[FAQ]

Hello,

I have been producing my podcast for about six months, and today I received my first one-star review. The comment was very brief and just said my voice was “annoying” and the topics were “boring.”

To be honest, it felt quite personal and discouraging after all the work I have put in. My first instinct is to write a reply and defend the show, but I am not sure if that is the correct or professional response. On the other hand, just ignoring it feels passive.

I would be very interested to hear how more experienced creators approach this. What is the best practice for handling this kind of public criticism? Do you reply? Do you ignore it? Does it depend on what they say?

Thank you for your thoughts.

[Jeff Bullas]

An inevitable and important part of putting your work out there.

Short Answer: The best strategy is to categorise the feedback first—ignore the trolls, learn from the constructive criticism, and never reply publicly while emotional.

How you handle negative feedback is a direct reflection of your show’s professionalism and maturity.

Your first step must be to differentiate between the two formats of negative feedback. The first is baseless trolling, which is designed only to provoke a reaction, and the second is genuine constructive criticism, which points to a specific issue you can actually address. The strategy for trolls is simple: you must ignore them completely. For constructive criticism, the correct approach is to objectively assess if the feedback is valid. If it highlights a real area for improvement, the best response is to make the change and perhaps give a general thanks to your listeners for their feedback on a future episode. The most common and damaging mistake is to get into a public argument with a negative reviewer; it never makes you look good, it alienates your wider audience, and it gives the troll the exact attention they are seeking.

Cheers,
Jeff

[Author]

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