25/05/2026
The brain as an enemy
As a radio or podcast presenter, you work in the attention industry. Who is then your biggest enemy? Who ruins the relationship between you and your listener? Is it a competing radio station, a podcast, or television?
No. Despite the fact that anything that wants to grab your listener's attention is a competitor, you have an even bigger enemy: your listener's brain.
Avoid boring information
These brains are programmed to avoid difficult material. The more complex and boring the information that comes to the brain, the harder the brain works to actively avoid that information. That's because the brain wants to survive. And anything the brain doesn't understand is a threat and must be avoided. It directly explains why you used to daydream during those dry economics lessons in school.
Micropain in your brain
Processing dry and boring information is so unpleasant for your brain that it causes pain on a microscopic level. In other words, if you present or tell in a boring, unstimulating, and uninteresting way, you cause micropain.
Your listener's brain does everything to actively avoid your message when there is micropain. And so you lose that listener. And you probably know, losing a listener can happen in two ways: the listener actively turns off your program or podcast, or the listener starts to "switch channels in their head". Thoughts drift away to things that are relevant for survival.
Preventing micropain in your radio program or podcast
So, how do you prevent micropain and possible channel switching? According to the authors of Spreek Als Ted, there are a few weapons for that. The first is genuine passion. Always speak as a presenter from genuine interest, and your listener will feel that and make a connection with you.
Another tool is bringing new knowledge to your listener. Brains welcome new interesting information with the same enthusiasm that they actively avoid dry facts. It's that survival instinct that makes brains want to develop and acquire new knowledge. The more information, the greater the chance that the brain will understand the world and therefore be able to survive. Clearly stating the value of your talk for the listener is also essential to grab attention. You can read more about this in this blog.
Good preparation is half the work
But if you really want to avoid micropain, there is only one thing you can do: thoroughly prepare your radio program or podcast episode. Make sure you choose the right words, build up tension, evoke emotions, be to the point, and tell your message or story vividly. A radio program or strong podcast sounds easy, and that's how it should be. But to avoid the micropain of dry information and boredom, you'll have to master the art of presenting and storytelling.
