Improve your X Factor for Health & Wellness Podcasting Success

[00:00:00] Have you been podcasting consistently doing everything right, promoting your episodes, and still not getting the results that you want? Common podcasting advice focuses on these mechanics, but rarely addresses the intangibles. It is possible that there is something more required, perhaps something a little more elusive.

[00:00:19] I haven’t heard anyone else talk about this, and I think it’s a disservice to podcasters and perhaps even misleading to some degree. So today we are gonna be talking about how you can improve your podcasts X Factor. This is profits through podcasting where we help health-focused entrepreneurs generate leads and revenue for their businesses through podcasting.

[00:00:40] I’m your host, Joel Oliver. So what is an X factor? It’s a special quality that makes someone or something stand out. It is that elusive something or charm that’s hard to describe or pinpoint, but it has a powerful impact. You know, like a star quality in performers or celebrities. I’ve thought a lot about this when it comes to podcasting and content creation, because you might see several podcasts with most things being equal, but one just happens to be a lot more popular.

[00:01:11] For some reason, and it could be all kinds of reasons, like maybe they had a viral video or they were just one of the first podcasts to start on the topic. Or of course if there’s some sort of celebrity or public figure. But like I said, let’s assume all else is equal. What other things could have an effect?

[00:01:29] Let’s just say you’re doing everything as well as you can. By the podcasting playbook, you’re following all the best rules and advice. You’re being consistent, you’re promoting it, but over time, you’re just still finding, you’re not really getting the traction that you want. It feels like it’s not happening.

[00:01:43] The failure, of course could be due to a whole bunch of different things, but I do wanna focus today on the X factor aspect. As with most advice, this is going to play a role in success, but it’s not the end all, be all. It is just one of many things that you want to be executing properly in order to give your podcast the best chances of success.

[00:02:04] I think this is a very important piece of the puzzle and as I mentioned at the start of the show, I don’t really hear it talked about too much, and without acknowledging this, uh, I think it’s easy for podcast production providers like US coaches, companies who launch podcasts, anyone whose business revolves around podcasting, I think it’s easy for them to get into the business of.

[00:02:23] Selling dreams or oversimplifying. You know, if you just be consistent and show up every week and do your SEO, you’re gonna have a massive audience, thousands of listeners, all your dreams will come true. And in my experience, that’s not the reality. Okay? Sometimes it just doesn’t really work out and we’re left questioning why, and that’s where we come to this X factor discussion today.

[00:02:46] I think this can be a part of it that shouldn’t be overlooked. So how can the X factor be applicable to a podcast host in the health and wellness space? I think there are definitely some aspects of it that are right there within the definition. It’s difficult to put your finger on. Some people have it and some people don’t.

[00:03:04] So we’ve got that to contend with, do you have it or do you not? But let’s think about what is in our control here. How does this look then for health and wellness podcasters? What actually makes up the X factor that we could try and hone in our skills on and get better at and improve our X factor overall, and not just accept that you either have it or you don’t.

[00:03:26] So the first one, personality and likability. How you make your listeners feel? Is it inspired? Is it understood? Is it motivated? Are you an inspiring figure or whatever would be relevant to your audience or appreciated by your audience. It doesn’t necessarily have to be inspiring, but whatever it is. Are you that to your audience?

[00:03:46] If you were a coach, does your audience feel like you are a very genuine and comfortable and non-judgmental person to talk with and work with? Or do you have some sort of wall up that’s hiding this when you are in front of the camera or the microphone? Second is storytelling, crafting narratives that resonate with people, especially in health and wellness.

[00:04:06] Like personal transformation stories are are big ones or struggles that people have gone through that could be clients of yours. And we’ve all been captivated by great storytellers who can seemingly make even the most mundane thing. Interesting. How are your skills with that? And maybe you’re even thinking, well, I don’t tell stories.

[00:04:24] You know, my podcast is about facts and information, but I’d be willing to bet that whatever you talk about could be enhanced by adding some sort of stories or a little bit of flare, or at least just by improving your storytelling and speaking skills, you would end up communicating in a more interesting way, even if it is mostly just knowledge and facts.

