It's time for your CEO to start podcasting

A CEO with a podcast can communicate directly with any audience and answer questions in upcoming episodes

An organization has many people to cater to. Its employees, consumers, stakeholders, and shareholders. The one person at the center of it all is the chief executive officer - the de facto leader. More broadly, the one team at the center of it all is the c-suite. 

Here's why your CEO needs to start podcasting

The chief executive team ensures that all of an organization’s audiences are heard, serviced, and aligned with the organization’s business plan.

The team that sets objectives, plans the culture and vision of an organization, must treat precise, concise and authentic messaging with critical importance. This is where podcasts shine.

Podcasts can directly and precisely carry a message straight to the ears of the organization’s peoples. There are clear advantages for a CEO who starts podcasting.

CEOs should strive for tonal authenticity

Many employees are familiar with receiving a newsletter or an email from the top brass in their organization. These include written communications that address an issue, celebrate an achievement, or check-in on the day to day. 

A podcast, with its human touch, enhances the message’s impact by letting the organization’s people feel the emotions behind the messaging. To intuitively understand how grave a problem is; how proud an achievement feels. 

Written communications can definitely convey this, but spoken word goes well beyond the message. Jokes delivered from a humorous personality will land better. A sense of purpose is driven home from the voice’s conviction. The organization can resonate with the messaging beyond the words.

No dilution of the message 

Crafting and sharing messaging is an important task of any organization. It often requires a team of professionals editing and vetting content to ensure it achieves the objectives it sets out to reach.

Employees are aware of this process, but having the c-suite speak this message impresses upon them that they’ve signed off on this final product. That they embody and personify the thought and planning that went into creating those messages. They’re hearing it straight from the source.

Hearing it straight from the source means there isn’t space to lose any of the nuances or details needed to keep a tight ship on track. 

Beyond the advantage of having messaging go straight from leadership to every internal demographic, podcasts also serve to associate a face and personality with the message.

Universal/transferable skill set

The c-suite, the CEO in particular, will often find themselves in the media spotlight. They’ll be called upon to share news with their stakeholder. They’ll be called upon to speak.

When leaders have the ability to speak in diverse settings, this skill set will translate directly to podcast recording. Chief employees who have developed the habit of speaking effectively and on message consistently within their organization, will find it a seamless transition to do so to their stakeholders. Any shortcomings can be addressed and improved; any strengths can be honed and emphasized, drastically reducing preparation time when it comes time to speak to a different audience.

The messaging - the style, the tone, the focus - will also be consistent with what the internal audiences have come to expect from their leaders. The organization will have a greater sense of unity in being able to reliably predict and connect with their leaders.

Using podcast analytics for your internal communications 

Effectiveness and alignment through podcasting can be tracked with ever-growing analytics software. The c-suite can understand which type of content, which style of presentation, which length of episode, which topics are gaining the most traction with their audiences, and which ones aren't.

This feedback is crucial in evaluating whether the organization is aligned with the leadership team. Recognition of gaps allows the team to narrow it, and work towards ensuring everyone in the organization is on the same page. 

Podcast storytelling for engagement

It’s a proven and timeless fact that people engage more deeply with stories, and this is where podcasts really shine. While most messaging will deal with tangible and immediate concerns, podcasts allow speakers to speak more holistically. 

The c-suite members can speak to their day to day experiences. Share their struggles. Stories have a far richer oral history than they do a written one, and organizations must take advantage. This is an ideal forum to share and inspire the organization in a less formal, more human way. 

Podcasting allows the c-suite to not only reinforce the organization’s vision and purpose, but to showcase the motivation and the ‘why’ behind them. Podcasting allows leaders to speak from a place of kinship and community with their team members. To feel more present in the organization.

All these advantages do require a deeper level of planning to execute successfully. Many organizations don’t have a clear idea of what their narrative is, and often resort to written messaging as a crutch. Organizations aren’t sure of what personality the organization has, nor the one they seek to have. If these issues aren’t addressed from the ground up, they can cause huge problems for the organization down the line, directly affecting employee morale and productivity.