Worrying about growth, new tech, and other podcasting distractions can cause you to forget that your audience is your audience, not a nameless pool you have to fight for week after week. Lean into them.I'm not a big fan of the word authentic. It’s become overused and often used incorrectly. But there’s one place where I’ve no issue with hearing the word, and that’s when talking about your authentic self. I’m incapable of being anything other than my authentic self for more than a dozen minutes. But that may not be you. Regardless of how much you can let your authentic self shine through during your waking hours, I hope you are able to be your authentic self on your podcast. While listening to a conversation Cameron Esposito was having with Jessica Kupferman at She Podcasts LIVE over the weekend, I jotted this note:Your audience is your audience. It's okay to talk about things that only your audience cares about. The masses don't matter. Now, I think that's an incredibly grounded perspective for any podcaster to take and reflect on from time to time. Your audience is your audience. Those five words can work as a re-centering mantra when you need it. Saying them out loud can, when needed, help you reconnect with your show, which in turn will help you reconnect with your audience. Again, when you need to.It's very easy to get caught up in the desire to grow your podcast. And yes, I think that growing a show is important. To some degree, growth is at least somewhat important to most podcasters. How important is debatable, obviously. But if your quest to grow your show drives you too far away from the content your authentic self cares about, then you may see the opposite of growth.To thine own self be true. That's why your audience is listening to your podcast in the first place. -----Boostagram CornerThanks to Doug Berger for the virtual coffee! Links in the next section.-----Links:• Getting more than 10K downloads per episode? Talk to Gumball.fm! • Cameron Esposito - https://www.cameronesposito.com• She Podcast LIVE - https://www.shepodcasts.com/live• Suzy Buttress - https://www.instagram.com/suzybee_2• The Casual Birder podcast - https://casualbirder.com• Doug Berger - https://www.dougberger.net• Glass City Humanist - https://glasscityhumanist.show/• Secular Left - https://www.secularleft.us/• Value-for-value for this show - https://podcastpontifications.com/value-4-value• Now booking sponsorships for 2022! - https://podcastpontifications.com/sponsor-----A written-to-be-read article and a full transcript of the audio of this episode can be found at https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/authentic-podcasting-is-the-best-self-care.Visit https://twitter.com/evoterra for more podcasting insights from Evo Terra as they come.Return the value-for-value of the podcasting wisdom of this episode and more at https://PodcastPontifications.com/supportAnd if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit https://Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.Allie Press assists with the production and transcription of the show. Learn more about Allie at http://alliepress.net.Podcast Pontifications four times a week to provide ideas and ask questions every working podcaster should be thinking about. Subscribe/follow today at https://PodcastPontifications.com.Photo by Sydney Rae on UnsplashMentioned in this episode:Support For Abortion RightsWhile Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th. Abortion is a basic healthcare need for the millions of people who can become pregnant. Everyone should have the freedom to decide what’s best for themselves and their families, including when it comes to ending a pregnancy. This decision has dire consequences for individual health and safety, and could have harsh repercussions for other landmark decisions. Restricting access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion, threatens the health and independence of all Americans. Even if you live in a state where abortion rights are upheld, access to safe medical procedures shouldn’t be determined by location, and it shouldn't be the privilege of a small few. You can help by donating to local abortion funds. To find out where to donate for each state, visit donations4abortion.com. If you or someone you know needs help, or if you want to get more involved, here are 5 resources: 1. ShoutYourAbortion.com is a campaign to normalize abortion. 2. DontBanEquality.com is a campaign for companies to take a stand against abortion restrictions. 3. Abortion.cafe has information about where to find clinics. 4. PlanCPills.org provides early at-home abortion pills that you can keep in your medicine cabinet. 5. Choice.CRD.co has a collection of these resources and more. We encourage you to speak up! And spread the word.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy