A podcast is a type of show that is episodic in nature and delivered in an audio or video format. Podcasts can be about one topic or many topics to which you have a deep interest. Although podcasting is free, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t professional podcast shows podcasting from the top podcast media companies.
How to Structure a Podcast
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Podcasts are used as a way of distributing content to your target market so they can listen to it whenever they want! Therefore, podcasting is great for promoting current events, sharing fresh ideas, or simply just being heard. If you have a message that needs to be shared with the world – podcasting is a fantastic money-saving medium for getting your words out there without needing any prior experience.
The podcast production landscape has changed vastly over the pasture, with each episode having its own title, as well as the general theme. Some examples include Invisibilia, Serial, This American Life, Reply All
When listening to a podcast episode, the worst thing that can happen is a complete absence of organization. If you don’t want your show to seem like random babbling, you should plan out the podcast episode structure, from the intro through the middle portion, to the last closing lines and a call to action.
Having a terrific topic about which you are enthusiastic is a good place to start. However, the inability to do the task on a consistent and sustainable basis leads to the failure of many ambitious podcasting plans. Podcasts are an excellent method to interact with your audience on a personal level.
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Your podcast appearance schedule should be an extension of the podcast structure. An appearance schedule is simply a list of podcast episodes you’ve recorded, with any complementary blog posts or social media updates.
It’s helpful to think of podcasting as seven steps:
- Podcast Concept
- Podcast Structure
- Recording Scheduling
- Editing
- Publishing
- Tagging
- Listening/Listener Engagement
You’ll most likely be able to complete step one fairly quickly, but each remaining step will take time and energy, so it’s important to know what you want your podcast to look like after a full season (three months). That way, you can plan it out accordingly.
For your podcast audience members to engage with you on a regular basis, they need consistency! You don’t have to podcast every single week. If you’re podcasting less frequently, consider dropping your podcast episodes from a weekly to a bi-weekly schedule.
In addition, if podcasting is something that fills up your entire weekend or takes time away from your family, then it might be wise to reduce the amount of time you spend podcasting as well. You could podcast just once or twice per month instead of each week. The important thing is that you stick with it!
When you record, don’t forget to take notes! It’s always helpful to write down some notes immediately after the episode has finished recording so that you’ll have them for when it comes time to edit and publish the podcast episode. Some questions you can jot down are:
- What was your podcast topic?
- Did you find yourself jumping from podcast idea to podcast idea?
- Did anyone have any questions during the podcast episode? Why or why not?
If you’re using a podcasting app on your computer, there will be an area for notes. If you’re recording on your mobile device, try keeping a notepad nearby to record some of these details as they come up!
When scheduling podcast episodes, make sure that each episode has its own set of pre-recording tasks. A list of things to do before podcasting can include:
- Editing previous podcasts (include some edits if necessary)
- Listening to previous podcasts
- Podcast cover photo design
- Writing podcast description
- Creating podcast SEO
- Preparing podcast intro
During recording, pay attention to what you’re saying. If something doesn’t add value to the episode, cut it out! Podcasting is not meant to solely help you remember conversations. It’s important to edit your podcast episodes so that your listeners get only the best parts of each podcast. Along with cutting parts of your podcast episode during editing, make sure to also remove any filler words (e.g., “um,” “uh,” “ya know”) and vocalized pauses (e.g., “ahh” or “mmm”).
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Editing podcast episodes
Editing podcast episodes isn’t easy, but neither is producing a quality podcast. You’ll need to keep podcasting to continue learning about podcast editing as you go.
If you have podcast guests during your podcast episode, double-check all your work. You don’t want any errors on the podcast itself, so check for typos in the podcast description and ensure that links are functional in both places! You’ll need to tag each guest with their name and link to their website or social media account, as well as provide a little context by describing their role.
After publishing podcast episodes, try sharing them on relevant social media accounts and/or forums. Even if there aren’t many people listening yet, it will lead to an increase in listeners over time, they might share your podcast episode, and you can create a conversation about it.
While podcasting, take the time to podcast list and podcast archive all of your podcast episodes. Being able to go back and listen to earlier podcast episodes will help you see how much you’ve improved (hopefully!) and can also provide some insight into what has been effective in the past.
By tagging podcast episodes, people who are interested in specific things may discover your podcast through search engines like Google or podcast apps like Spotify! The more tags that you add, the better chance there is that someone will find something relevant to them.
At this stage, you should have completed all steps up until Listening/Listener Engagement! Congratulations on establishing a strong foundation for podcasting!
When podcasting, make sure to podcast the most important parts of your podcast episode. If you do this, the podcast will be more engaging for your listeners. Along with leaving some non-verbal sounds in natural pauses, including podcast intro and podcast outro to provide context and cues as to where they should start and stop listening.
After podcast is complete
Once the podcast is complete, consider podcast sharing it on various social media sites or sending it to people who might be interested in it using a tool like Buffer. Podcasts are shared all over the internet! If yours is worth listening so too will others’ efforts become worth sharing eventually?
After publishing podcast episodes, try them on relevant social media accounts and forums, tagging podcast episodes and podcasting the most important parts. Sharing podcast episodes on social media will increase the chances of podcast discovery and community building.
Before podcasting, create your podcast intro, podcast outro, podcast cover photo, podcast SEO, etc. – all necessary for promoting your podcast episode. Consider sharing relevant details about yourself in a blazeo blog post or an iTunes blurb to help promote your pre-podcast branding efforts!
After publishing podcast episodes
After publishing podcast episodes, try sharing them on relevant social media accounts and forums. Even if there aren’t many people listening yet, it will lead to an increase in listeners over time. Your friends might also share your podcast episodes!
Podcasts, as opposed to the fragmented connections made through social media, allow you to engage your audience with unique long-form material. Podcasts are handier than blog postings since they may be listened to while commuting, working out, or doing housework.
There’s a lot to keep track of and remember, from key talking points and crucial links to edit timecodes and calls to action. Then there’s always next week’s program to think about.
To help you, we’ve designed a special Podcast Planner so you can organize every episode of your podcast. Whether your goal is to educate, entertain, or inspire, this planner was created to assist you, the podcaster, in staying focused on delivering what you already know, episode after episode.
So, if you’re looking for help organizing and executing your podcasting goals, values, and definition of success, be sure to check out our Podcast Host Planner. It’s available on Amazon now! And, as always, we’d love to hear from you. How do you plan your podcasts? What challenges do you face when trying to stay on track with your content? Let us know in the comments below or reach out to us on social media. We can’t wait to hear from you.
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