A software testing podcast is an audio or video format that covers topics such as test automation, quality assurance and soft skills. People mostly listen on the go: while commuting, working out or cooking. Compared with webinars and blog posts, the voice builds a closer personal connection, but listeners rarely give direct feedback. The conversation brings together two podcasters from the testing community: Richard Seidl, host of Software Testing, and Markus Thaler, host of the Agile Test Bar.
Key Takeaways
- Podcasts are mostly consumed in everyday situations such as commuting, jogging or cooking, which sets them apart from webinars that need your full attention at your desk.
- If you start a podcast, put continuity before perfection: many podcasts fail after three to seven episodes because the production effort is set too high.
- Conferences are an efficient source of podcast guests, because speakers bring a vetted topic, are used to talking in front of people, and the call for papers already works as a quality filter.
- AI saves an estimated two to three hours of post-production per podcast episode, for example when drafting summaries, show notes and quotes.
- Podcast reach is hard to turn into money directly: there is no advertising revenue and no direct booking requests, and the value lies in visibility, customer loyalty and building a community.
Why a Software Testing Podcast Works
A software testing podcast reaches testers in moments other formats can’t get to. People listen on the way to work, while jogging, over lunch or in one go at the weekend. Listening happens on the side and fits into everyday life, unlike a webinar, where you sit down at your desk at a fixed time.
The voice creates a closeness that a blog post can’t. Listeners think a topic through while doing something else, and the speaker is right there with them in their everyday routine. That makes for a more familiar space than text.
Dialogue is the second advantage over webinars. Webinars are often one-sided presentations with a Q&A at the end. In a conversation between two people, points get clearer because they are looked at from both sides.
The big drawback: a podcast is very much a one-way channel. A lot goes out, and little comes back. There is no chat running alongside as in a webinar, and feedback tends to be sporadic.
Why It’s Worth the Effort When No Money Comes Back
If you produce a testing podcast on your own initiative, you usually fund it through your day job. Ads and sponsorship aren’t a given, and community partnerships tend to pay off in reach and network, not cash.
So the motivation is a different one. If you have learned from free content and podcasts for years, you give something back. The feedback from the community sustains that attitude, even without any money involved.
In a company setting, the math is different. There a podcast is part of online marketing, backed by working hours and aimed at customer loyalty. Even then, the ratio of effort to return isn’t great, and the effect is hard to measure directly. The value is in the additional channel and the visibility.
One story shows the possible impact better than any download count. After one of the first episodes, a listener wrote that she wanted to become a tester. The advice: take the ISTQB Foundation Level and apply with it. A few weeks later she wrote back that she had passed the certification and was starting a new job as a tester.
How Broad Should the Topics Be?
The audience is broader than testers alone. Business analysts, developers and project managers listen too, as soon as software quality takes center stage. Quality feeds into the entire development process, from soft skills to hard facts.
A clear focus with open edges has worked well: testing stays at the core, but topics such as automation, data or coding belong in it too. A partnership with a developer platform brings in an audience that spends much of its time with code.
If you produce closer to your customers, you narrow the scope. Test automation, test management and test processes then set the frame, plus topics such as the tester role or development models that affect testing.
The softer topics always go down well. Communication for testers, conflict management, team building and impostor syndrome strike a chord. Testers are the networkers in a project: they collect information everywhere and pass it on. Good communication skills are a core part of the job.
Topics age, too. For a long time, AI practically sold itself, but the general call that everyone needs to look into AI no longer works. What people want now is specifics: how exactly, and what is happening right now? You have to keep an eye on that, or listeners drop off after a few minutes.
Conferences Are the Most Efficient Source of Guests
Conferences deliver guests with a built-in quality filter. Anyone speaking there has a topic they care about, can talk in front of an audience and has already made it through the selection process of the call for papers.
The mechanics are simple. Ahead of time, you agree with the conference which speakers and session slots fit, then record with selected speakers on site. That gives you six to eight episodes in a single day. It is physically demanding, but the output is dense.
The second source is recommendations and chance acquaintances where the topic fits. Those episodes are usually recorded remotely in an online studio.
Drop Perfection, Focus on Continuity
The most common reason podcasts die is the effort. Many shows end after three to seven episodes because the demand for perfection and the production work grow too big. A podcast lives on continuity, and perfection gets in its way.
The better route: start sooner, keep it light, publish episodes. If you plan every episode down to the last detail and want perfect equipment and post-production, your motivation might carry you through two episodes. After that, the effort crushes the project.
“At the end of the day, it’s about the content you deliver.”
(Richard Seidl)
One early, fundamental decision shapes the whole effort: video or no video. Video gives you Shorts and Reels, but adds a lot of complexity with lighting and set. Audio only can be recorded on a smartphone if need be.
How Much Preparation Does an Episode Really Need?
In-depth preparation on the topic isn’t strictly necessary. For a conference episode, the abstract is often enough: the conversation opens with the topic, followed by a few questions the host is curious about. That spontaneity partly grew out of necessity, because with six recordings a day there is no time for deep preparation.
The alternative approach is structured. Questions can be built in advance from a submitted presentation, agreed on and worked through in the conversation. That takes more lead time and feels less spontaneous, but produces a clearly structured result.
Both have pros and cons. The spontaneous approach risks realizing afterwards that an important question was never asked. The prepared one reduces that risk but loses some liveliness.
A practical trick for the spontaneous approach: record the intro after the conversation. Conversations often veer into a topic that doesn’t match the starting point. If you record the introduction afterwards, you describe what was actually discussed.
