18 Dealing with Feedback: Handling Criticism Like a Pro
Handling feedback doesn’t have to be painful, so let’s unpack how we as podcasters can turn criticism into a tool for growth on this week’s Geelong Podcasters.
Topics Discussed This Episode:
00:00 – The gift of feedback: sometimes wrapped in a bow, sometimes hurled at you – let’s talk about it.
00:14 – Introduction to Geelong Podcasters and upcoming meetups.
00:35 – Episode overview: pausing before reacting, separating the helpful from the hurtful, and responding like a pro.
01:10 – Why it’s important to pause before reacting to feedback and how taking a breath can prevent knee-jerk responses.
01:35 – Acknowledging feedback in real-time with grace, especially in face-to-face or live scenarios.
02:45 – Breaking down the difference between feedback (requested/structured) and criticism (unsolicited/unstructured).
03:49 – Not all feedback is personal: separating yourself from your work to grow as a podcaster.
05:00 – Assessing whether feedback is constructive or simply someone venting – how to identify actionable points.
06:10 – The importance of corroborating feedback across multiple sources to validate constructive criticism.
06:48 – Letting go of unhelpful or mean-spirited comments and building a "feedback file" for future growth.
07:23 – Responding like a pro: taking emotions out of the equation and leading with gratitude.
08:48 – Acknowledging feedback in conversations and deciding when it’s worth acting on.
09:43 – Final takeaways: pausing, separating constructive feedback, and responding with grace and gratitude.
10:05 – Call to action: embrace feedback as a tool for growth and join the Geelong Podcasters community.
10:30 – Podcast sign-off and sponsor mention with links to upcoming events and resources.
Handling feedback well is an essential skill for podcasters and creators of all kinds. This episode dives into the importance of pausing before reacting, ensuring that your initial response to feedback – positive or negative – is thoughtful and measured. By taking a moment (or even a day) to step back and reflect, you can avoid knee-jerk reactions that might harm your reputation or relationships.
Separating the helpful feedback from the hurtful requires discernment and a bit of detachment. Not all feedback is about you personally, even though it may feel that way when you pour your heart into your work. By identifying actionable points and corroborating them with feedback from others, you can focus on what truly matters while letting go of mean-spirited or unhelpful comments. Keeping a "feedback file" of constructive advice can also serve as a resource for ongoing improvement.
Finally, responding with grace and gratitude can diffuse tension and demonstrate your professionalism. Whether the feedback comes in person, over a Zoom call, or through online comments, acknowledging the input politely – even if you choose not to act on it – allows you to maintain control of the conversation. Feedback is a tool for growth, not a reason to beat yourself up. Join the Geelong Podcasters community to share your experiences and learn from others navigating the same challenges.
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0:00
Feedback is a gift. Sometimes it's wrapped nicely in a bow with a little bit of shimmer on it, and sometimes it's thrown in your head at 100 miles an hour. Either way, let's talk about it.
0:14
Welcome to Geelong podcasters, your weekly podcast for tips and tricks to grow your audience. We are a group of passionate podcast is located in Geelong and the bellerine in Victoria, Australia. If you're down our way at the end of the month, why not come to one of our free monthly meet up events and also find the booking links and more in the show notes.
0:35
In this episode, we're going to talk about how to take feedback like a champ and turn even the sharpest, poignant criticism into growth full for you and your podcast. Just in case you're wondering, yes, I am getting over a bit of a sickness. Thank you so much for spending your time with me today. Hopefully it doesn't grate on your ears too much. So before I want to touch on, we're going to touch on a couple of things. Today is pausing before you're reacting, separating helpful, helpful from hurtful, responding like a pro, and then, of course, everything wrapped up like we usually do. So I want to touch on with pausing before you're reacting.
1:10
I understand that when you receive any feedback or criticism, be it positive or negative, your instinct is to react, to reply straight away, because any dead air looks bad on you, or at least that's how you feel. I'm going to caution you against that, and take your time to take a breath, take a beat, and, if necessary, even take a day,
1:35
acknowledge the and in those events that say, for example, you're receiving like feedback or criticism, there's the difference, and I'll get that to that in a second, either way, if you're getting that and you have to respond straight away, because they maybe they're in front of you in person, or maybe it's on a live stream or a meeting or a zoom call or something like that, where you need to give a some sort of feedback or some sort of response straight away, acknowledging the feedback with gratitude and saying something as simple as thank you for sharing your thoughts. I'll consider that, yes, it's a very political thing to go about doing, but I'm going to tell you now that it is going to save you and your podcast so much face, and it is going to avoid any knee jerk reactions that you might regret later, or, in my case, regret a lot. So before I get into it any further, I want to separate the difference between feedback and criticism. Now, these two things are very easily intertwined, because they're very related to heavily related to each other, but the way that I like to separate it Now this, this isn't the exact definition, but this is my definition, is that feedback is something that you have requested, or it is criticism that is in a structured environment, so say, for example, asking for feedback, be it in a work interview or in a like meeting with a client, or in like, some sort of structured situation where The feedback can be written down, processed and taken action on criticism is outside of your control. It's not in a structured environment. It is something that not necessarily is, you know, negative there is positive. Criticism does exist, and then it gives you that opportunity to break it down. But that criticism is coming from who knows where it's not in a structured environment. So what I mean by that is that it can be from anonymous users on the internet, and it can be as something as simple as, you know, a comment left on a post somewhere, or it can be something written in a article or a blog or maybe even a newspaper. If you manage to get your podcast in there, it's not, yes, it's somewhat structured, but it's not something that you have asked for or set or sought or seeked, I should say.
