Podcasts are in their golden era right now — just about everyone has at least a few favorites. But the pods that keep listeners coming back don’t happen by accident. There’s a lot of noise in the podcasting world, and to break through and attract a dedicated audience, your show needs to stand apart.
5 Ways to Improve Your Podcast
- Create and follow an episode template.
- Develop a short and stellar introduction.
- Have a preliminary interview with guests before the show.
- Keep your focus on the audience during the show.
- Conduct a debrief after every episode.
For the past year, I have hosted a biweekly podcast for an audience of product managers. Since then, our audience has more than doubled every quarter and we’re currently in the ears of more than 5,000 listeners per month. Here’s what I’ve learned works best in the world of podcasting.
Sound Quality Is Essential
When creating a podcast, never underestimate the role of sound quality. Crisp and clear audio instantly establishes the quality and professionalism of your podcast to your listeners.
You do not need the fanciest equipment. I use a Blue Yeti, a basic, consumer-grade microphone that comes with a foam windscreen for muffling “wet” sounds. To record, we use Riverside.fm, which is browser-based recording software that allows you to capture high-fidelity audio and video on podcast calls. (Think Zoom, but in 4K.)
While equipment matters, the environment in which you record is a lot more important. Create a space with soft surfaces such as carpets, rugs, curtains, etc. These significantly enhance sound quality by dampening echoes and reducing background noise. If you can’t create this type of setting, don’t fret; look for audio editing software with features for mitigating echoes and other unwanted sounds.
Have a Stellar Intro
You have a short window of time to capture new listeners and keep returning listeners interested. You need to craft a succinct and compelling introduction. It has taken some trial and error, but here’s my template:
- Rather than a simple greeting, aim for a provocative opener. Treat it like an attention-grabbing email subject line.
- Immediately establish the relevance of the episode to the listener by addressing a pain point they may be experiencing and hinting at how the upcoming discussion will provide solutions.
- Next, introduce the guest. Highlight their qualifications and expertise, and how their insights will contribute to resolving the aforementioned pain point.
I do all this within the first 60 seconds of every episode. Like I said — keep it succinct.
Use an Episode Template
Once you’ve created a podcast introduction template, develop a template that each of your episodes will follow consistently. That includes a set run time and a consistent release time.
Without a consistent template, your episodes risk becoming shapeless conversations. Listeners won’t know what to expect, what they will learn from it (if anything), and whether the guest will provide any value to them. If a listener doesn’t know if there will be information that is relevant and helpful to them, why would they stick around?
Think of it like a how-to guide (like this one!). A good podcast is consistent, organized and structured. Information is presented in a way that is easy to digest. If you were looking for a how-to guide on Google and clicked on a link to see a wall of text, you would most likely click away.
The exception to all these consistency guidelines is bonus episodes. You can mix things up, but make sure it’s for a purpose and your bonus content is still relevant to your core listeners.
Interview Guests Before the Cast
Whether you reach out to potential guests or they approach you, it is essential to establish a sense of familiarity, understanding and rapport. The best way to establish this is with a preliminary call.
The main purpose of this call is to help you vet the guest. If they aren’t able to clearly communicate their thoughts or they are hard to understand, it’s best not to proceed. If they are condescending or bigoted, definitely don’t proceed. Not everyone is a good fit for this medium. Trust your instincts.
The second purpose of the call is to finesse the topic. During these calls, it’s okay if you find yourself interested in a different topic than you had originally planned. Go with it. One great way to get the creative juices flowing is to ask your guest what they are passionate about. If they are excited about a topic, that energy will shine through during the episode interview.
Involve Your Guest in the Episode Development
Once you’ve had the initial call, provide your guests with interview questions and invite them to edit and personalize them. This collaborative approach ensures that your guests feel comfortable, prepared and excited about the upcoming interview. It also helps them foster an even greater sense of ownership and investment in the interview.
Keep Your Focus on Your Audience
While you’re chatting with your guest, developing the interview questions and ultimately conducting the recorded interview, keep bringing it back to how the discussion benefits your listeners.
A common pitfall to avoid (and I say common because even professionals are guilty of this) is being that host who goes on a lot of personal tangents. Sometimes these tangents can add value — for example, if you have a personal anecdote that accurately illustrates a concept your guest is trying to explain.
That said, I’ve heard podcast episodes in which the guests of a show barely got a word in edgewise because the hosts couldn’t stop talking about themselves.
The lesson here is that your guest should be the one providing the value, and your job as the host is to coax it out and create a useful, engaging narrative for your audience.
Editing Is Your Friend
You may feel the pressure to ensure everything is perfect and needs to be done in one take when recording your podcast. Don’t.
I challenge myself to do three perfect takes of my introductions. This means I will often do the intro ten times or more. This method allows for wiggle room in case I pronounce a guest’s name incorrectly, or if my energy at the beginning of my intro doesn’t match my energy at the end. Extend the same courtesy to your guests. If a guest doesn’t like their answer, allow them to redo it.
Following this practice also gives people room to ramble from time to time. This may feel counterintuitive, as you want to ensure your podcast stays within a time limit, but everything can be edited. If your guest goes on a tangent, let them. Some of the best conversations happen this way.
This whole process provides more material for your podcast editor to work with.
Be Proactive With the Editing Process
During a podcast interview, actively make note of compelling conversation points as they arise. That could involve jotting down notes in real-time, marking timestamps or flagging moments using your editing software. Finding a method to document noteworthy moments ensures that valuable content is not overlooked and bin-worthy content is easy to cut out.
Capturing these highlights makes the post-production editing process so much smoother. (And in many cases, shorter.) Your editing team will thank you, and if you are your own editing team, even more so.
Do a Debrief
After I finish up my interview, I immediately jump on a call with my producer, who listens in on each recording session. While it’s fresh in our minds, we talk about what went well, what could be improved, and the key conversation points I mentioned in my previous tip.
If you don’t have a producer or co-host, you can still conduct your own debrief. Try using an audio note app to record your thoughts right after the interview.
Study Your Metrics
Unlike your friends and family, your podcast data is brutally honest — and that’s why you need it. See what episodes did well and try to understand why they were successful. Was it part of a two-part conversation? Did you talk about a controversial topic? Did you have a high-profile guest on the show? These are valuable insights for future content.
If your listenership is stagnant or declining, why? Keep in mind there are often quieter times, such as the holidays and summertime, so I recommend looking at patterns over a 90-day period.
Don’t neglect episode analytics, either, particularly metrics tracking listener behavior during the episode. These are insight goldmines. For example, we noticed a ton of listeners dropped off when we had guests who went on a saga about their experience and expertise. So while, yes, that can be edited, I still like to communicate to my guests in advance that they’ll have just 30 to 60 seconds to introduce themselves. This way, they’re able to decide on the most important things they want to highlight.
Lean on these tips when developing your show and you might surprise yourself with how quickly you can grow a dedicated following. Podcast audiences tend to grow slowly at first, but don’t get discouraged. Consistency, planning and a laser-focus on delivering value to your listeners will take you far in the long run.