[00:04:44] You can be more concise, you can just be more entertaining or interesting to listen to. However it is, you know, there’s lots of benefits to have from being aware of storytelling and having those skills dialed in. Next one would be authenticity, being genuine, especially in this niche of health and wellness where trust is really, really important.

[00:05:05] Are you truly being yourself? Or again, when you turn on the mic and camera, do you shy away from being your true self and you’re acting more like a stiff news anchor on tv, or adding an awkward laugh or other behaviors that you wouldn’t really be doing in your day-to-day life or when you’re comfortable around your family or friends.

[00:05:24] swearing is an example of this. some of our clients like to swear in their episodes, and that can be good. That can be bad. And even though I’m saying to be authentic, maybe you’re a doctor doing a health related episode, there’s not really any need to swear, you know?

[00:05:39] So that’s an interesting one because it’s not fully you, but it can still be you with perhaps some decorum on there. one thing about that type of thing is it is polarizing. You know, if you are really in the place where you’re able to say, I don’t wanna work with anyone who is not a 110% match for. If they think this is offensive, I don’t want anything to do with them.

[00:06:01] In those cases, that’s a really cool way to filter the type of people that you wanna work with or, you know, relate that to anything talking about a certain subject, whatever it is for you. some of those things can just help screen people, but also make the show more relatable. So, backing off from, let’s say swearing, let’s just talk about like, uh, the same music.

[00:06:19] For example, if I hear a host happen to mention something about a song or a group that they like, and I like that, well, hey, cool, I know that about them now. And it’s just something little that we can relate on and I got to know them faster. same with swearing. They get to know someone really fast.

[00:06:33] Whoa, that person’s saying that I don’t want anything to do with that. Or, wow, that person is so cool. I want to be like that. I want to be fearless like that I’m in. Right? You’re just helping people make a decision faster, so there’s that aspect to it, and then just that, that overall authenticity, Can do so much, and it’s so important these days. However, that is, if people feel like you’re not being your true self or you’re just not showing your true self, the parts of you that people could really like, you’re not helping yourself. people can’t be passionate about a podcast like that if you’re just a very generic figure and not really being you with some of those, let’s say guardrails in place to help, you know, keep it, keep it appropriate for what you’re doing.

[00:07:15] But anyway, food for thought on that. And then finally, chemistry with co-hosts or guests. Are you asking interesting questions? Are you sparking memorable moments? Are you having a natural dialogue and really listening to them, or does it seem more scripted and robotic? One place I see this come up sometimes is the guest on a podcast.

[00:07:36] We’ll say something very interesting. About their life. Like a little tidbit of something that as a listener, I think, oh, I would love to know more about that. That’s really odd. What’s, what’s the deal there? But the host, instead of paying attention and listening, was really just rehearsing in their head what to say next, or looking at their notes or something like that.

[00:07:55] And they completely miss it. And then they just move on. And it’s like the guests may have been very vulnerable and put something out there that the audience wanted to hear more about, and the host just moves on to the next question in their list. That kind of thing. You know, that’s. That’s not gonna do you much help, but when you are picking up on those little things and you are listening and really digging deep to what the guest has to offer, whatever the conversation is about, that is something that would increase your X factor and make people say, that person is a really good interviewer.

[00:08:24] Or On this podcast, I hear different insights that I don’t get everywhere else. So those four, those are some considerations on what you could think about to improve. Your X factor, but as we’ve been saying, it can all be a little difficult to really understand and pin down what or how you can improve.

[00:08:41] So that’s a, a bit to think about. Now, with those in mind, let’s talk a bit about how we could actually approach this. Like those are some of the things that we could work on, but how do we even know if we need to improve in those areas or what is the biggest priority for us? So let’s think about that.

[00:08:58] First way we could approach this is to self-reflect. Listen back to some of your episodes and analyze your tone, your energy, and your delivery, and, and ask yourself, would I wanna listen to this myself? You know, if you try to put on the whole episode, do you remain engaged or you just get bored? do you just tune it out because it’s kind of monotone and something is just not?

[00:09:19] Great about it. Not special about it. You know, that’s a, that’s a great way to find out, even if you hate listening to yourself. That’s just something you’ve gotta do. It’s a great exercise. Second would be audience feedback. We’ve got an audience, hopefully, so get some honest input from listeners or peers about what makes your show unique to them.

