5 Podcasts on My Playlist

Since school is back in, I wanted to take some time and space and dedicate it to one of my favorite (free) ways to keep learning; the podcast.

If you don’t know what a podcast is, it’s a lot like a book, except you listen to it. It’s like those books on tape, except you download it (and I don’t remember the last time I had a cassette player that worked around here). There is a lot to like about podcasts.

First, they’re relatively short. The longest one that I listen to runs about 75 minutes. Most that I listen to come in at about 30-45 minutes. That is a great length if you happen to like to listen while you work out.

Second, they’re really easy these days. When I first discovered podcasts, you had to use iTunes to find and download them. It’s possible that you could use another site to find podcasts, but iTunes made it really easy to find. In those days, I downloaded my podcasts to iTunes at night and then had to sync them to my iPod, so they were ready to go when I wanted them the next day. Today, my iPhone has a podcast app that lets me search, download, and delete my podcasts without much thinking involved.

Did I mention that they’re free? Yeah. That’s high on my list of reasons that I like them so much. It costs me nothing (not even much time anymore) to subscribe to my favorite podcasts and get them downloaded when they come out.

The last reason that I like the podcast so much is that there is so much great content out there today. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for business advice, interviews with great authors, spiritual guidance, or just about anything else, you can find a podcast about it. There are even some insurance podcasts that are available out there, and some in development right now.

Here are some that I recommend because they are in my podcast play list.

In the business category:

• EntreLeadership podcast. This weekly show centers on a conversation between host Ken Coleman and an author, leader, or speaker. Many times, they walk through the highlights of the author’s latest book. If you’re not familiar with EntreLeadership, it is the book that came out of the working philosophy that financial teacher, Dave Ramsey used to build his company, as they say, “from a card table in (his) garage”. A segment that comes up periodically is a few minutes of teaching from Dave Ramsey at their weekly company-wide meetings. It is always helpful to hear from a leader in their own environment.
• Building a StoryBrand podcast. This weekly show was developed by Donald Miller as a way of communicating his company’s marketing philosophy. Donald Miller is an author and speaker. He recently started the company StoryBrand to help businesses with their marketing, using the principles of story. Since I think of myself as a storyteller by nature, this one really helps me by telling me stories that connect back to the why of the business that I’m in.
• The Art and Business of Public Speaking podcast. This weekly show (I think they stopped producing episodes a while ago, but you can still get the archives) was advice from Ken Davis, speaker and author, about how to build a business as a public speaker. Ken would interview his friends who are also public speakers. The conversations made me laugh and offered tips and tricks about starting in public speaking and how to build a business. While I never took all of the advice, I have used his tips to help me be better at speaking to groups of people.
• The Professional Noticer with Andy Andrews podcast. I just love Andy. He’s an author and public speaker, but he’s also a comedian. He takes his observations about life and work always seems to make me laugh. He’s about more than business. He dives into living a better life and being a kind and generous person.

In the personal growth category:

• The Dave Ramsey Show. I mentioned Dave before, but this is the radio show that started his nationwide financial teaching career. He gives no-nonsense advice. He calls it like he sees it. You can tell when he starts to rant because his Tennessee accent turns up the more worked up he gets. His radio show runs for three hours every day. That means that the podcast runs three 41-minute episodes every day. I don’t listen to all of it every day, but sometimes, I’ll stack two days’ worth and just listen to that all day long.

I listen to others that are less about learning and more about enjoying myself. I listen to some sports podcasts and a few that are meant to grow my spiritual life. The point is that you should find some podcasts and give them a listen.

Are you listening to any interesting podcasts that I need to try?