3:49
But I want you to remember of everything that I've just mentioned is that not all feedback is about you personally,
3:56
even though it may feel that way, and when US podcasters put our heart and soul into the work that we do, and we receive any sort of feedback or criticism. It can feel like it's an impersonal attack against us,
4:10
but to be able to separate yourself from the work that you do is something that is going to helpfully
4:17
help you grow as a podcaster and as a professional working in the space, just a
4:24
heads up, this podcast is going to be a lot longer than five minutes, because this is a topic that I'm really passionate about, and I wanted to give you a little bit more of a longer podcast episode before we finish up in the year, because the next two podcasts in our series are going to relate to holiday scheduling and the plans for the Geelong podcasters in 2025 so if you're listening in the future, that is why this one's going to be a little bit longer. The second point I want to get to today is separating the helpful from the hurtful. So in that time that you've taken to take a breath from.
5:00
The section that we just mentioned, and even if you needed to take a day, it's all no shame asking yourself, Is this point? Is this message? Is this feedback constructive, or is it just someone having a rant? I'm sure most of us have experienced being at the butt end or the brunt end of someone else's rant, that even though they're attacking you, it's not about you. And I'm
5:29
going to tell you now as a woman on the internet, that is going to happen at crap load. And even if you don't identify as a woman, or maybe you identify as a man or non binary, you are still going to get people like this, where everything that they say is not about you, there may be a couple of actionable tips for you, so looking for those actionable points and making sure that you can corroborate those action points with what other people have said. So don't take every thing from one person. Make sure you get multiple different pieces of feedback, and if you're getting the same thing over and over again, then you can put that into action.
6:10
And it also helps cement the idea that, like, for example, maybe you know, we need to change the music on the Geelong podcasters,
6:19
cool. That's what one person has said.
6:23
But no one else has mentioned that, and they also didn't provide any idea as to what we can change. The music to
6:29
this example allows you to see, okay, what is vague versus what is actually helpful in these feedback and comments.
6:38
And all in all, don't be afraid to let go of unhelpful or mean spirited comments, because, again, it is not about you, it is about them,
6:48
and if it helps for you, and this personally helps for me in the work that I do, keeping a feedback file for whatever project that you work on, full of constructive advice that you can help revisit in the future to help improve the work that you do, or maybe just any podcast that you end up creating in the future. Having a feedback file of stuff that you've already deemed that is useful and it has corroborated with multiple different people mentioning it, then that's something that you can change and that you can change for the better. Growing your skills as a podcaster,
7:23
and now the last part that I want to get to today is responding like a pro. So you've taken your time, you've taken a breath, you've thought about constructively where they're coming from,
7:34
or you've given yourself a day to think about what they've said.
7:39
And now put that all to the side, because taking your emotions out of it, very much like a politician, allows you to center yourself and save face. Because again, it's not personal, even though I may feel it, making sure to say thank you no matter what the feedback was,
7:57
having gratitude to diffuse tension is something that I use in my business, and of course, some people have pushed that to that to their limits, and that gratitude very much evaporates and they suffer the consequences. But when it comes to podcasting and receiving criticism and feedback, being able to delineate in the moment, if it's constructive, and acknowledging their point back at them. So again, repeating back if you are in a situation where you're able to respond to them, be it in comments and texts or in person or in a virtual meeting, if you're able to acknowledge their points, repeat back at them and make sure that you're actually on the same page, like you're you're understanding what each other is saying and then sharing how you plan to address that, if it's appropriate.
8:48
And that allows you to get that in writing, get that in like verbally, so that you understand where someone is coming from and not have any confusion and misconstrued and again with what you're saying, You don't have to move the earth again for one comment. If it's one Peter, one piece of criticism, totally understand. Thank you for your comments. Move on. If more than one person is saying something, then of course, you do your best and you share how you're going to address that change, even if it is a small thing, because again, you are leading with gratitude. You are responding to gratitude. You are podcasting with gratitude, even if the comments are harsh, still thank them politely and then let everything roll off your back like a duck furiously swimming in the water,
9:43
not everyone is going to love you and love what you do, and that is okay to sum up for today, make sure to pause, separate the good from the bad, and respond with grace and gratitude. Feedback and criticism is a tool for growth.
10:00
And it is a reason not to beat your but it is not a reason to beat yourself up.
10:05
You've got this mate now crush it with your new found feedback handling superpowers, and hopefully you can join us on the Geelong podcasters, Facebook or LinkedIn groups to get support with other people who have experienced the exact same thing as you don't worry. That's what the community is for. Look forward to seeing you on the groups, and we'll see you for the next episode.
10:30
This podcast is sponsored by me, Zoe video confidence coach, connecting the dots of your personal brand with the power of video. See more in the show notes. Speaking of show notes, see all the show notes, including links upcoming events and details for this episode and many more in the episode description, or just go to Vcc dot training. Slash Geelong dash podcasters, make sure you tune in for next week.
The above episode description and transcript were generated with ai.
Who are Geelong Podcasters?
Geelong Podcasters are a lively group of both professional and hobby podcasters based in Geelong and the Bellarine in Victoria, Australia. We release a weekly bite-sized podcast every Friday, exploring the wonderful world of podcasting, and host in-person catch-up events in the Geelong CBD on the fourth Friday of each month. Committed to community support, we regularly donate to local charities and use our podcasting efforts to make a positive impact.
Who is your Host?
Zoë Wood, your Video Confidence Coach connects the dots between personal branding and video marketing. Helping women and non-binary folk in small business, find their way in the world of marketing their passion without the energy drain.
Find out more about how to grow your personal brand with the power of video right here on vcc.training
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