What are the most effective ways to respond to feedback from industry peers?

As a podcaster, you probably get feedback from industry peers from time to time. Whether it's a friendly email, a social media comment, or a review on a podcast platform, feedback can be a valuable source of insight, inspiration, and improvement for your show. But how do you respond to feedback from industry peers in the most effective way? In this article, we'll share some tips and best practices to help you handle feedback like a pro.

1 Acknowledge and appreciate

The first thing you should do when you receive feedback from industry peers is to acknowledge and appreciate it. Thank them for taking the time to listen to your podcast and share their thoughts with you. Express your gratitude and respect for their expertise and perspective. This will show that you value their feedback and that you are open to learning from them.

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Jeff Clark

Internationally Selling Author | USAF Veteran | Former Ops Officer/Search & Recovery Officer | Data Analyst | Veteran Advocate | Podcast Host
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Listen to it all, evaluate, and take what you need away from it. Always strive to improve, even if you disagree with an opinion.

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2 Evaluate and filter

The next step is to evaluate and filter the feedback you receive. Not all feedback is equally useful or relevant for your podcast, so it’s important to assess it and decide what to keep and what to discard. To do this, ask yourself questions such as whether the feedback is based on facts or opinions, if it’s relevant to your podcast niche and format, if it’s actionable and realistic, if it’s consistent with other feedback you’ve received, and if it’s respectful and courteous.

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Annemarie Cross

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Evaluating, filtering, and leveraging what you can to continuously improve will ensure your podcast goes from strength to strength. I remember a time when my cohost and I received scathing feedback about how we’d interacted with one of our guests and not giving her as much time to speak as our audience member would have liked. We’d only just started our podcast and back in 2008 there weren’t any resources on podcasting how-to’s, especially interviewing guests. We dusted ourselves off, took on board what had been said, and made sure we continued to hone our interviewing skills to learn the fine balance of keeping the conversation flowing to ensure it was aligned with the theme/topic of our show, and was of benefit/interest to our audience.

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3 Respond and engage

The last thing you should do is to respond and engage with the feedback. Depending on the medium and the tone of the feedback, you may want to reply in different ways. For example, if the feedback is positive and supportive, you may want to thank the peer and invite them to keep in touch. If the feedback is negative and critical, you may want to address the issues and explain your reasoning. If the feedback is neutral and informative, you may want to ask for more details and clarification. The key is to be polite, professional, and genuine in your response. You may also want to ask for permission to share the feedback with your audience or use it as a testimonial.

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4 Implement and improve

The final step is to implement and improve your podcast based on the feedback. This doesn't mean that you have to change everything or follow every suggestion. It means that you have to take the feedback into account and see how you can use it to enhance your podcast. For example, you may want to tweak your audio quality, adjust your episode length, add more variety, or explore new topics. The feedback may also inspire you to create new content, collaborate with other podcasters, or reach out to new audiences. The feedback may also help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, and set new goals and benchmarks for your podcast.

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5 Track and measure

The last but not least thing you should do is to track and measure the impact of the feedback on your podcast. This will help you see if the feedback was helpful and effective, and if you need to make any further changes or adjustments. You can use various tools and metrics to track and measure your podcast performance, such as downloads, reviews, ratings, engagement, retention, and growth. You can also ask for more feedback from industry peers and see if they notice any improvement or difference in your podcast.

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Jeff Clark

Internationally Selling Author | USAF Veteran | Former Ops Officer/Search & Recovery Officer | Data Analyst | Veteran Advocate | Podcast Host
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Always track and measure changes. Worst thing to do is take a step forward that really causes two steps backwards. If the changes don’t show progress over time, evaluate and makes changes. The same script will not work for every scenario, guest, or topic.

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6 Learn and grow

The ultimate goal of responding to feedback from industry peers is to learn and grow as a podcaster. Feedback is a powerful tool for learning, as it can help you discover new ideas, insights, and opportunities for your podcast. Feedback can also help you grow, as it can challenge you, motivate you, and push you to improve your podcast. Feedback can also help you build relationships, connections, and networks with other podcasters and industry experts. By responding to feedback from industry peers in the most effective way, you can make your podcast better and more successful.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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What are the most effective ways to respond to feedback from industry peers?

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1 Acknowledge and appreciate

2 Evaluate and filter

3 Respond and engage

4 Implement and improve

5 Track and measure

6 Learn and grow

7 Here’s what else to consider

Podcasting

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