5 Ways to Improve Your Christian Podcast

I love listening to podcasts. In fact, I’ve listened to them since the mid-2000s, when they were still in their infancy. Normally I stick to my favorites, but every now and then I give a new one a try. And occasionally I find podcasts that are incredibly promising in their title and lackluster in their content and execution.

As tempting as it sometimes is to vent my frustrations online, I’m working to push past this and reframe it as an opportunity to create something helpful. So I would like to turn a recent example of a podcast gone bad into an opportunity to build up and encourage. Here are five things I was recently reminded are important for a podcast. They are not the only things worth doing, and they may not apply in all cases, but they are worth noting before you plan your next session.

1. Be prepared to host

Clear communication is a must in any format, but when you are hosting a conversation, there is a specific role that you play. You have, to my mind, three main tasks: introduce the subject, introduce the guests or co-hosts, and guide the conversation.

The first two are tasks you can prepare for. What excites you about this subject? What about it makes it worth sharing with others? Why did you invite the guests you have? Don’t just know the answers to these questions; refine them so that you could boil each down to a single, clear, compelling statement. Memorize them. Make sure you believe them. You could script the whole introduction if you have to, but you should never be fumbling for words.

Guiding the conversation requires being able to improvise. Yes, you should start with a plan, but be prepared for it to go off-track. Listen actively, prepare follow-up questions, encourage and affirm. If there is an opportunity to connect, take it, but remember your job is to highlight what they have said rather than turn the spotlight on yourself. If you have more than one conversation partner, be aware of how long it has been since the other person has talked and invite them into the moment if needed.

When it comes to the plan, instead of planning a list of topics, reframe them as questions. This keeps the conversation going, especially if your questions are open-ended and focused. They should be the kind of question your guests can answer without doing additional research. Personal experience is always an easy place to start. And make sure the questions are the kinds that you care about, questions that spark your curiosity. That way they are more likely to have the same effect on others.

2. Invite complementary guests

It is nice to agree. But it’s not always very interesting. Some go to the opposite extreme and look for the fight, like so many political programs over the past 30 years. To some degree, the mix of guests depends on the format. What kind of program are you trying to create? But I would argue that, in general, the best conversations are among people who agree on the fundamentals and have different perspectives to add to the topic.

Instead of simply asking “who knows about this?” or “who has an opinion on this?” think about where your prospective guests are coming from. Is their experience from the same professional context? The same era or generation? The same church or denominational context? The same ethnic background? The same gender? The same expertise? Do they share the same conclusions about the topic or question at hand? Some differences turn out to be more superficial than others, so look for areas where you know none of your other prospects could tell you what this person can tell you. If you find yourself inviting people who are the same on every front, you had better hope that they are very interesting speakers, because the lack of conflict and diversity will become an obstacle to overcome. However, they should still agree on the fundamentals of the conversation, otherwise those deeper disagreements will threaten to steal the show.

3. Keep Scripture in context

The heart of this insight should work for any subject, but it’s especially important when examining a passage of Scripture. There is no point in debating a Bible verse unless you know its immediate context and its canonical context. The immediate context is essential for knowing what is being said. “Jesus wept” may tell you a fact, but you will not know what it means or what to do with it unless you know the context.

The canonical context keeps that passage in the context of Scripture more broadly, bringing with it an awareness of other things the Spirit of God may have explained elsewhere. You cannot say your passage affirms or denies something without also looking around to make sure it has not been clarified or qualified elsewhere. Where do we see your topic exemplified? Where is it explicitly mentioned? Are there related concepts that have been addressed in ways that impact your topic? This is not about pitting Scripture against Scripture. By no means! It is about keeping your interpretation and its implications within the guardrails of safe exegesis. If your topic is dealt with in more than one place, you should be aware of all the places it is mentioned even if they are not the focus of your discussion. God will not contradict Himself. Make sure the implications you draw don’t contradict Him either.

4. Know the field behind your topic

There is a temptation with podcasts that is common to blogging: it’s so easy, just do it! Hit record and start talking. The “win” is anything that results in a file you can share. But a podcast worth listening to either needs content that is grounded in reality or an exceptionally interesting person behind the microphone. You might be able to get away with riffing if you possess a certain kind of genius or panache. But let’s assume you don’t. Before you hit record, you should research the subjects you plan to talk about, or at least have researched them in the past. In some ways, this is a continuation of the previous point: know what you might call the professional context.

Without at least a passing awareness of the field, you are in danger of asking questions that have already been answered, providing answers that have already been debunked, or leveling charges that don’t hold water. If you don’t know much about it, your guests should, otherwise you should probably pick a different topic.

This becomes complicated when you consider the beautiful way that knowledge intersects with multiple fields. It may be that your subject can be treated from a number of different angles. It is necessary to know at least one of them. It is beneficial if you can bring people together who know more of them. But it is vital that you do not raise questions about the angles you have not studied. Don’t open the door unless you have someone qualified to give you a tour of what’s on the other side.

5. Be careful about tone

Of all the things I’ve said thus far, this one feels the most controversial. I say this because when I have raised it as an issue in the past, I have gotten pushback. First of all, let me be clear: someone’s tone has no bearing on the truthfulness of the information they share. Truth can be found in obnoxious, disappointing, and downright evil places. Lies can be found in sweet, inviting, unassuming, and truly good places. The source and tone are not a guarantee one way or the other.

However, tone is relevant when it comes to values. Tone embodies and communicates, among other things, the values of the speaker. This is why I bristle at people who share the truth in an appalling way: their willingness to be appalling is a value communicated alongside the propositions that they share, and it is difficult to accept the message without also approving of the values that come with it. The more I accept the way truth is being delivered, the more I am being shaped by it. Its values are working on mine whether I want them to or not and whether I realize it or not.

How do you carry yourself on your show? Are you flippant? Mocking? Angry? Defensive? Just like the instrument colors the note with its own timbre, so your tone colors your message. Make sure your tone fits the content. And if it is always angry or always mocking, ask yourself whether the content demands that or whether you are biased in this area. Do you intend to teach others to mock? Do you intend to make your listeners angry? Is the answer is yes, I wonder whether we need your contribution.

In a good conversation you might forget yourself and act naturally, and so there will no doubt be times that your true feelings come out in a way that you later wish you had censored. That is understandable. But learning to listen at the level of tone and correct over time will go a long way to creating the kind of program that not only shares the truth but the values that can and should go along with it.

Conclusion

A podcast is a great opportunity to produce content that teaches, entertains, or inspires. If you are going to put in the time to create a show, put in a little extra to make it better. There is an endless sea of podcasts out there, many by professional communicators with a budget for top-quality production. Your listeners will forgive you for not sounding like the big league players. But if the fundamental elements of the podcast—the content and its delivery—are lacking, they will only give you so many chances. And if no one knows who you are, the number of chances might just be one.