Key Elements of a Great Podcast Episode

In this episode, I'll answer a new podcaster’s question about what to include in an episode and how to make it flow. I also share flexible formats, essential episode elements, and creative add-ons that make shows memorable and dynamic. 

Episode Types: 

• Solo Host: The Proffitt Podcast
• Multiple Hosts/Roundtable: Pop Culture Happy Hour 
• Interview Style: Good Hang w/Amy Poehler  & Armchair Expert, Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend

Dynamic Episode Elements

• Question & Answer: Dave Ramsey Show
• Cold Open: Serial Podcast
• Listener Challenge: Pods Fight Poverty campaign
• Current Events Segment: New Heights

Keep podcasting!

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Listener Question
• 2:36 Exploring Popular Episode Types
• 5:06 Essential Elements Every Episode Needs
• 6:43 Creative Add-Ons With Examples

Transcript

Cara Pacetti: 0:00

Welcome to Podcasting Q&A, brought to you by the people at Buzzsprout. I'm your host, Cara Pacetti, and I'm bringing you the best tips and strategies to keep you podcasting with confidence. We recently received a fan mail message from a new podcaster. The question reads: I'm about to launch my podcast, but I'm not sure what elements should be included in my episodes. I'm really glad that our listeners sent this question in because a lot of podcasters have these really grand ideas and they include a lot of detail. And then where they struggle is putting it all together into their first episode and making that episode flow in a way that's easy to listen to, that's easy to understand. And it just kind of gets lost in what really needs to be included in this episode. So I can't just turn on my mic and just talk for the next 45 minutes and cross my fingers and hope that it makes sense. And some people can, and that's a gift if you can. Um other people try this and then they load it into their editing software and realize, oh my goodness, I have my work cut out for me because I have jumped around from topic to topic. I left off something that I'm gonna have to re-record. And so from the start, it's easier if you just identify how you want your episodes to flow and what really needs to be included in them. So that's what we're gonna go through today. I want to kick things off by first identifying some of the episode types that we see in podcasting today. Just a little note as I get started. All of this is super flexible. I mentioned that you can't just turn on your mic and talk, but that's really not true. If you're good at that and your listeners enjoy that, you can do that. There are no hard and fast rules about what is right or wrong when it comes to creating your podcast content. This is just to give you some ideas if you're just starting out and you again just want some direction. So what's happening right now in the industry? So that's kind of what we're going off of, but always keep in mind that your creative approach is absolutely acceptable and is the right way for you. And for all of these examples, I'm actually gonna include links to these podcasts that I'm highlighting. That way, if you want to go take a listen to their episodes so you can hear firsthand how they are structuring their podcast episodes, you can get to that directly from the show notes. So I'm gonna link everything below. But first, we want to start with a solo host. So the Prophet podcast is an example of a podcast with a solo host. So Krystal records her episodes. It's only her, it's not a back and forth discussion, but it is her sharing her expertise in her episodes. So first type, solo host. Next type is a co-host or multiple hosts, maybe like a round table conversation. So one example of this is pop culture happy hour. It's a good example of how they rotate through the list of hosts. They review movies, music, and anything in popular culture, but it's fun because in each episode you are hearing a different perspective. You're hearing a different voice. That is another unique way of offering your content, and it really creates a fun listening experience. The next style is an interview style. So this is something with guests. So the co-host or multiple host, everybody's on board. Everybody works together, they're all working towards the same goal, right? They're all hosting the podcast. An interview style is typically when there is one host and then they bring on guests. So these guests might be podcasters or they may not. They may never have spoken into a microphone a day in their life. So you, as the host, can bring on your guests, have an authentic conversation. Maybe you map out questions that you want to ask directly to your guest. Um, a great example of this is the good hang with Amy Polar, a very popular podcast right now. A couple of others are the armchair expert and the Conan O'Brien needs a friend. So these are some really popular podcasts that really hone in on that interview style. And then the last style that I want to point out, and I feel like this one's really popular, and that is a narrative style episode. A lot of true crime or documentary style podcasts fall into this category. So with a narrative, you typically have one host. It could be more, but you are telling a story. The way that you start the episode might be different. You may not always start with an intro to the episode. You may just start with the content first. That way you're hooking your listener and then you kind of bring them in and finish the episode. So the ones that I've listed here: solo host, co-host, interview style, and narrative. This is not an exhaustive list. There are many ways of formatting your