There are benefits to keeping it clean…
If you’re a fan of blue language, there’s nothing wrong with dropping a few f-bombs on your podcast.
You just need to make sure your audience is up to speed so they don’t walk into something they weren’t expecting.
Swearing isn’t for everyone so you need to ask the question…is this adding anything to my show?
An argument for why you should bleep your swear words
If you’re aiming your show toward adults and you want it to be edgy and a little bit rude, that’s totally fine. There are plenty of shows out there littered with swear words that are hugely successful.
On the podcasts I’ve worked on I usually stick to the “s-word is ok, f-word (or anything worse than the f-word) gets bleeped” rule.
And here’s why…
It doesn’t add anything to your show
It’s not like the audience doesn’t know what’s going on under those bleeps so do they really need to hear the words?
The disadvantage of turning people off who don’t like swear words far outweighs the benefit of having them there for the few people who want to hear them come out of your mouth.
So, think about whether they’re really necessary or whether covering them with a little bleep means you can still be free in your performance without having to worry about turning anyone off.
Of course, you might not care if people get turned off and that’s why it’s important to do the work of creating your ideal listener before you get started.
If you know this show is for people who won’t be offended by a little f-bomb here or there then go for it.
You just want to make sure the people listening to your show know it’s coming or aren’t surprised by it if they decide to give your show a try.
You don’t know where your audience is listening to your podcast
For most people listening to a podcast is a private experience, but for some, they might like to get their podcast listening done at home or in the car.
If your show is more adult and your audience knows that then they obviously won’t risk listening to it in front of their kids.
But if your podcast is usually clean and their kids are around, you’ll soon feel the wrath of an angry parent if they need to explain what the word f*%& means to their 5 year old.
It stays on the internet forever
You might be ok swearing your head off on your podcast now, but what if a future boss finds your old show and thinks “Geez, what a potty mouth!”
Stuff on the internet lives forever so think about what ‘future you’ will think about this and whether it’s better to keep it clean.
The main thing is…don’t surprise your audience
If your show contains ‘adult’ material, it’s a good idea to be clear about that in your show description and promotion.
If your show is usually clean but there’s a rogue episode or two where things get a little blue, you should let people know what’s on the way.
Ideally, these episodes should have a warning at the start so you can give regular listeners a chance to prepare themselves, turn off if that style of content isn’t for them, or decide not to listen while the kids are in the car.
Whatever you do, make sure you’ve got your audience top of mind and make decisions based on what’s right for them rather than what you want to do in the moment.
You might love swearing but is it really adding anything to your show?
That’s a question only you can decide.
Got a burning podcasting question you’d like answered? Send me an email.
Want to start your own podcast but need a little help? Download my “How To Start A Podcast” guide or sign up for my online podcasting course, PodSchool.
Hey Rach,
This might sound like a silly question but would “Shit” and “Vagina” be considered as explicit words?
It really depends on your audience, Elizabeth. In most of the pods I’ve produced we’ve bleeped from the f word up so I think you’ll be fine….unless your podcast is for a younger audience and all of a sudden “shit” comes out of nowhere so just use our judgement and think about it from your audience’s point of view. And I wouldn’t worry about bleeping vagina (this is the most risque comment thread I”ve had on my site so far! Love it!) Rach
So would we just label “explicit” in the shownotes? I really should have thought of this before allowing my guests to swear but its only a bleep here and a bleep there the conversations are note crude so I kind of don’t want to rule potential listeners out if that makes sense. So I would rather just put it in the show notes for episodes that do have cuss words.. if in show notes is fine what should I write exactly?
Hey Elizabeth, If you’ve got unbleeped swear words it’s often better to record a little message to include before your ep starts saying something like “Just a quick note, there are a lot of rude words in this episode so you might want to listen when the kids aren’t around” or whatever your version of that is i.e. in your own words. If you’re bleeping the swear words out you don’t need to issue a warning because you’re already removing any content that might be offensive. Rach
Hey Rachel great post, very informative. Was wondering if I bleep out sweat words if my podcast could get the clean designation or if I intend on having the bleeps if it would fall under explicit.
Hey Kyle. Really glad you found it helpful! If you bleep out the swear words on your podcast you definitely don’t have to label the show ‘Explicit.’ That label is for shows where the swear words aren’t beeped or there the subject matter is really full on i.e. it could definitely upset or offend some people. ‘Clean’ is the opposite end of the spectrum so I’d only use that label if it was friendly enough to have kids listening, and if you’ve got bleeped swear words, that’s probably not the case. ‘No Rating’ is probably the option you’d choose because it sounds like you’re right in the middle. Hope that helps! Rach