The other day, I listened to this really wonderful podcast the other day called “A Slight Change of Plans” where host cognitive scientist Maya Shankar talked with her guest Adam Grant about “Unlocking your potential”  What particularly stood out with me was how they talked about failing taking neuroscience into consideration. 

„from a neuroscientific perspective  the best way to boost brain plasticity is to fail at things‘ says Maya in the episode. 

Today I want to explore how this applies to us podcasters and how this neuroscientific approach to looking at failing can also help us to uncover our full potential as podcasters. 

Failing is something that every podcaster experiences, yet very few of us like to talk about. Whether it’s forgetting to hit record on a perfect interview or realizing your format just isn’t clicking with your audience, these moments of “oops” and “oh no” are actually gifts in disguise.

By the end of this episode, I’ll show you why failing is one of the most valuable things you can do for your podcast.

Why Failing is Essential

Okay, let me start by sharing one of my own failures. When I started podcasting in 2017 I spent A LOT of time on thinking about the name of my show, before I even knew what it would be all about. I also chose a music jingle I didn’t really like because, just because I didnt know how to clip an audio file yet and that was the only really short jingle music I could find that I didn’t totally hate.

There were many more failures in the early days (here’s a playlist where I put them all together as well as advice from experienced podcasters on how to get started the best way).

So as you see I made mistakes in the beginning but I still make mistakes today. At my latest live recording I places the recording device (my smart phone) not close enough to my interview partners and the audio quality lacks. Each failure taught me to double-check, to test, to get strategic, to be more mindful. Some mistakes I even made several times, some I could erase after making it once. 

Mistakes like that are not just embarrassing; they’re necessary. Neuroscientist Maya Shankar, in her podcast A Slight Change of Plans, talks about how failure boosts brain plasticity. Think about that for a second. Every time we mess up, our brains light up. Connections are formed, neurons are rewired, and we grow. Isn’t that amazing?

The Science of Failing

Let’s dive a little deeper into the neuroscience of this. When you fail, your brain gets a signal: “Hey, we need to figure out how to do this better next time.” This activates something called brain plasticity, the ability of your brain to adapt, change, and create new neural pathways. In simple terms, your brain becomes stronger and more flexible. It’s like going to the gym, but for your brain.

You can’t activate this growth by playing it safe. If you’re only doing things you’re already good at, your brain isn’t getting the challenge it needs to evolve. So, the next time you’re editing and accidentally delete your file or your audio levels sound crap,  you’re growing, even if it doesn’t feel like it in the moment.

Real-Life Fails and Lessons

Now, let’s talk about some more real-life fails from podcasters, including some of my clients and what they learned. One podcaster I worked with was so nervous about her first episode that she read her script word for word in a monotone voice. The feedback? Her audience wanted more of her, not just her words. That “fail” taught her to loosen up, speak from the heart and trust her instincts.

Another client completely underestimated the time it would take to schedule the interview recordings. Sound familiar? After missing her first publishing deadline, she learned to plan ahead, batch her recordings and edit in chunks. Now, her podcast runs like clockwork.  

Thing is, failure isn’t the opposite of success, it’s the foundation of it. Every mistake is a stepping stone, bringing you closer to where you want to be.

How to Embrace Failure in Your Podcasting Journey (to Reach Your Goals!)

So how do we embrace failure instead of running from it? Here are three tips that helped me personally to get better at failing:

  1. Reframe your mindset: Instead of seeing failure as the end, view it as the beginning. As a natural part of the process. Ask yourself, “What’s the lesson here?” 
  2. Talk about it: Share your fails. You’ll be surprised how many people say, “Oh my gosh, me too!” Vulnerability builds connection. You are definitely not the only Podcaster that makes mistakes!
  3. Don’t aim for perfection, aim for progress: Done is better than perfect. If you’re showing up and creating, you’re already winning. So celebrate. I absolutely adore when I get to do this together with my clients, sometimes these celebrations happen in a private 1:1 setting, sometimes these celebrations are public on a Linkedin Live . I treasure these opportunities to celebrate the wins as well as the fails together.

So what about you? How about we make a fail plan together? Fail at that first recording, fail at listening with intention, fail at choosing the perfect music jingle, fail at getting a lot of reactions on your latest podcast promo post. Make the mistakes, and your brain will do the work. 

Every successful podcaster you admire has failed. Probably more times than they can count. What sets them apart isn’t their talent or their resources it’s their willingness to keep going, to learn and to grow and to KEEP FAILING OVER AND OVER AGAIN. 

So, the next time you hit a roadblock, please do know: You’re not failing, you’re building. You’re building connections in your brain, skills in your craft and trust in yourself.

If this edition resonated with you, look out for my upcoming conversation with Dejan Stojanovic , Founder of Fuckup Nights Vienna where we talk about how to make failure and integral part of our podcasting practice to ensure we make the impact we want to make with our shows (Coming soon on my show ‘Podcasting With Impact‘)

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