Podcasts can be terrific, especially if:
- You enjoy listening to audio
- You’re able to process information that way (as opposed to reading it)
- You’ve got the time to listen
Whether it’s radio, CDs, books on tape or podcasts, most listening is done in the car while driving. As someone who works in a home office, I don’t have a daily commute — unless walking back and forth to the coffee maker counts.
So I don’t have much opportunity to enjoy podcasts. I’m often interested in the topic, but just don’t want spend 10 or 20 or 30 minutes listening. So here’s a suggestion for Yaro and all you other podcasters out there:
Provide a written summary of your main points
Time is precious. Many people just don’t have time for podcasts. So summarize what you said. Maybe then I’ll listen.
That’s also the reason why I’ve all but given up on audio books. I can flip through a book and zero in on the sections I want to focus on. I’ve zipped through entire books in a few hours and gotten 80% of the content. A lot of us get more information in 10 min of skimming printed material than 30 minutes of listening.
Most people speak fairly slowly — only about 250 words per minute. But a lot of us can read twice or three times as fast. So give us the good stuff in a quick summary.
What do you think? When it comes to business material, do you prefer listening to reading?