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Your favourite podcaster begins their show with this story:

"You're walking along a street when you see a lady beckoning you. You don't know exactly what she wants but she has a kind face, so you head over to her.

She opens her bag and tilts it to you so you can see what's inside. You can tell she's on her way home from the market because the bag is STUFFED with tasty goods.

Fruits, vegetables, treats, it's all there.

You could make a feast".

As simple as that story is, it's an illustration of the power of podcasting.

I gave you the bones of the story, but you're adding the flesh.

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☑️ The street? It's probably similar to one you've seen before. The lady with the kind face? She might look like someone you know.

☑️ The bag? Could be a backpack, could be a Gucci purse.

☑️ The fruits, vegetables and treats? Mangos, broccoli, chocolate, fine wines... you're subconsciously filling in those details.

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And because your brain is biased to create details from the things you already know, the story feels personal to you.

This is the foundation of the intimate, meaningful relationship we find in podcasting. The story is our story so we treasure it all the more.

This email is part inspired by this fantastic article on what podcasts do to your brain, part a continuation of my email from last week about video podcasting.

According to researchers at University College London, although study participants believed that video impacted them more when they consumed audio vs video content, their physiological responses told a different tale. They were more stimulated by hearing the story without visuals, which the researchers credited to the "co-creation" process of hearing a story and mentally filling in details from your personal experience.

By supplying your audience with ready-made visuals, you're depriving them of the chance to imagine the world you're talking to them about, one that's furnished with their experiences, hopes, desires and beliefs.

I also want to give some space here to shout out to the amazing Justin Peters of Simple Podcast Studios who responded to my last email with the great point that videos also rack up your online storage costs and slow down your file processing times, which is something for cash-strapped and time-short podcasters to consider.

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As I said last week, I'm not anti-video podcasting.

But if the thing that's stopping you from making a podcast is the thought that it also needs to be a video, banish that thought.

Let your listeners make your podcast their own.

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Have a great day!

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~Sarah at CopyHop~

Like this email? Then hop on over to my ​website​! I've got ​blog posts about podcasting​, plus a list of my ​services​ and a handy ​get in touch with me​ page.

If you want to hear more from me, then connect with me on ​LinkedIn​.

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