Sjsilver's guide to making a good pinball podcast:

1: Get to the point. The best podcasts jump right in. Short theme songs are sometimes welcome, but no one wants to listen to the full cut of your favorite song of the week. Spend no more than 2 sentences discussing what you are going to talk about on the show. I shouldn't have to skip ahead 15 minutes before I get to any actual content. The average commute in this country is about 30 minutes, so make the most of the attention of your audience.

2: Score good interviews if you can, and don't waste them. Yes, we can all get a little hero-worship-y with our favorite pinball designers, but spending half the interview just heaping praise on them is awkward and doesn't provide your audience with any new information. Ask good interesting questions, be respectful, and keep the hero worship to a minimum.

3: Be well prepared and avoid filler material. A strong half hour is worlds better than a weak hour and a half of content.

4: Seek out honest feedback. You'll find plenty of people who will just heap praise on you for even doing a podcast for a niche audience, but if something isn't working, try your hardest to find out what it is. Plenty of podcast have gone through lots of experimentation trying to find formats and segments that worked, but the ones that keep getting downloads are the ones who are able to listen to their audience and eliminate or tweak the things that aren't working.

My favorite pinball podcast was the later topcast podcasts where Clay conducted excellent interviews. He got right to the point, kept the hero-worship to a minimum, was well prepared, and every episode was super interesting and informative (assuming the "Special Guest" had interesting stuff to say). If the podcast is just a "2-3 people shooting the S#!t" format, it still is best to have it planned out and well executed rather than just a rambling mess of inside jokes, unless you are professional improv comedians, and even then it can go off the rails.

Keep the podcasts coming, keep experimenting, Keep breaking news and educating listeners, and above all, keep soliciting feedback to make your show the best it can be. Make us want to listen to you because you make a great podcast first and foremost, not solely because of the niche content.

-Love,

Sjsilver, podcast fan.