Certified: The GIAC GSOM Audio Course

In this episode, we’re going to turn the idea of studying into a plan you can actually follow, especially if your main learning method is listening rather than reading. A lot of people assume that an audio-first approach is just pressing play and hoping the concepts stick, but that is not a plan, it is exposure. A real plan connects what you hear to what you must be able to do on exam day, and it gives you a way to measure progress without needing long study sessions at a desk. The key move is mapping your study time to objectives, because objectives are the exam’s promise of what it can test you on. When you build a plan around those objectives, audio becomes a powerful tool for repetition, understanding, and recall, instead of a passive background activity.

Before we continue, a quick note: this audio course is a companion to our course companion books. The first book is about the exam and provides detailed information on how to pass it best. The second book is a Kindle-only eBook that contains 1,000 flashcards that can be used on your mobile device or Kindle. Check them both out at Cyber Author dot me, in the Bare Metal Study Guides Series.

The word objectives matters because it changes how you choose what to study and in what order. An objective is not just a topic label, it is a statement about capability, meaning you should be able to explain something, compare options, or choose an action in a scenario. Many learners collect random notes and feel busy but still feel unsure, because their study is not tied to a defined target. Objectives give you that target, and they also help you avoid spending too much time on interesting side topics that are unlikely to move your score. When you treat objectives as your map, you can break the course into manageable chunks and make sure each chunk ends with a clear outcome, like being able to define a concept, describe why it matters, and apply it in a simple decision. This makes your audio sessions feel purposeful, because each listen has a job to do.

Before you even schedule sessions, it helps to understand what audio-first study is good at and what it is not as good at. Audio is excellent for repeated exposure, concept building, mental models, and learning the language of a domain so it feels natural. Audio is also strong for spaced repetition, which is the practice of revisiting ideas over time so memory strengthens rather than fades. Audio is not as strong for dense reference lookups, complex diagrams, or highly detailed tables, because those often require visual scanning. That does not mean you cannot use audio as your primary method, it means you must build small supporting habits that fill in the gaps, such as short review notes or quick concept checks after a listening session. When you plan with those strengths and limitations in mind, you avoid the disappointment of expecting audio to do a job it was never meant to do.

Now let’s build the plan around a simple cycle: learn, recall, connect, and revisit. Learn means you listen with enough attention to follow the story of the topic, not just to hear words. Recall means you stop and try to restate the main ideas in your own words, even if you do it silently while walking or driving. Connect means you link what you just learned to other objectives, because exams often test relationships rather than isolated facts. Revisit means you return to the same objective later, because the brain treats repeated encounters as a signal that something is important. This cycle turns audio into training rather than background noise, because it forces the brain to retrieve and reorganize information, which is how long-term learning is built. The cycle also fits beginner learners because it avoids the trap of trying to master everything in one pass.

Mapping to objectives starts with a practical step: you turn the objective list into a schedule of short listening blocks. A good block is long enough to cover one coherent idea but short enough that you can repeat it without feeling punished. For many people, that means a block that fits into a commute, a walk, a workout, or a household routine, because consistency matters more than rare long sessions. When you assign each block to one objective area, you can label your sessions by what they train, not by vague chapter numbers. This also helps with motivation, because you can say you completed a specific skill target rather than saying you listened to something for a while. Over time, the list of completed objective blocks becomes evidence of progress, which reduces anxiety and keeps you moving forward.

A major mistake beginners make is assuming that listening once equals learning, so they keep moving and never come back. The brain does not work that way, especially with new vocabulary and unfamiliar frameworks. Instead, you want multiple passes with different goals, because each pass builds a different layer of understanding. On the first pass, your goal is recognition, meaning you can follow along and identify the main terms. On the second pass, your goal is explanation, meaning you can restate the concepts without the audio playing. On the third pass, your goal is decision practice, meaning you can answer simple scenario questions like what should happen first, what matters most, or what evidence would support a conclusion. This layered approach fits audio-first learning because you can reuse the same material for different kinds of thinking rather than constantly hunting for new content.

Because the exam is objective-driven, you also need a way to check whether you can perform the objective, not just understand it when you hear it. A simple method is to create a small set of recall prompts for each objective area, which can live in your head or in a short note you review. A recall prompt is a question like define the key term, explain why it matters, give a simple example, and name a common misconception. You do not need a long list, because the goal is not to overwhelm yourself, it is to test whether you can retrieve the core ideas reliably. When you can answer those prompts after listening, you know the objective is becoming stable. When you cannot, you know you need another pass, and that is valuable feedback, not failure.

Another important part of a mapped plan is balancing breadth and depth over time. Early in the plan, you want broad exposure to all major objective areas so nothing feels completely unfamiliar later. This reduces fear because unfamiliarity is often mistaken for difficulty. After that broad pass, you shift to targeted depth, meaning you focus more time on objectives where recall is weak or where scenario judgment is tricky. This is where objective mapping becomes powerful, because it tells you exactly what to revisit rather than letting you drift. It also helps you avoid overstudying your favorite topics, which is comforting but inefficient. A good plan makes you spend time where it is needed, even when it feels less pleasant, because the goal is performance, not comfort.

Spaced repetition is the engine that makes audio-first study work well, and it needs to be scheduled, not left to chance. The basic idea is that you revisit an objective soon after first learning it, then again after a longer gap, then again after an even longer gap. Each revisit strengthens memory because the brain is forced to retrieve information that is starting to fade, and that effort is what builds durability. In an audio-first plan, spaced repetition can be as simple as replaying the same objective block on a pattern, like later the same week and again the following week. The exact timing is less important than the habit of returning, because returning is what turns exposure into retention. When learners skip this, they often feel like they are always learning and never remembering, which is one of the most discouraging study experiences.

You also want to incorporate connection sessions, because the exam often rewards integrated thinking. A connection session is where you intentionally listen to a topic and then link it to at least two other objective areas. For example, you might connect how an operational decision relates to risk, governance expectations, or measurement. You might connect detection concepts to triage, escalation, and incident response flow. This matters because exam questions rarely announce what objective they are testing, and integrated thinking helps you handle questions that blend concepts. Audio is good for this because you can listen for narratives and cause-and-effect relationships, which are easier to retain than isolated definitions. Over time, your mental map becomes connected, and connected knowledge is easier to retrieve under pressure.

As the exam gets closer, your plan should gradually shift from learning mode to performance mode. Learning mode is about building understanding and vocabulary, while performance mode is about making correct decisions consistently. In performance mode, you listen with the goal of predicting what an exam question could ask about that topic, and you practice choosing the best answer before you hear the explanation. You also focus more on misconceptions and distractor patterns, because many wrong answers are wrong in predictable ways, such as skipping validation, ignoring scope, or choosing an action that is too disruptive. This shift is important because many learners keep collecting information right up to the end and never practice the act of answering. A mapped plan makes that shift visible because you can see which objectives are ready for performance work and which still need basic reinforcement.

Finally, the most effective audio-first study plan is one you can follow consistently without burning out, because consistency is what produces compounding gains. That means your schedule should match your real life, not an idealized version of your life where you have unlimited quiet time. Short daily listening blocks are often better than rare long sessions, because they keep objectives active in memory and make repetition easy. Mapping to objectives keeps your listening purposeful, and the learn, recall, connect, and revisit cycle keeps your progress measurable. If you commit to this approach, you will not just feel more prepared, you will be able to prove it through recall and decision practice across the entire objective set. That is what an audio-first plan should deliver: steady, visible readiness built from repeated, structured contact with exactly what the exam can test.