Should your photo be in your podcast cover art?
Thank you for joining me for The Audacity to Podcast. I'm Daniel J. Lewis.
Podcast cover art is usually the first and most prominent thing people see about your
podcast, often even before the title itself. Visual space in your cover art is limited
and the artwork itself might display only about half an inch or 1.5 cm square, basically
about the size of your thumbnail. Hey, maybe that's why they call it a thumbnail.
But it's not always the big artwork that we think of where you blow it up on your screen
and you get to see it in big view. And yes, there are some contexts where you see the artwork
really large and can see all the fine details but it's often very small. So with that in mind,
as well as just thinking about your podcast branding as a whole, should you include a photo
of yourself in your cover art? Here are some questions to help you decide what's right for you
and your podcast. Because for some podcasts, I would say no, they should not have their photo
in the cover art. In other podcasts, I would think, yeah, it would be a good idea for them
to have their photo in their cover art. So what's right for you? This episode should help you decide.
Now if you find this episode helpful and you want to share it with others, and if you think other
podcasters would benefit from it, then please share it through the link at theaudacitytopodcast.com/photoincoverart
or it's probably just a tap inside of your app. That's also where you can go to view the show notes
and the links that go along with this episode. TheAudacitytoPodcast.com/photoincoverart.
Now before I get started, I need you to know that this episode is not sponsored by anyone,
but I still want to promote my friend Mark Des Cotes from PodcastBranding.co. He's a highly
experienced designer specializing in podcast branding. So if you hire him, please mention
that you heard about him from me and I will earn a commission from that. But I recommend Mark's
personalized design services because I believe in him and his niche skills and I've hired
him for my own work too. So I recommend him for these reasons and not because of any potential
earnings. But I would appreciate it if you mentioned me if you hire Mark at podcastbranding.co
and his URL is in the notes for this episode. So on to the questions to help you decide.
Number one, how well known are you? Celebrity and influence, and we can put those in quotation
marks, come in all sizes. You might not be known to the average person out there, but if you're
known outside of your own audience, within a particular niche or industry, then it might be
helpful to include your face in your podcast cover art. One of the benefits of this is when someone
recognizes you from a collection of other podcasts. That will make your podcast stand
out more. Imagine what you would do if you recognized one of your favorite celebrities
with their own podcast among a collection of all other podcasts. You might want to listen
to their episodes simply because you want to know what they have to say or what they
talk about or because you really enjoy that person and you want to hear whatever they
have to say. For example, if you watched the American version of The Office, you would
probably instantly recognize Angela Kinsey and Jenna Fischer on the cover art for Office
Ladies. In fact, you might recognize them so much that you would just assume it's a
podcast about The Office because that's how you know those two actresses. And even if
their podcast wasn't about The Office, you might still be interested to try the podcast
because of how much you enjoyed those actresses and enjoyed their personalities that came
through in the office.
And by the way, I do enjoy listening to that podcast myself and it's a highly rated podcast
and when I was looking through the top charts in Apple Podcasts, looking for examples, this
particular one stood out to me because it's that exact thing.
I recognize the actresses.
I do also already listen to the podcast so it stood out to me from that perspective too.
And I saw other people who had their photos in their cover art and I recognized them and
it sparked a little bit of curiosity and interest in me about their podcast because I recognized
their faces.
They were well known to me.
So if you are already well known, even if only widely within your niche, then you might
want to put your photo in your cover art.
And even if you're not well known yet, keep listening.
Number two, what is your show's focus?
Does your podcast focus on specific topics or does it focus on your perspective on various
topics?
For example, what is Joe Rogan's podcast primarily about?
You might think, well, it's about a lot of things.
And that's true.
It's about a lot of things.
But what does it really focus on?
It's actually right in the title of his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.
It's about HIS experiences and perspectives through the variety of conversations HE has
with diverse guests. It's not about one particular topic, it's about HIS view on those topics
and HIS conversations around those topics. Thus, it's very fitting for his cover art
to have HIS photo in it. And I would suggest the same kind of thing for any kind of "The
name show, like the Daniel J. Lewis show, the Bob Smith show, the Jane Jones show, the
whatever your name is show. If your show is titled the Your Name Show, then I think that's
a perfect example of having your photo be on the cover art. Now should your show really
be titled that, that's a completely different subject. But if you have a good reason to
title your show with your name in it, then you should probably be in the cover art for
your show. But when your show focuses more on the topic than on the person, your photo
might actually be stealing space that could otherwise be used for a relevant visual element.
And that visual element might better communicate the topic of your podcast and better attract
an audience for that topic than your face would, however pretty your face is.
Number three, what are your podcasting goals? Maybe you're not a celebrity or an influencer
at any level, yet. But you want to be. And how would you even know if you really want
to be an influencer within your niche or within the broader community? Well, think about this.
