“Less is more,” says Louise Cornetta, a program director at ESPN, where she specializes in podcasts dedicated to sports. She spoke to the New York City Santas on April 5, 2021 in a virtual session called “Podcasting Dos and Don’ts.”

For Santas wanting to produce their own radio-style shows, like the Santa Cast Podcast, Louise recommends keeping programs short and conversational. Fans tend to leave a program after the hour mark, so if you only have 20 minutes of an interview, use it. Your audience will appreciate your brevity.

Also, “it isn’t enough just to be a Santa,” she says. You have to stand out from the millions of other shareable audible programs by having an angle and a personal connection to the audience. ESPN’s Katie Nolan, for example, hosts the popular show “Sports?”, a weekly podcast featuring interviews with comedians, scientists, and all sorts of other sports fans. People respond to Nolan’s friendliness and her “tangential” coverage.

Below are 7 tips for successfully launching your own audio series, perhaps something along the line of “A Day in the Life of Santa”:

1. Don’t spend more than $100. All you need is a medium-priced mic. Try free editing software like Audacity. 

2. Decide on a platform. Try popular ones like Spotify or Apple.

3. Record sessions for the future. Anticipate not having time to do a podcast in December. Schedule programs now that will go live later on.

4. Learn how to “verbal font.” Because your listeners can’t see you, repeat your guest’s names frequently, as in “What do you think of that, Santa Bob?” and “Thank you for asking, Santa Pete.”

5. Get feedback from your audience. Set up free voicemail boxes for your fans to record their responses to your program. Use Twitter to send out polls that garner audience engagement.

6. Push out your content. Once you have finished a podcast, post it on Twitter to build awareness. Make a short video snippet of your recording session on Zoom and post to Instagram with a link to your podcast.

7. Listen to other podcasts and cross promote. Fans love to hear recommendations for related podcasts. One of the best ways to gain an audience is by having your podcast advertised on another related podcast. Reach out to hosts of your favorite Claus-friendly programs. See if they will advertise your program on theirs.

Upcoming Meetings

Stay tuned for our May 3 meeting about how to avoid wardrobe malfunctions and stay cool under all your Santa gear. To sign up and learn more about our guest Kathryn Rohe, a Broadway dresser, read Join Our Santa Costume Conversation: Never Bunch Up Again. We will be taking off the month of June in hopes of meeting in person in July for Christmas in July.

Past Meetings

Congratulations to our recent guest Ann Shapiro for her 20 years with Connecticut Storytelling Center. In case you missed our March meet, read Storytelling Gets Real with Ann Shapiro.