Your Mic

Freddy Cruz
  • 5.0 (3)
  • LANGUAGE LEARNING

Your Mic is the no‑fluff, say‑the‑quiet‑part‑out‑loud podcast about podcasting for new, stuck, and almost‑quit hosts. Hosted by Speke Podcasting founder and 25‑year broadcast vet Freddy Cruz, it blends hard‑earned lessons, failures, and irreverent stories with sharp tactics you can actually use. Listen on your favorite podcast app!

  1. 1D AGO

    Taking a nonprofit podcast to 100,000 downloads (it's not as easy as you think)

    Work with us: https://www.spekepodcasting.com/ Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/your-mic/id1777171203 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1PQNHuqxIVhkLfjGYuWcxl Listen to The Rose’s podcast Let’s Talk About Your Breasts: https://therose.org/podcasts/ Taking a nonprofit podcast to 100,000 downloads is not as easy as you think. Founding CEO of The Rose, Dorothy Gibbons, joins Freddy to talk about building a mission driven show, survivor stories, heavy episodes, nervous guests, and her retirement. They dig into play, grief, legacy, and what it means to leave while the work keeps going.

    25 min

  2. 6D AGO

    Corporate Nude Podcasts vs. Punk Black Audio

    Work with us: https://www.spekepodcasting.com/ Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/your-mic/id1777171203 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1PQNHuqxIVhkLfjGYuWcxl From branding sex workers to crowning movie stars, lipstick never changed—only the story did. Freddy shows how your mic is the same weapon. Are you painting in corporate nude, suffragette red, or punk black? This episode dares you to choose your spell on purpose and leave one crack showing.

    9 min

  3. MAR 10

    Your Umms Are Fine. Your Panic Loops Aren’t.

    Work with us: https://www.spekepodcasting.com/ Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/your-mic/id1777171203 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1PQNHuqxIVhkLfjGYuWcxl AI wants to nuke every “umm” you ever uttered. Freddy breaks filler into anchors, tangles, and panic loops—and shows you which ones to murder, which ones to protect, and how caffeine, Slack wars, and bad scripts turn your mouth into a glitchy robot. Edit for humanity, not perfection.

    10 min

  4. MAR 5

    Listener Number 37

    In this episode of Your Mic, Freddy takes a blowtorch to generic “target audience” talk and replaces it with one real human: Listener 37. Drawing from podcast avatar best practices and audience-first strategies, the episode shows how knowing one detailed, messy, specific listener can transform your hooks, stories, CTAs, and growth. When episodes feel like one-on-one conversations, people binge and share—fueling the word-of-mouth that still drives a big chunk of podcast discovery. In this episode: Why “founders aged 25–45” is not a person. How to build Listener 37 from real DMs, reviews, and behavior. A practical exercise to write and record for one listener over your next three episodes. Subscribe to Your Mic on YouTube, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Shoot Freddy an email: freddy@spekepodcasting.com.

    8 min

  5. MAR 3

    The Bad Podcast Ideas That Refuse to Die

    Work with us: https://www.spekepodcasting.com/ Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/your-mic/id1777171203 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1PQNHuqxIVhkLfjGYuWcxl Subcribe to Podcast the Newsletter: https://podcastthenewsletter.substack.com/ Subscribe to Earbuds Collective: https://arielle-nissenblatt-4cfp.squarespace.com/ Arielle Nissenblatt and Lauren Passell sit down with Freddy for a no BS round of hot takes about the podcast industry. From fake innovation to recycled failures and hype over listeners, they dig into what actually builds shows that last. If you make or market podcasts, this conversation might hurt and help.

    43 min

  6. FEB 26

    The Algorithm Is Not a Podcast God

    This solo episode of Your Mic is a friendly exorcism for every creator who’s turned “the algorithm” into a deity. Freddy breaks down what recommendation systems on platforms actually do—sort and surface content based on behavior—and how people still primarily find new podcasts through search, social, YouTube, and old-school word of mouth. Then he draws a hard line between building episodes for humans versus contorting your show to please a black box. In this episode: What algorithms really optimize for (and what they don’t). How over-optimizing for “the feed” kills the very weirdness and honesty that fuel word-of-mouth growth. A practical two-part approach: serve the person, then respect the machine. Subscribe to Your Mic on YouTube, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Shoot Freddy an email: freddy@spekepodcasting.com.

    8 min

  7. FEB 24

    Welcome to the Podcast Cemetery

    Podcast graveyards are full of good intentions. Stats float around saying 40–50% of shows die after just a few episodes, and only around 15–20% of the Apple Podcasts catalog is actually active in the last 90 days. People don’t quit because they’re lazy. They quit because: they overcommitted, had no plan, expected money and fame too fast, got crushed by life and time.  New Your Mic episode: how not to become another headstone—and how to bury a show on purpose when it’s time. Subscribe to Your Mic on YouTube, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Shoot Freddy an email: freddy@spekepodcasting.com.

    11 min

  8. FEB 19

    "Brand-Safe" Is a Podcast Genre (And It’s Boring)

    In this episode of Your Mic, Freddy goes after the beige monster: brand-safe podcasts that sound like internal town halls instead of real shows. We break down what makes the best branded podcasts actually work—story-first, audience-first, emotionally honest content that just happens to be funded by a company—and how case studies consistently show that authenticity and subtle branding drive higher engagement and brand affinity. Then we drag over-branded, slogan-heavy shows that treat every episode like an ad, ignoring the advice from experts who say the magic is “from you, not about you. In this episode: Why the best branded podcasts feel like real shows, not campaigns. The difference between guardrails and muzzles in brand-safety. A brutal exercise to kill over-branding and add one risky, human move to your show. Subscribe to Your Mic on YouTube, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Shoot Freddy an email: freddy@spekepodcasting.com.

    8 min
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5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Your Mic is the no‑fluff, say‑the‑quiet‑part‑out‑loud podcast about podcasting for new, stuck, and almost‑quit hosts. Hosted by Speke Podcasting founder and 25‑year broadcast vet Freddy Cruz, it blends hard‑earned lessons, failures, and irreverent stories with sharp tactics you can actually use. Listen on your favorite podcast app!

Information

  • Creator
    Freddy Cruz
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    110
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Freddy Cruz
  • Show Website
    Your Mic