Be honest. How often do you really pay attention to anything? Real attention. I’m writing this on a Saturday morning, with Football Focus on in the background, and my wife telling me about the timings and where I need to be for my daughter’s dance classes today. Obviously, I’m concentrating heavily on writing this article, but if my wife is reading it, I am definitely also listening.

Modern life is about multitasking whilst simultaneously trying to convince people that they have your full attention. Or scrolling aimlessly past hundreds of pieces of content which, even though they may be individually enthralling, fail to hook you in. Media agencies measure attention spans in seconds, and eye tracking technology desperately aims to show that users hover long enough on your message to even understand the basics of it, let alone absorb it properly.

And then there’s podcasting. The one and only medium where you know your audience are fully concentrating. Why?:

Consider the action of selection. No-one accidentally listens to a podcast. It’s not like radio where you just stumble across a show on your default station. To choose a podcast, you scroll through iTunes or Spotify and something catches your attention, or it’s recommended to you, or you click on a link. Whichever way it happens, a podcast audience is, by definition, opting-in and interested in the content before they press play.

Now consider the context. 74% of people are listening on headphones, and 79% are listening through their mobile device. Speech audio, whether it’s radio or podcasts, has never been a group activity like TV. You listen while you’re doing something else - running, driving, in the gym, commuting, cooking, mowing the lawn etc. Your other senses are dedicated to a task but your ears are free to be engaged. So your listeners have chosen to use the time to absorb themselves in a podcast – to be entertained, informed, or educated. No screen distraction. The space between their ears all yours.

And finally, consider the engagement. The average listening time for podcasts in the UK is around 25-27 minutes. Which other digital medium holds people for that length of time? None. People settle into a podcast and get absorbed, so not only do you have the full attention of a self-selecting audience, but they’ll stick with it too. This allows depth, nuance and detail at a level that text and video could only dream of.

So where does this cross over with corporate communication? Why would anyone use this valuable time to listen to a branded message? Well, it’s not a given. You have to start by working out what the audience will want to listen to, not what you want to say. No-one likes hearing a long advert, so don’t shoehorn your brand into the podcast. Remember the context – if you’ve improved their run, their drive or their kitchen time, they’ll feel good and they’ll be grateful to you for bringing that content to them. Mention them in the intro, outro and artwork and they won’t miss your brand.

What’s the podcast only you could make? Which guests can you attract and which conversations can you have that no one else could? What creative twist will make your show unique? And, crucially, how can you reward that unbroken attention? Enrich the listener’s by exploring topics in a depth and a nuance that they won’t hear elsewhere. Be imaginative with your format, think through structures, research properly, and work with professionals who can make your podcast shine.

You want attention? Attract it. Hold it. Reward it. Make a podcast.