How can you use voice and tone to build a community of loyal listeners?

Building a community of loyal listeners through voice and tone involves establishing a consistent and relatable style. Use a friendly and authentic tone to connect with your audience, making them feel like they are part of a community. Infuse your unique personality into your voice, creating a distinctive and recognizable brand. Adapt your tone to suit the content and context, whether it's a serious discussion or a lighthearted episode. Encourage listener interaction by asking questions, responding to comments, and incorporating listener feedback into your content. Consistency in voice and tone across episodes fosters familiarity, making your podcast a trusted and enjoyable part of your listeners' routines.

In my experience of interviewing 1000+ guests for our podcast, consistency builds community. Your style develops quickly as a host, to a point where you're comfortable with your approach and the audience knows what they get with you each time. Loyalty comes from continually delivering what your audience expect - quality conversations and insightful content!

As well as defining a style, show your host knows what they’re talking about and therefore proving your podcast is bringing insight to the listener. It's another way of illustrating your relevance and demonstrating your host is an important voice in that space. If you have already broken down your host’s life story it should be easier to demonstrate your host’s knowledge. If not, consider your host’s career, their background, their achievements in life and connect that to the subject matter of the podcast.

The moment I became more honest about mistakes I had made in my industry, the more my voice became trusted by my listeners. We aren't infallible, and it is often our vulnerabilities that our listeners are more likely to be able to connect to. Don't be afraid to be afraid.

Just be you. There's no rule on how to create engaging podcasts. As long as you're highly enthusiastic, your listeners will want to tune in. They can easily notice how interested you are with your topic or theme by the way you speak. If the passion is there, you'll find a niche that wants to keep following your podcast.

“Real recognize real”. You can tell when a host is reading off of a sheet & just wants to get through the episode or if they are really engaged in the conversation. You can hear it in the pitch, pace & tone of their voice. Get excited about whatever you’re talking about!

If hosting an educational podcast, take note of; - What information your sought out when you were newly learning - What questions your listeners may have, be direct and ask them, using software like Speakpipe to record their questions and voicemails.

Humor can be one way of engaging your listeners. It can make your podcast livelier. If you're naturally funny, incorporate that into your podcast. But be aware of culture and other elements so you won't alienate certain demographics. An engaging podcast can easily draw listeners in.

How can you encourage a strong connection between your host & listeners? To a create an invested fanbase they need to connect with the host. If you host reveals a lot about themselves and are genuine listeners can relate & connect. If your host addresses the audience frequently, maybe has a little nickname for the podcast’s listeners, they can forge a connection. If you host encourages listener feedback, or does livestreams regularly with listeners that can strengthen the bond and make audiences feel close to the host. Your listeners are all individual people. Addressing them, speaking to them directly, allowing them to have a direct hand in your show, being open with them will build a deep relationship between host & listener.

Repeating words or phrases creates familiarity and builds your podcast as something distinctive with a ‘brand’. Think about how you use key words and phrases to do this. It's a way to connect with your audience and even make your host & podcast more memorable and engaging for audiences. Podcast host's often begin and end the show saying the same thing they always have. When a phrase is funny and connects with their audiences, good host will have the sense to return to them because their audiences want to hear them again. You can also make merchandise and memes or short form content around these phrases.

Find your unique voice and tone and what makes you comfortable. If you invite your listeners to dive in to your podcast - on social media as well - they will always be entertained and engaged. Even if your podcast is a limited series, you can find ways to keep the interaction going. Ask questions that prompt them to reply on your podcast's Instagram, or do fun polls. More listeners can be brought in, especially if they find your voice and tone engaging and welcoming.

I want to say that audio fiction is making a comeback with scripted shows like Welcome to Night Vale. This enables you to experiment more with your voice and tone. Are you exploring a specific genre? Do you have multiple characters? You can incorporate different vocal qualities to each one, or if you can assemble a cast of voice actors, that can make your podcast stand out even more with many ways of engaging listeners with all the characters you created.

After recording more than 200 episodes, here are some takeaways that have helped me; - Less is more when it comes to scripting out the conversation. Listeners connect more with authentic conversation. Try to follow the conversation rather than sticking to a strict outline. - Less is more when it comes to episode length. Cut out the pre-amble. Skip the fluff and get straight to the stuff. - Some umms are ok, don't cut them all out when editing otherwise the responses can sound robotic. - Talking about yourself can seem like a waste of time, but it helps listeners connect to you. And connection should always come before content.