If you'd like to be cited as an expert in your field, if you'd like to present about
your field at conferences, like speak about it in a keynote or a side session, if you'd
like to be recognized by others in your field, if you'd like your personal brand to unlock
more opportunities within your field. If any of these points resonate with you, then you
probably do want to build your personal brand. And having your photo in your podcast cover
art is a great way to help with building your personal brand because that's putting you
as a person front and center, even if you're not front and center layout-wise in your cover
art, that does put you as a major focus in the cover art, in the visual branding for
your podcast, building your personal brand.
This can lead to people recognizing you at events before they hear your voice.
This can also make it easy for people to see a gallery of speakers and know they want to
attend your session regardless of what you say, only because they recognize and trust
you.
This is all part of your personal brand.
But if you aren't interested in building a personal brand, and by the way, you don't
have to. You don't have to monetize your podcast, you don't have to build a personal brand.
So if you aren't interested in doing that, then you probably shouldn't include your photo in your
podcast cover art. Another consideration is if your goal is to connect more deeply with your
audience on a personal level. A photo literally puts a face to your voice, so it will be easier
for your audience to relate with you. This can be extremely important for podcasts on more emotional
subjects like mental health, recovery, relationships, and more.
Or if you're in a visually unique demographic and you're targeting that same demographic
like women, Asian, black, bodybuilders, anything else like that where there's something visually
unique about yourself and that is the same for the target audience you're trying to reach,
whether it's where they are now or where they want to be.
Like if you're a bodybuilder and you want to help people become bodybuilders, they might
not be bodybuilders yet.
They might not have the physique that you have yet, but they want to.
So they can still relate with it.
There are all kinds of things that go along with this visual demographic that you might
have with your podcast if your podcast is targeting that specific demographic.
And if that's the case, that could be a great reason to have your photo in the cover art
Even if you always intend to be essentially a nobody, if you don't care about your personal
brand, still having your photo could help you better connect with your audience. And that goes
to what is your goal? Even if your goal isn't to build your personal brand, is your goal to connect
deeply with your audience and maybe show them or visually prove to them that you have reason
to talk about this. That might be a good reason for you to include cover art in your podcast.
And number four, how good is your photo? Consider how good and usable your photograph actually is.
I'm not referring to how attractive you are, but the quality and versatility of the photos you have.
For example, I've seen a couple of people who, for whatever reason, simply don't pose well for
portraits. So even if you hire a professional photographer but your photos make you look like
a creep, you might not want to use those photos. But instead of giving up and thinking, "Oh,
I'm just ugly," or "I just can't smile right," or "My teeth are crooked," or anything like
that, instead of giving up. And while there might be certain things like that that you
might want to consider, please don't let them beat you down or anything like that. But before
you give up, try finding or taking some better photos, like maybe some candid photos, or
try some different expressions. Instead of smiling, maybe a more serious expression.
Maybe your smile, whether posed or genuine, just looks weird.
So you could try something different.
Maybe even an action photo of you doing the thing your podcast is about.
Unless your podcast is about murder, then please don't get a photo of you doing it.
Although that probably would be good because then that would be evidence for you to be
turned in for the crime that you're committing.
So yeah, go ahead and photograph yourself committing a crime.
That way justice will be served faster.
But I'm talking about something like if your show is about cooking, then maybe a photo
of you in an apron or with cooking utensils or actually cooking things would be better
than just a portrait photo of you in front of a plain background.
Try doing the thing that you talk about.
Weight lifting, exercising, jogging, cooking, programming, public speaking, playing a sport,
whatever it is.
That might be better than just that portrait photo where the lighting is perfect, you're
looking directly at the camera or slightly to one direction or the other, that perfect
angle and all of that, that might not be good for your photo.
In any case, whenever you're working with a designer, always give him or her multiple
photos to try.
Like multiple poses, all high resolution, and all as uncropped as possible.
You might think, oh this is an interesting full body shot, but they only need my face
so I'm going to crop it down to my face.
No, don't do that.
the full, uncropped, highest quality, even raw if you have raw versions. Give them a
bunch of photos from different photo sessions, different things, just anything you think
might be usable and even talk with them. They might find some other things that might be
more usable than what you've given them. Like going back to Mark Des Cotes from Podcast
Branding whom I highly recommend for designing your cover art. He told me that he often finds
the photo that works best is not the podcaster's first choice, but it's one of the other
ones they provided to him. And when you work with a skilled professional designer like
Mark, they can ensure the photo fits in nicely with the rest of your visual branding. For
example, a photo of you in a Hawaiian shirt and a straw hat looking really fun and having
a blast at whatever you're doing would not fit well with a podcast about emotionally
supporting your loved ones in the days leading up to their death. That would not look appropriate.
