Podcasting for Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Chapter 17. Podcasting for Passion

In This Chapter

• Connecting with the passion of the cast

• Asking, "Why do we do it?"

• Keeping the passion alive in your own podcast

Our mission from the beginning of this book has been to fill you in on what a podcast is, demystify the technical aspects of getting your voice heard on media players around the world, and assure you that those with the drive to make their message happen can do it, with the right tools. But a podcast is empty if you don't have that drive, that passion to get your podcast up and running and keep it running, whether the episode goes out every week, every other week, or every month. We drop that word a lot in the previous chapters: passion. What do we mean by "podcasting with passion"?

Okay, if you take the dictionary as a starting point, passion means "a keen interest in a particular subject or activity, or the object of somebody's intense interest or enthusiasm." You can have state-of-the-art audio equipment, hire the most engaging vocal talent, and employ the best engineers, but that isn't what makes a podcast a podcast. The artists and creativity behind a podcast make an investment — not simply financial or physical — and collect the windfall in listener feedback and download stats.

Yes, a podcast can make money, promote a cause, or bring attention to social issues, but without that passion, you might as well sit behind a microphone and read the instruction manual to your mobile phone. Passion is what motivates relative unknowns ...