Do We Need to Champion Spoken-Word Audio in a World of Video Hype?
I’ve never made it over to any of the US podcasting events, but I try to keep an eye out for trends and takeaways. In April, one word seemed to dominate Podcast Movement Evolutions in Chicago.
Video.
Listening to the episode of Buzzcast that dropped shortly afterwards, Alban Brooke commented that, “One of the things that rubbed me the wrong way in the event, though, was the just unrelenting talk about video.”
I’d recommend listening to the episode for a more nuanced take on the Buzzsprout team’s thoughts. Suffice it to say that I went to The Podcast Show London with a feeling that this trend might continue. So we took some mics down and decided to ask as many people as we could about it.
This wasn’t a “video vs audio” thing, though. In my experience, almost everyone agrees that video is a part of podcasting and has its own benefits.
It isn’t about one or the other.
Instead, the focus was on spoken-word audio itself. More specifically, do we need to work harder to preserve or even champion this medium?
Was it possible to ask such a question without it being “loaded”? I’m not so sure, but I tried.
Thankfully, there was no shortage of kind and patient people who were happy to offer their own views on the future of spoken-word audio.
The answers threw up many different perspectives, but also a lot of common ground. Ultimately, the main goal here is to ensure audio stays front and centre of the podcasting conversation.
Wait, does that mean the question was loaded, after all? 😂
Anyway, enough from me. Let’s see what a small but hugely respected sample of the industry is saying:
James Cridland (Podnews)
“The reason why podcasting is so successful is that it’s something for the ears when your eyes are busy… If we forget that, then I think we make a mistake for where the future is going.”
Ana Ratala (RedCircle)
“There’s a reason why podcasts became such a huge and important medium and continues to grow… because people want to be away from their screens.”
Joel Pearlman (Riverside.fm)
“It’s still that collaboration between your imagination and the creator, and you kind of put the two things together, and you get to make the story up in your head.”
Carl Hartley (University of Leeds)
“Tonight I’ll be on the train, closed eyes, building those pictures in my mind, not having to watch what somebody’s saying… I think that for audio podcasting, we need to preserve that and we need to celebrate that and don’t lose that uniqueness of a podcast that is audio.”
Abisoye Adelusi (A1 Content Studios London)
“There are certain genres of storytelling that audio only beats… Not every podcast needs visuals in a long form sense… you can create short social clips to promote your podcast on socials.”
Pete Donaldson (Stak)
“Spoken word stuff kind of is the last bastion of discoverability for the sake of discoverability and word of mouth… video is just dominated by YouTube and the algorithm which makes our life terrible.”
Jay Nachlis (Coleman Insights)
“Audio consumption in the areas that should be going up is going up… Walking and exercising, on the go, at work—audio numbers are going up.”
Sarah Golding (Indie AF)
“If you say within fiction, imagine a super amazing spaceship, everyone will imagine a very different one. And that’s why I love it.”
Young Zhao (OpusClip)
“People right now should definitely cherish video format instead of audio… you can create high quality video podcasts… that’s gonna bring you 10x or even 100x in terms of traffic, in terms of followers and… revenue.”
Lauren Passell (Podcast Marketing Magic)
“I’m a champion of good conversations and good audio. For that to happen, you don’t need video. I think good things happen when we aren’t watching and we’re just thinking about the words being spoken.”
Naomi Wing (Blueprint Studio)
“I always listen to them, I don’t really watch them. But then at the same time, I suppose if there was someone that I’m really interested in and wanted to see how they connect with people, what their mannerisms are, it’s quite an interesting perspective to get.”
Jack Drury (Shure)
“You can probably do the video a bit badly… but if you do the same with the audio, you’ve lost.”
Kaleem Willock (Tipalti)
“Spoken word is key and it’s always going to be key… It is purely and simply the easiest form of communication and it gives people the opportunity to listen, learn whilst doing something else.”
Louise Lambert (Reviewed & Cleared)
“In today’s busy world, audio definitely has a really important role to play… I think it can help people to switch off.”
Garry Aylott (Captivate.fm)
“You don’t have to sit down with a cup of tea and a meal and fire up YouTube. You can go and listen through the back catalogue at your own pace.”
Tavia Gilbert (The Podcast Academy)
“Audio is the most intimate medium… it cannot compete with the power of the spoken word that is our birthright as humans… if the audio is not powerful first, then I think you have not a lot of substance.”
Justin Jackson (Transistor)
“What makes podcasting unique? At its core, it’s audio first… there’s this moment right now… to position audio podcasting as: here’s a way you can escape all of this addictive stuff on your phone.”
Izabela Russell (Music Radio Creative)
“It’s really hard to discover good content and it’s even harder when it’s audio… because we don’t have the luxury of amazing algorithm like YouTube.”
Todd Cochrane (Blubrry)
“If you’re a new creator just starting out… you don’t have to do video… it’s the best time to be an audio podcaster… there’s still a huge opportunity there.”
Alec Trunley (RedCircle)
“I’m personally an audio only listener… I work with tons of shows who have strong video audiences… but audio has always had its own place.”
Dan Kendall (Health Podcast Network)
“Audio is still critically important because you’re spending time with them in their kitchens, in their cars, while they’re exercising… the audience experience really lends itself to an audio first experience.”
Felix Trench (Wooden Overcoats)
“We’ll always be chopping carrots at 6:30… Encouraging people to keep using those podcast feeds and make sure that there is an audio version out there.”
Ian Prowse (Vortex)
“Most of the content is in the audio… what people say that matters… not where they are, not what they look like.”
Bethany Jane (Music Radio Creative)
“I think your focus is really drawn when you’re just listening to something.”
Sarah McDowell (Podcast Consultant)
“When I first started podcasting, video wasn’t even on my radar because I wanted to… figure out.”
Clayton M Coke (The Cashflow Show)
“Spoken word audio will never ever go out of fashion… hearing somebody tell their story is the most powerful thing… it’s three chords and the truth.”
Kevin Field (Think Listener)
“Think audio first. Think listening… There are many slate of video podcasts where the audio is dreadful… The visuality for the listener’s not there… it’s not painting pictures with words.”
Jeremy Enns (Podcast Marketing Academy)
“Podcasting is where he goes to escape the internet… It’s more immersive, it’s more slow… audio podcasting is already there… this offers something totally unique and disconnected in a really great way.”
A massive thanks to all who took the time to respond. Remember, these are just small “quotables” and you’ll get everyone’s full thoughts (in the spoken word!) on the latest episode of Podcraft.
If you have something to say on the matter, please send us a voice message, and we can continue the conversation in a future episode!