Now you don't have to go fully cliché, although there are some times where cliché
is okay.
Like, if it's about the thing you're talking about and you want to show yourself doing
that thing, that can sometimes be okay.
Sometimes it is, sometimes it's not.
But you don't want to visually clash with what you're talking about.
If your podcast is about cooking, then it won't look good if you have a photo of you
in a sports car.
That visually clashes.
Why are you in a sports car with a podcast about cooking?
It just doesn't make sense.
See, it needs to go together and a designer can help you make those decisions and find
a good photo.
Also, speaking about the quality of the photo itself, regardless of the pose or anything
like that, the lighting, the composition, and the background of the photo can make a
huge difference in how you or your designer, like Mark, can use that photo.
For example, a dramatically lit photo that leaves a lot of shadows on your face might
look awesome by itself, but it might not coordinate with a predominantly light colored cover art,
where your photo is really dark but the cover art is really light and then it just, it clashes.
It looks weird. So then if you're working with a skilled designer, they can see that
yes this is a great photo, we should definitely use this photo instead of any of the other
photos you've provided, but doing so would mean we need to change the cover art. Instead
of being a light colored cover art, changing it to a dark theme to match the dark theme
of your photo. Or maybe your photo is predominantly blue or red or anything like that. A skilled
designer can work with that so it doesn't look like this photo was just slapped onto
your cover art by some kid using Microsoft Paint. Which, come on, we've all been there.
So how good is your photo? Consider these four things when you're trying to decide
if your photo should be in your podcast cover art.
Number one, how well known are you?
Number two, what is your show's focus?
Number three, what are your podcasting goals?
And number four, how good is your photo?
So with these things in mind, might my face be coming to your podcast app soon?
As you consider these things for your podcast, I'll use myself as an example.
I actually think my photo should be on the cover art for The Audacity to Podcast.
Why?
I'm already known well enough within the podcasting industry to be recognized, and
my goal is to build my personal brand through the resources that I provide. So that makes
sense that my photo should be in the cover art. And these have actually been my thoughts
for several years, but I haven't done it before because I simply didn't like the
thought of plastering my face in my cover art, as if it would seem conceited or narcissistic,
And I don't feel those things.
I don't feel like my photo needs to be out there and people need to recognize me and
I'm all this high and mighty person that needs all of this attention and authority
and needs to be the center of attention and recognition and all of this stuff.
That's not where my mind is.
And sometimes I feel so strongly against certain things like that, impressions like that, that
I go the completely opposite direction and decide not to do anything that could be in
any way construed as being conceited or narcissistic.
But when I really think about this, I think for my own self and my own podcast, I think
the benefits for me outweigh these personal reservations.
So you might see my face show up in your podcast app at some point soon.
But please do go ahead and share your opinion with me if you have an opinion on if my face
should be or shouldn't be, if you want to see my face or if you don't want to see my
face.
I think I might actually try it at some point because I think it does make sense, sure it
makes sense, and maybe it could actually help in some ways.
So if you're in this place of you need help with your podcast branding and you're not
sure if your photo should be in your cover art even after listening to this episode,
there are some resources for you that you can try some things or work with people.
You could try designing your own podcast cover art with tools like SoVisual.co or Canva,
And I have links to both of those in the notes for this episode.
Or you could try hiring a random designer from 99designs or DesignCrowd and I have
links to those as well in the notes for this episode.
But I think your best choice would be to work with a skilled designer who knows the unique
qualities of podcast branding and even has podcasting experience.
And that's why I recommend Marc Des Cotes from podcastbranding.co.
And again, he did not sponsor this.
Yes, I do earn a commission if you hire him and you mention that you heard about him from
me and if you use any of these other services like SoVisual.co which is by a friend of mine,
Canva, 99designs, Design Crowd. If you purchase through any of these, I do earn from qualifying
purchases through these links that I have in the notes or on the website. But I recommend things
I truly believe in regardless of earnings. And I recommend these things because I think you will be
served well by these things.
Whether you design it yourself with some of these tools or you hire a designer, what I
want to see you get is what will help you connect better with your audience, position
the branding of your podcast and of your personal branding if you're going after that, to do
that better for you so that you can improve your podcast, better engage with your audience,
and grow your show for whatever kind of profit that you're looking for.
So get those links, review the notes, or share this episode, a tap or swipe away inside of
your app, or go to theaudacitytopodcast.com/photoincoverart.
Now that I've given you some of the guts and taught you some of the tools, it's time
for you to go start and grow your own podcast, maybe with your own face on it, for passion
and profit.
I'm Daniel J. Lewis from theaudacitytopodcast.com.
Thanks for listening!
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