. And they just their whole
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part is they just kinda pick apart the news. Like, they'll you'll hear, like,
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well, bird flu is up two percent from and, like, okay. But what
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numbers is that? Like, if I went from, you know, two people
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to four people, that's a, you know, whatever percent. Never do math live, by
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the way. But they'll say, well, wait a minute. They're not giving us the numbers.
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They're giving us the percentage, and they just kinda dig through stuff.
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Plus, they have clips of news articles from
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forever. And so when somebody will say, well, we're gonna do this new
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thing, and they'll be like, wait a minute. Didn't he say the direct opposite,
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like, eight months ago? And they'll be like, yep. Here's the clip. So it's kind
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of fun. They deconstruct it, the media, and,
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sometimes it stops you from if you just watch the news, they just want you
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afraid and scared twenty four seven. You know? Do you swallow
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saliva over a long period of time? You know? Story at eleven.
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This kinda thing. We're like, wait. What? So those are probably two off the top
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of my head that, you know, there are others, new media show. I listen to,
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like, I listen to your show. I listen to, like, so many shows about podcasting,
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but, I think maybe that's why I like those shows because they're not about
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podcasting. It's like, oh, here's a break, and it's entertaining. Yeah.
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I'm I'm the same way. My my two shows that I won't let go by,
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I listen to Start Here, the ABC Daily News podcast. And,
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these days, it's been Conan O'Brien. He's a friend. I I just
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I just find myself loving the interaction and and, you
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know, needing a laugh, and and they tend to provide a a good one every
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time I listen. So, yeah, I'm terrible about listening to
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podcasts about podcasting. Yeah. Well and Conan's a good interviewer once he
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gets to the interview. Drives me nuts. I'm not a like, you because you
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know them, you're probably listening for the witty banter at the beginning where he
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just makes fun of his staff. And I'm like, buddy, he's interviewing Paul
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McCartney. Get to, you know, whoever. It's funny. I will listen to
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the witty banter and skip the interview sometimes. I have no idea who the person
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is. Yeah. I'm the same way with Marc Maron. I used to listen for the
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interviews, and now I listen for the witty banter, except his witty banter
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is we're all gonna die. And I'm kind of not listening to that as he
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really is, like, worried that the world is coming to an end, and I'm like,
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this is not really what I was looking for. Yeah. It's, it it
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could be exhausting. Yeah. But but, anyway, it's, it's been a
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pleasure as always chatting with Dave Jackson from the infamous school of
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podcasting. If you were thinking about starting a show or need help with
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yours, you will not find a kinder,
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gentler, more experienced person in the space to help
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you out with. And, of course, set a podcasting a pod page, which we
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already include a link to pod page in our show notes every week, because that's
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what we use for our website. Can't say enough good things about that platform
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and the team over there. New features coming around all the
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time now, it seems like. I feel like every few weeks I'm seeing you guys
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pop up something new. So, just a great platform to use. Dave
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Jackson, always good to see you. Always good to hear from you. Always good to
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chat with you. Thanks for coming on. Matthew, always great to hang out with you,
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man. Thank you so much. Thanks for joining us today on
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Podcasting Tech. There are links to all the hardware and
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software that help power our guest content and podcasting
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tech available in the show notes and on our website at
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podcastingtech.com. You can also subscribe to the show on your
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favorite platform, connect with us on social media, and even leave a rating and review
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while you're there. Thanks, and we'll see you next time on Podcasting
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Tech.
Dave Jackson
Founder / Head of Podcasting
Dave Jackson is a trailblazer in the world of podcasting, having shaped the industry long before it became mainstream. In 2005, he founded the School of Podcasting, a cornerstone resource for aspiring podcasters. With over 2.7 million downloads of his show, Dave has guided hundreds of individuals in planning, launching, and growing their podcasts, earning him a reputation as a trusted mentor and educator.
A respected authority, Dave spent eight years at Libsyn before joining PodPage in 2024 as Head of Podcasting. There, he has introduced innovative tools like audience surveys, helping podcasters deepen their connection with listeners.
Beyond his technical expertise, Dave is known for fostering a vibrant podcasting community. His book, Profit from Your Podcast, and his frequent speaking engagements highlight his dedication to sharing knowledge and empowering others. In 2018, his contributions were honored with induction into the Academy of Podcasters Hall of Fame. Today, Dave Jackson remains a driving force, inspiring podcasters to create meaningful and impactful content.