[00:09:38] And I stress someone you can get an honest opinion from because so many people, it’s just the way we are. We don’t wanna hurt feelings. We don’t want to insult someone or offend someone. If I come to you and ask what my, what you think of my podcast, you might say it’s great when in reality you didn’t find it good at all.

[00:09:56] You’re just trying to make me feel better. But no, that’s not useful to anyone. You know, honesty is highly valuable because you can’t improve based on everyone just telling you, oh, it’s great, keep it up. You know, you need some real feedback. So an honest person can really give you that. someone whose opinion you value as well in terms of they would be an ideal client or they have expertise that you would like or they’re living the life they want some, something like that as well.

[00:10:22] It’s not ideal to go get feedback from everybody in your family that doesn’t know anything about what you’re talking about, or again, they’re just trying to be nice. So it should be someone whose opinion is actually of value to you. And someone who can be honest. So find some people like that and have them listen to your podcast.

[00:10:38] You know, when I’m working with clients, I’m happy to give honest feedback like that as well, but that’s a great way to go about it. And even if you are hearing feedback from people on the whole, just consider what are you hearing? A lot of. Yeah, don’t just make drastic changes to your podcast based on single individual comments that have nothing to do with each other.

[00:10:56] I’ve heard that and seen that happen over the years. I got one complaint, I’m changing everything. You know, it, it doesn’t even make sense. So be careful and selective about the feedback you act on, but still see that as a resource. In helping you understand what you could prioritize to improve the X factor of you and your podcast.

[00:11:16] Next one, think about your vocal and presentation skills, so your pacing, your clarity, and the emotional resonance that it’s having with the audience. You could take a public speaking or a storytelling course for something like this, but maybe it’s not a high priority for you. Maybe what you’re doing is already great.

[00:11:32] I would say in most cases. Having a better understanding of that type of thing. How to speak well and present well, could be helpful. It may actually be detrimental in some cases, so it’s not a blanket rule, and I’m not even saying that you need to speak in a certain way because what we really want these days is to be natural, but also clear and interesting.

[00:11:52] We don’t wanna be putting it on for the microphone. It’s good to smile because the microphone can tend to strip a bit of that away, and you can end up sounding really dull and boring in some cases.

[00:12:02] So smile. But we’re not overdoing it. We’re not trying to sound fake. We just wanna be natural, but talking in a clear way, not too slow, not too fast. All these things are important, but still keeping that natural, and this is something you can dial in over time, but again, listening back to your own stuff and taking feedback from other people will help you determine if this is something that could be a priority for you.

[00:12:25] But in almost all cases, it would be nice to at least take a look at some tips, maybe some videos on good vocal and presentation skills, and just see if there’s anything you could learn from those. Next experiment. Just try different things. Try new formats. Try a special series or different episode styles to see what might spark connection or something you really enjoy doing, or something you found you didn’t like doing.

[00:12:50] It’ll just help open your eyes. To different things, new things that might help you and create a better show for your listeners. You can also get inspired from other podcasts that you like. They don’t even need to be in the same space. You hear an idea on one podcast of completely unrelated subject matter and you try to take that to your podcast and make it your own, might turn out really cool, might be very unique, so think about that as well.

[00:13:15] Experimentation.

[00:13:16] lastly here, I will say, be more vulnerable without even assessing it. We could almost all. Benefit from this based on what I’ve seen. So sharing personal stories to build trust, like your own wellness journey or your experience with a certain regimen or something funny that perhaps slightly embarrassing that happened, or anything that you feel comfortable with.

[00:13:37] You would be surprised by the types of things that resonate with listeners. I’m not saying to just talk about any old mundane thing from your life that has no relevance to anyone, but especially having experienced what your target audience is experiencing or being in the same demographic or life stages them, or if you tell a story or anecdote from life that they could really relate to.

[00:13:59] This works wonders. For building comfort and trust. You know, some of my personal favorite podcast hosts, I just kind of enjoy them talking about everyday stuff because they’re just funny the way they say it or they’re relatable and kinda opens my eyes to thinking, yeah, I never thought about that.