episodes, but these are just some of the styles that I wanted to give you as examples. And then you can work from there to make it your own. Moving on from the style of your episode, I do want to point out some elements that do need to be included in your episode. So while the style of your episode is a little more flexible, these are highly recommended. Some of the essential elements that you will need to include in your episode is a main topic. So, what is it that you're talking about? What is the point of your episode? It can be comedic, it can be storytelling, it can be purpose-driven, it can be educational, whatever it may be. You just want to decide on that before you turn on your mic. If you are having a guest or another host on your podcast, you want to make sure that you're introducing this new voice to your listeners. So an introduction of the host or guest that is a part of your episode. On all of your podcast episodes, we always recommend including a call to action. Now, this can range from monetary call to action. So please support my show. This could also be make sure that you subscribe to my show so that you never miss a new episode. A rule of thumb about a call to action. If you are asking your listener to do something, so whether it be following your show or supporting it monetarily, you have to ask. It might feel redundant to ask in every episode, but we highly recommend doing that. You just never know that listener may miss it altogether if they never hear that episode. So that's why we recommend in all of your episodes, make sure that you are always including that call to action. So three essential elements, very simple main topic: the introduction if you have a host, and a call to action. You want to make sure you are not missing those elements when you are recording your episodes. The last point is maybe the most fun. So these are just some creative ideas as you're getting started. I'm gonna call out some elements that you could add to your episode to make it that much more dynamic. But I just want to show you the realm of creativity with podcasting and how you can really make it your own. And these podcasts have done a very good job at doing that. So, for an example here, the Dave Ramsey show does a very good job at incorporating listener questions and answering them on the podcast. You hear the listener question or the host reads it off, and they literally spend the episode answering questions. It's really a neat concept because the whole podcast is based on this question and answer style. While you can have this for some of your episodes, depending on the content of your podcast, you could also make an entire podcast based on question and answer, like the Dave Ramsey show. So that is just one example of a way to make your podcast stand out. Another element that can be included in your episodes to make it a little more dynamic is a cold open. So season one of the serial podcast does a really great job at this. They start the episode off with an intense portion of the story. No intro, just right into it. And it really grabs you. When you listen to these episodes, you're listening and then you're like, okay, but what happens next? And then, of course, you can't turn away. And so this is a really great way if you're doing a documentary podcast or a narrative podcast of just really grabbing your listener. Cold opens are a great element that you can add to make your episodes stand out a little bit. Another fun element to include in your podcast episodes is a listener challenge. So recently, over 40 podcasts added a call to action in their show notes and mentioned it on their episodes. And it was for listeners to donate directly to a charitable cause. In this case, it was Pod's Fight Poverty campaign. And I just thought that was a really neat way to make your episodes stand out while also contributing to the greater good or to the greater campaign that they were advocating for. It also joined a lot of podcasters together. And so this is an element that you can absolutely add into your podcast structure, but it's not mandatory. The last dynamic element that I want to include actually comes from the New Heights podcast. So if you are not familiar with the New Heights podcast, it's actually hosted by two former NFL players. And on this podcast, they interview guests. So their episodes are really more of that interview style, but they have a familiar segment that they include in their interviews, which is a portion of the show that focuses on the news and the NFL. So New Heights does a really great job of offering both elements in one episode. That's a really creative use of including current events with an interview podcast. In this episode, I have included the must-have elements of your podcast episodes. But in addition to that, I hope you have taken away from this episode that there is so much flexibility in being creative with your episodes. As you are getting started and as you're launching your podcast, if you'd like to hear more of a deep dive on maybe some more specific topics like how long your episode should be, or even the best etiquette for an episode with multiple hosts, send me a text using the Text the Show link in the show notes. I'd love to talk about this on a future Podcasting Q&A episode and go a little deeper on topics that you, as our listeners, want covered. If you have any questions about how to structure your upcoming podcast episode, please reach out to the podcaster success team by emailing us at support at buzzsprout.com. Be sure to join us every Monday to kickstart your week. Thank you so much for listening. And as always, keep podcasting.