Practicing with Podcasts

Before writing this, I can’t tell you the last time I listened to a podcast. 

Communication is one of my biggest pillars in every relationship I have, specifically, face-to-face communication. I prefer being able to see the nonverbals of the person or people that I am communicating with. I find joy in the fact that others know that they are being heard and understood in a conversation. 

The class textbook mentions that people listen to podcasts for leisure or to learn more about a certain topic. Usually, when I want to learn more about a topic, I turn to YouTube to find a video on it. For leisure, or when I need something playing in the background, I typically turn to worship music. I play music when doing household chores, studying, driving, walking to class or at random times throughout my day. It brings a sense of peace over me, and, knowing almost all the songs on my playlist, I can sing and dance along to the words. 

For this week’s blog, I decided to listen to a podcast. I chose this because I wanted to see how I would enjoy listening to something I wouldn’t be able to actively engage with, as I usually do with music. To simulate a task I would do with music in the background, I decided to clean my apartment while playing a podcast in the background. 

I chose a short 20-minute episode from Bryce Crawford. I leaned towards a shorter-form podcast because I prefer being able to give feedback when hearing someone speak. While listening, I felt like it was difficult to fully grasp what Bryce was saying since I was doing other things. There were plenty of good points in the episode that I wanted to hear more about or be elaborated on, but with the podcast format, I couldn’t get that. Something I enjoyed about Bryce’s podcasts is that he films them and posts them on YouTube, so I could see his reactions and nonverbal cues while he spoke. Although I felt this almost defeated the purpose of what I was searching for in a podcast, because I repeatedly took breaks from cleaning to watch Bryce’s actions, so I could feel more engaged in what he was saying. 

While podcasts may not be my preferred method of background noise, I can certainly see the benefit and accessibility of them. I’ll have to listen to one when I can fully concentrate on it.