[00:14:14] You know, the, the airport lineup. That was funny. So I like hearing that stuff personally, but using that sparingly and properly within your episodes, not even sparingly, depending on how. You’re doing it or what the content is, you know, might be a big part of your episodes, but it can really help you connect and build trust with people who are considering working with you.

[00:14:35] And now they’ll be certain because of that, I really have to work with this person ’cause of this. And they might tell you on a call, Hey, I heard that story you’d mentioned, or this happened to you. That’s so funny, or thank you so much for sharing that. You know, I thought I was the only one that happened to, so it’s hard to go wrong by being more vulnerable.

[00:14:52] That’s why I put this here as a step, because you could just do it. You don’t even really need to think about it. Uh, I think we could all probably do more of that. So at this point, I’ve given you some considerations to think about. In terms of what contributes to your X factor, and then we talked about how you may be able to go about identifying, which could be good for you to focus on specifically since it’s not gonna be the same for everybody.

[00:15:17] Now, some of this may even feel daunting since it can require self-awareness and perhaps a lot of effort to actually improve something, or maybe even challenging because you’re averse to making some of these changes, or maybe you like keeping to yourself and you don’t want to be vulnerable, but. This X factor stuff is very important.

[00:15:33] In podcasting, you could do everything else well, but nothing is guaranteed. Of course, nothing is ever guaranteed. But if you’re doing your SEO and you’re releasing every week that, that kind of stuff, the technical stuff, but your content is coming across as mundane or inauthentic, or you’re just boring or annoying to listen to, or you know the same as every everything else, you’re really gonna have a tough time cutting through the noise because if someone discovers the episode.

[00:15:59] They’re just gonna turn it off. They’re not gonna subscribe. They’re gonna be gone. So this is like a big important factor in retaining people who do actually discover your show. Now, don’t neglect those fundamentals that I talked about, like the consistency, your audio quality is another important one.

[00:16:14] Properly written titles that intrigue people in show notes. That’s all important. Like I said, this is just one. This is like a spoke on a wheel. This is one factor that we just don’t talk about enough. You should always be realistic about your audience size as well when it comes to assessing your podcast performance.

[00:16:32] We don’t need hundreds of thousands of listeners for your podcast to be able to thrive and drive business growth and attract your ideal clients. What we do want is to ensure that the content we put out is engaging and valuable to those types of people, those right people, and that you’re making every effort on all fronts to be the type of podcast that they look forward to every week, and that you are top of mind.

[00:16:57] When it comes to your niche and what you can offer them, these health and wellness podcasts, they thrive on loyal, engaged audiences. Listeners, of course, have a ton to pick from. So you wanna make sure that they pick you for your uniqueness, your engaging content, and your, your personality, your authenticity, all those things.

[00:17:16] We want to have that in top shape.

[00:17:18] And also remember, this is a journey. Don’t feel overwhelmed. If you heard a lot on this list today that you think you need to improve on, you realize, oh, no, I, I suck at all of that. This is terrible. No wonder my podcast isn’t growing. Don’t think about it like that. This is a journey. Don’t give up. Just prioritize, like I said here.

[00:17:36] Pick out the things that you think are perhaps most important for you to work on right away, or maybe even, the easiest for you to get. Some results from right away that could be easiest to fix. And Once you’ve prioritized, just then get going. Determine what should be addressed first, what order you’re gonna address things in, how you’re gonna tackle it, and just take one step at a time. Doesn’t need to be an overnight evolution. It’s not going to be, it’s impossible. This is just something we can improve upon over time.

[00:18:05] These types of things are what we talk about here at East Coast Studio. With our most dedicated clients, we do quarterly coaching calls where we review their goals, we talk about their progress. We assess some of their past episodes and create a game plan for the next quarter. This helps ensure that their podcasts are working towards helping achieve their business goals.

[00:18:24] This, of course, is in addition to a complete done for you podcast production service where our clients simply record their episodes. We do the rest, we do all the editing, the show notes, the uploading the social media clips. We do everything. They don’t have to worry. They can get back to running their business and what is most important to them.

[00:18:42] If this sounds like something that you are ready for. Book a call with me. There’s a link in the show notes. I’d be happy to chat further. Thanks for listening and we’ll catch you next time.