Have you fallen out of love with your podcast ? Let’s do a little test…
Are you feeling a little bored with your content and lack enthusiasm when it comes to brainstorming new ideas? Perhaps your whole podcasting routine is starting to feel a little stale, and your episodes are severely lacking in luster! This certainly won’t do!
What you need is something to spice up your episodes, bring some new flavor to your podcasting routine, and add a dimension to your show. If you answered a solid “YES” to the above questions, then perhaps, the solution to your problems is finding yourself a co-host.
Someone to be the Rory to your Lorelai, the Bonnie to your Clyde (okay, maybe not exactly the partnership you’re after — that one didn’t end so well) or the Meredith to your Christina.
A co-host is someone who will complement and complete all the great stuff which you already bring to the show, but with a co-host along for the ride, you can take your podcast to a new dimension.
So here are our top 10 reasons why having a podcast co-host is a winning idea!
1. An Experience Shared
We tend to enjoy experiences more when we share them. We take pics on our travels to share with the people back home, and parents capture videos of their babies and toddlers to share on family groups, all the time wishing those loved ones were right here with us in the moment.
The bottom line is that we enjoy experiences more when someone else is there to share the joy. And so if you’ve lost a little of the enjoyment your podcast used to bring you, bringing in a co-host could be the right next move. The experience of tackling new challenges together and overcoming obstacles can breathe new life into you and your show. And while having a co-host on your podcast creates the opportunities for many positive shared experiences, a co-host can also provide the much-needed support through any lows, as you have someone to shoulder these with you.
2. Helps Keep Motivation Levels High
If you’re losing the motivation battle when it comes to your podcast, a partner in your podcasting adventure can help keep your motivation levels high. And having that partner in the thick of it with you can help keep you consistently feeling pumped up and excited to create new content and record new episodes.
Your co-host can encourage you, support you, and remind you why you started out on this journey in the first place – and you can do the same for them! Knowing that you are not alone in this endeavor can also help motivate you to keep achieving your goals and ambitions, particularly because you know that someone else is relying on you to show up and do the work!
3. An Accountability Partner
Having a co-host can help keep you committed to achieving your podcasting goals, in the same way as your exercise partner keeps you accountable to that new running program you’ve both just signed up to!
When we enter a partnership, there is an extra level of expectation, as we are not only committing to achieving our own personal goals, but we are also committing to our partner, and in this case, your podcast co-host. And because we also place a high value on that relationship, we are less likely to do something to jeopardize that relationship, i.e. not completing your assigned podcast-related tasks.
When you partner with a co-host, there is a higher likelihood that you will maintain your commitment to the process of all that goes into making a podcast a success because you know failure to do so affects more than just yourself.
Related read: 10 Top Free Resources To Boost Your Productivity
4. Someone to Share the Load
If you’ve found yourself floundering in all your podcast responsibilities – because life is tough, and we have so much on our plates already! – then you might need someone to help you shoulder the load. A co-host can share the responsibilities of all that goes into recording and publishing each podcast episode and growing your podcast as a whole.
Dividing tasks between two people will enable you to get through the tasks with greater efficiency. It’s particularly beneficial if your co-host brings expertise in different fields to yours. If they’ve got great marketing skills, and an eye for cool graphics and scroll-stopping designs, then they could run with the advertising of your show across the different social platforms. And if your expertise lie in the technical side of things, then you could handle the set-up, recording, and editing process. As the old saying goes, “Divide and conquer!” and this is exactly what a co-host can help you do.
Related read: Best Practices To Overcome A Creative Block
5. Improve Your Conversation Flow and Listener Engagement
You may have started out so strong with your solo episodes, but a few episodes or seasons in, you may be feeling like you’re running out of things to say, or maybe you’re just getting tired of listening to the sound of your own voice, and talking all by yourself for hours on end! This is just another great reason to bring in that awesome co-host!
Bringing in a co-host means that a natural conversation can take place. Sharing the mic with another person means that your topics can flow fluidly as you converse back and forth. You can ask each other poignant questions, particularly from the perspective of your listeners, which can really help to draw them into the conversation and allow them to fully engage with your carefully-crafted content.
6. Brings Different Perspectives
Another great reason to consider finding a co-host is that they can bring different perspectives to your content. This is particularly helpful if you’re feeling like you’ve explored your topic from every angle.
Your co-host will see things differently to you, based on their different cultures, backgrounds, religious beliefs, and just through having had different experiences to you. This will add a whole new dimension to your content, better serve your loyal listeners, and can even enable you to reach a whole new audience.
Related read: 6 Effective Ways To Repurpose Your Podcast Content
7. Brings Balance to Your Viewpoints
A co-host can also help bring balance to your show. Your different personalities and temperaments and how you both function in different situations can bring a new equilibrium to your show.
This balance is also important in your preparation. A co-host might pick up something you missed in your research, or present the same topic from a different angle. This will help you both create content that is more holistic, more valuable to your audience, and can help cement your show as worthwhile and relevant.
8. Doubles the Value for your Audience
Adding a dynamic new co-host to the mix is not only great for you as the host, but it could also be a great move for your audience’s benefit! By joining your forces with a co-host, your audience gets new perspectives, varied experiences, different viewpoints, as well as knock-out, hilarious banter! All from one podcast!
If you’re feeling bored with your podcast, I hate to break it to you, but there is a really good chance that your audience is feeling it too! But all is not lost! You can breathe new life into your show, and continue serving your audience by giving them great value, you just might need a partner to help you do that again.
9. Covers Your Blind Spots
When you’ve got a great podcast co-host, someone you trust and can rely on, you’ll always have someone watching your six. Whether it’s helping you pick up the slack, stepping in when you need a break or just some extra support, or helping you create content that’s balanced, well-researched, and caters to a vast audience, a co-host is a partner who will help cover your blind spots. They can fill in the gaps that you miss, and complement your skillset with all they bring to the table, and the end result will be a podcast you’re proud of all over again!
10. Brings Back the Joys of Podcasting
Lastly, having a co-host can simply be a fun experience and help you recapture the joys of podcasting once again! There aren’t many things in this world quite as great as meaningful conversations and a good laugh with friends, and sharing the mic with a co-host can help simulate those great moments during a recording.
By having a partner who shares the load, helps you come up with new episode ideas, as well as providing those opportunities for you to play off of each other and have some great banter, you’ll once again feel invigorated and excited to keep making your podcast the best that it can be.
And if you’re enjoying creating your content, recording your episodes, and simply having a great time, your listeners will be able to tell…and they’ll most likely be having a great time with you!
Closing Thoughts
Bringing a co-host on board could be one of the best decisions you could make for your podcast. A co-host can help keep you motivated and committed, and they can help you and your show reach unimaginable new heights! They can share the workload, help ensure that your content is well-rounded and relevant, as well as making your podcast journey that much more enjoyable through sharing the experience. So if you’re feeling a little worn-out with your current workload, or simply bored with your current podcast format, a co-pilot may be just what you need to get your enthusiasm off the ground again.
While there are some potential risks of inviting someone else into your podcasting space and sharing your show with a co-host – you may be scared that you’ll lose creative control, that you’ll still end up doing all of the work, or that your audience just won’t connect with your new co-host – there’s also a certain podcast magic that happens when two people share the mic who have great chemistry, passion, and enthusiasm for their topic. Not only is that great for your audience – they get great content and great banter, what could be better? – but a co-host could also help push you to reach new heights, and achieve even greater podcast success!
If you’re looking for a little podcast co-hosting inspiration, PlayerFM has compiled a list of the Best Dynamic Duo podcasts. Check them out here.
