Many podcasters are struggling with that same decision:  Should you say something to your audience acknowledging the reality of the pandemic?

On one hand, listening to podcasts is a great way to practice “social distancing”. And since most (?) podcasters produce their shows alone or with guests or co-hosts in remote locations, the act of making a podcast is also good social distancing put in practice. 

Still, our audiences might wonder what's going on with the people that make their favorite podcasts. And as human beings who make podcasts for listeners, we often feel a desire to let our audiences know what’s going on with us personally in times of crisis.

But if you produce a show that never covers current events, should you say something, putting the “evergreen” nature of your episodes at risk? What if you're in the middle of a six-part series on the history of apples (or anything non-pandemic related)? A “special announcement” at the beginning of your fourth episode would be terribly off-putting and impact the flow, wouldn’t it?

Remember: if you do decide it’s a good idea to say something, you don’t have to drop a note at the beginning of your next podcast episode. Nor do you have to put out an entire full episode about the pandemic.

A bonus episode might be just what you need.

Remember: Your podcast is more than just the audio you put out on your RSS feed. Does your show’s website have a role to play? What about the social media channels where you engage with humans every day?

Maybe audio isn’t the best place to share the message.

Of course, it might be. Here’s your North star for this: If you feel like you need to say something to your audience, either to let them know how you are coping, to let them know that you're in this together, to let them know changes to your production schedule, or whatever else you feel it might be important to say to them: I think you should say something to them.

I hope you're doing well during this time of coronavirus. We're okay on this side, fully adopting social distancing and self-quarantine methods as we do our part to flatten this curve. Hopefully, you are as well.

And tomorrow, I'll do it again. On another Podcast Pontifications. 

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