This is the Podcast Script that You Have Been Looking For.
Structure Your Episodes to Maximize Listener Retention, Engagement, and Growth.
Trying to figure out exactly how to set up your podcast is a game that never seems to end.
You’ll find yourself experimenting with all sorts of different structures, formats, editing techniques, and the list just keeps on going as you try to master the art of getting people to stay tuned in to your show.
I’ve been producing multiples of my own podcasts for a few years now, as well as working with my clients on their podcasts, and I still haven’t found out that “secret formula” that works across the board for all podcasts.
I have, however, listened to hundreds, if not thousands of podcast episodes at this point, and I have a pretty good feel for what is keeping audiences engaged and what isn’t.
With that information, I decided to put together this easy to understand podcast script that will likely work best for your podcast. Depending on the style of your show of course.
This script is for podcasts that are trying to teach their listener something. Whether that be in self help, leadership, or the like.
Here’s how it goes.
Start with a Quick Introduction.
The key word here is going to be “quick.” I’ve worked with way too many podcast hosts that want to use their introduction to explain who they are, what their entire life story is, why they started a podcast, how it can help you, and then throw in their favorite recipe while they’re at it, because why not?
If you are doing all of that, you are losing your listeners right out of the gate. If you are losing your listeners right out of the gate, you are far less likely to pick up new listeners.
So start with a quick introduction. Say your name, what the podcast is, briefly describe why the listener should give a care in the world about listening (meaning like one sentence) and then get on with the show.
If your show is actually valuable to the people listening, you do not need to take the time in the beginning to explain that the show is going to be valuable or why it is going to be valuable. Just give your listeners the content, and the results will show whether or not it is valuable.
Next, Get Into Any Stories that You Have.
We’ve all heard that stories sell, and having a great story will increase the quality of your podcast if you tell them right.
Stories should be early on in your podcast, almost to the point that they are the beginning of the show. As a matter of fact, if you can do without any introduction and literally just start your show in the middle of a story, give it a shot! People love stories that get right into the details.
The mistake that will be made a lot here is giving way too much content around the story. Especially in the build up. Good stories do not need any build up. If anything, hyping up your story too much before getting into it is just going to raise skepticism, and dilute the value of the story.
The other big problem that I see hosts make is giving away all of the lessons and details of their story before actually telling the story. You need to tell the story first because that will be much more engaging for the listener. They will be actively listening and trying to pull the lessons out themselves, whereas if you tell them up front, they aren’t really going to have a reason to listen.
Which leads me into the next point…
After Telling Your Story, Pull Out the Lessons.
This is where the value starts to come together for your entire show. Your listeners will already have an idea of what the lessons are from the story. As humans, we are oddly good at learning from stories more than from just learning in more of a black and white manner.
The listener may not have picked up on every lesson though, or they may have even pulled out different lessons than the ones that you were going for.
So layout exactly what the lessons are out of the story, and make it concise.
DO NOT RETELL THE STORY WHEN YOU ARE DOING THIS. Just pick it apart, and then move onto the next step.
Finally, Give them the Details.
This last step is where you get to share your knowledge and expertise that you bring to the table. Take each of the lessons that you’ve laid out now, and expand on them a little bit. Explain your understanding of the lesson, and why it is going to benefit your listener.
This will give the listener your perspective on the story, and on the lesson, and then they can combine that with what they already had going on through their own head. This might be one of the best ways to challenge a person’s beliefs, and actually put them in a state to change their mind, because you aren’t attacking what they already think.
You are just bringing their own thoughts to the front of their mind, and then placing your perspective in front of them.
Let’s Recap.
Step 1: Start with a Quick Introduction.
Step 2: Tell a Story
Step 3: Pull the Lessons from That Story.
Step 4: Elaborate on the Details of the Lessons.
If you follow these steps, you just might start to see that people are sticking around for a higher portion of your episodes, and more importantly, they will be getting more out of it.
At the end of the day, that is why most of you started a podcast in the first place. You want to share your voice with the world, and there isn’t really an objective way to measure whether or not that is being done.
If your goal is to optimize for clicks, downloads, minutes listened, etc. then this probably isn’t an article that you should be reading. Although maybe these tips will help with that. I have no idea.
All of this is coming from a perspective of being a listener, and seeing what other podcast hosts have done that have made their shows stick in my head, and stick on my playlist for the long term.
Does This Method Really Work?
As you should already know, there are no guarantees.
It is important to realize that this is a good script for a certain type of podcast. As mentioned above. Podcasts come in many different shapes and forms, so different scripts, or even not having a script is what’s going to be best for some.
This script works the best if you are using your own real world experience to teach lessons to your audience. For example, I’ve worked with soldiers that have used their podcasts to forward lessons that they had learned coming up through the military.
They are the kind of people that always want to tell a story, but when they try to put it into a podcast, they just don’t set the story up right, or they hype it up way too much.
This method allows you to get your point across much more effectively. Give it a shot.