What Still Needs Doing After the Recording
An episode isn’t finished once it’s recorded. Every episode needs a blog post, show notes, links, a bio, a photo, quotes and a headline. Much of that is the same from episode to episode, which makes automation possible.
Editing video and audio is worth outsourcing as soon as it eats up your time. For content editing, there are two schools: trim only the beginning and end and leave the conversation as it is, or step in more and remove filler sounds such as frequent “uhs”.
AI takes on a growing share of the post-production. From the transcript, it drafts a summary and suggested quotes, which serve as input and are checked by hand. That saves around two to three hours per episode but doesn’t replace editorial review, because some of the results are unusable.
How the Podcast Gets onto the Platforms
Distribution runs along two tracks. Video goes to YouTube and, in the background, to YouTube Podcasts. Audio sits with a hosting service that automatically pushes it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify and RTL+.
The big platforms need some manual follow-up. Spotify lets you attach a poll to each episode, and Apple Podcasts shows separate guest images and portraits. The automatic distribution doesn’t cover steps like these.
Every episode has its own podcast or blog page with additional text and further links, published in German and English. If you want to dig deeper into a topic, that’s where you’ll find more.
Success Isn’t Just About Download Numbers
Raw listener numbers are a weak compass. They show what works, but often you can’t tell why. Episodes released right at Christmas and New Year’s Eve did surprisingly well, and the only real explanation is the lack of competition at that time of year.
Comments and likes on LinkedIn, YouTube and in the guests’ networks say more. They tell you whether a topic lands, whether a controversial opinion gets a reaction and where episodes are being passed on.
There are two different communities. Audio listeners consume on the side. YouTube viewers watch actively, because video is hard to have running in the background, and they are often more engaged.
A third measure of success is what the guest gets out of it. Companies and speakers use their episode for their own marketing and reputation. Many guests are on a podcast for the first time, ask detailed questions beforehand and appreciate a clean video and audio format they can reuse.
Local Communities Deserve Their Own Language
An ISTQB initiative lists testing podcasts from several countries, such as Poland, Hungary and the USA. The value is less in understanding episodes in other languages than in seeing that these communities are active and produce in their own language.
For the German-speaking countries, German remains the obvious choice, even if some episodes are recorded in English because a guest only speaks English. In your own language, you can explore topics differently and in more detail, and that is a clear advantage.
A certification body thinking beyond its own structure and making the community visible is an invitation to take part. It shows where you can find information and inspiration outside of certification.
Frequently Asked Questions
What distinguishes a podcast from a webinar as a format for sharing expert knowledge?
The consumption context. Podcast episodes play in the background: on the way to work, while jogging, during lunch, or all at once over the weekend. A webinar, on the other hand, requires a set time at the workplace. Then there’s the dialogue: While webinars are often dominated by one-sided presentations followed by a Q&A session, two hosts explore an issue from both sides. The trade-off is a strongly one-way channel with little feedback.
Can a technical podcast be financed through advertising or commissions?
Generally not. Advertising and sponsorship aren’t a given, and community partnerships usually focus on reach and networking rather than financial gain. Those who produce independently fund the podcast through their day jobs. Within a company, it’s part of online marketing: The value lies in the additional channel, visibility, and customer loyalty, not in measurable bookings.
Why do most podcast projects fail?
Because of the effort involved. Many formats end after three to seven episodes because the bar for perfection and the production effort were set too high. If you plan every episode down to the last detail and insist on flawless technical execution and post-production, you might only make it through two episodes before losing motivation. A podcast thrives on consistency, and it’s precisely that consistency that the pursuit of perfection makes difficult to achieve. Better: start quickly, keep it simple.
Where can you find suitable guests for a specialized podcast?
At conferences, because they come with a built-in quality filter. Speakers have a topic close to their hearts, can speak in front of an audience, and have already been selected through the call for papers. You coordinate slots and speakers in advance and record on-site: six to eight episodes are produced in a single day. The second source is recommendations, usually recorded remotely.
Which topics go over particularly well on a testing podcast?
The “softer” topics reliably strike a chord: communication for testers, conflict management, team building, and imposter syndrome. Testers are the networkers on the project: they gather information from everywhere and pass it on. From a technical standpoint, testing remains the core, supplemented by automation, data, and coding. The general call to “get involved with AI” no longer holds water; what’s in demand is concrete content.
Should you produce a podcast with or without video?
This is an early, fundamental decision that shapes the entire production effort. Video provides material for Shorts and Reels, but introduces significantly more complexity in terms of lighting and set design. Pure audio can be recorded with a smartphone if necessary. If you want to keep things simple when starting out, go with audio, because, at the end of the day, it’s the content you deliver that counts.
How much work does AI take off your hands in podcast production?
About two to three hours per episode. The transcript is used to generate a summary, show notes, and suggested quotes, which serve as input. This doesn’t replace editorial oversight, because there are also unusable results, and everything has to be checked manually. In addition to the recording, you’ll need to create a blog post, links, a bio, a photo, and a headline, much of which remains the same from episode to episode.
Are listenership numbers a reliable measure of a podcast’s success?
No, they’re a poor indicator. While they do show what works, they’re often hard to interpret: Episodes released right around Christmas and New Year’s Eve perform surprisingly well, likely due to a lack of competition. Comments and likes on LinkedIn, YouTube, and the guests’ social media networks are more meaningful. A third metric is the benefit to the guest, who uses their episode for their own marketing.
