Beginners Guide to Podcasting: How Listening to Podcasts Makes You Better.
There’s something about people who listen to podcasts. Are they smarter? Podcast listeners are 68% more likely to have a postgraduate degree. Are they more enterprising? 45% of podcast listeners have a household income over $250,000. Is it correlation or causation? The jury is still out on that, but is seems that listening to podcasts can, in many ways, make you better.
Many studies have been done on the traits of people who listen to podcasts, and what podcasts may do for people mentally and emotionally. According to the findings of one study, published in the journal Plos One, researchers found that people who had ever listened to a podcast tended to score higher than others in the areas of openness to experience, interest-based curiosity, and need for acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses. These types of individuals tend to enjoy engaging in extensive reasoning processes: they seek to make sense of the information they encounter. And this appears to be the case of podcast fans.
The study also found that podcast listeners tend to be less neurotic or anxious. Because podcasting is a very intimate medium, it allows listeners to feel closer to the host of their favorite show and, by association, more connection and caring toward others as a whole.
Researchers at the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego, UCLA and UC Berkeley have also looked at the sense of closeness and intimacy that some listeners may experience with the voice in their ears. They argue that wearing headphones or earbuds promotes a phenomenon called “in-head localization.” Listeners feel that the speaker is in their head, and therefore feel close to them. As such, they feel more empathy towards them and tend to be more easily persuaded by what they say.
There are many podcasts that focus on mindfulness and meditation and people who listen to these shows tend to be less stressed and anxious. A study by the University of Valencia in Spain showed that, even with brief guided mindfulness meditation, your oxytocin levels can increase, reducing your stress and anxiety.
If you tend to listen to podcasts at work, it may help you to pay attention and focus. Some podcasts can give us a sense of excitement and exhilaration which releases adrenaline. So listening to a show that gets you revved up can trigger that response and, in turn, make your brain more alert and focused.
Podcasts can make you a happier person. Many people turn to podcast for entertainment and, as they say, laughter is the best medicine. When you hear something funny, the frontal lobe of your brain sends an electrical wave to the cerebral cortex and our body responds accordingly. Just what the doctor ordered to lift your mood. And your happiness can be contagious. A 2017 study by the Journal of Neuroscience shows that when you’re laughing with others, your brain releases endorphins.
Podcast listeners are often more imaginative. Because podcasts are strictly audio and have no visuals to depend on they allow you to use your imagination. A study by the Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior suggests that when you listen to a podcast, it enhances your brain’s visual processes. When you’re actively listening to podcasts, your brain is more likely to create more imagery, even more than when you read!
Listening to podcasts may not make you richer or raise your IQ, but there is nothing to lose by making podcasts a part of your regular lifestyle, and a lot to gain. Whether you want to learn a new skill, keep up with the news, handle your finances better, or just escape for a few minutes, there is a podcast for you! The All INdiana Podcast Network is a great place to find shows about everything from News, Sports and Weather to Gardening, Fitness, and Health. Find your new favorite podcast at AllINdianaPodcast.com.
If you’re thinking about starting your own podcast, the All INdiana Podcast Network can help you create, produce, and distribute your podcast! Email us today for more information.