Podcircle Podcast

Let's really lean into your strengths and what your audience needs. I think where those two things meet is really gonna be the magic for you in your show. Welcome to the Podcircle Podcast where we bring practical tips and insights for every podcaster.

From aspiring podcasters to experts with 100s of episodes under your belt and everywhere in between, these conversations dive deep into the topics that matter most to you. So today, we're gonna talk about podcast episode formats and how to choose the right one for your strengths and your goals and most importantly for your audience. So in this episode, we're gonna briefly break down what those formats are. And in next week's episode, we're gonna talk about a few of our favorites and kind of each different podcast category.

Alright. So I'm so excited about this topic, and I think we talk a lot about consistency. We say, show up consistently. Do a podcast. Make it sustainable so that you can release on time.

But I think in addition to releasing on time, it's also important to think about the consistency of your format. So no matter your format, really lock it in and stick with it. Now there are a few situations where you might not, but we'll kind of dive into that later. So what are we talking about when we talk about episode format? What is that, Kyle?

Yeah. Totally. So sometimes people call this a run of show. Sometimes I call it a run of show, but it's basically what happens in your episode and in what order. So do you start off with music?

Do you have, like, a standard intro that plays for every episode? If you have ads, where do you place them? Do you place them at the very beginning? Do you place them after your intro? Do you place another ad in the middle of your episode or at the end?

So things like that. Or even do you have recurring segments that happen in your show, and where do those go? So it's really just the run of show, like the top to bottom, what is happening and where. And these are generally things that will be consistent across all of your episodes with a couple of exceptions that Mackenzie's gonna tell us about.

So I think some of those exceptions outside of the larger format that you can kinda break the consistency of how you do a run of show are bonus episodes. I'm a really big fan of those. Dropping something in to surprise and delight your audience. I've done those in different seasons when we have a product launch. And so we're gonna do a podcast specifically around, the felt need that that product addresses, and then we might do a soft launch to that.

We've done bonus episodes. I host a mental health podcast. So during the month of mental health awareness month, we did an extra episode every week. So we drop on our Monday normal, and then we would do special series every Wednesday. Also, I love the idea of a best of episode.

I know a lot of people do this towards the end of the year, compile the best episodes from your year, compile them into 1 episode. Maybe you do a repeat quarterly of your best episode from the quarter. That's one of the ways that you could go outside of your normal format. And then I think if there's breaking news or updates that you wanna share with your audience, you can kinda tap in and it be in the regular release cadence, but it's a little bit different. And lastly, I think you should break format and make adjustments based on audience feedback.

So let's say, predominantly, you have a show that's 60 minutes long, but you're noticing that your audience is giving you feedback in the form of dropping off. They're not listening to your full episodes. So then you may say, hey, I'm gonna adjust the format in a way that's gonna, keep them here longer. Either that could be shortening it or changing the order of your segment so that you're pulling them in or you're enticing them at the beginning with something that you'll only bring at the end of the episode. I think those adjustments are a reason to definitely bring some exceptions.

Yeah. So how do we choose the right episode format for you? And you can create a show with multiple formats. The key there is just to be consistent in how you do that. But

Yeah. Totally.

Speaking of big picture, you always want to start with what are your goals. So align with your strengths and your goals and always say, what is the goal of my podcast? Is it to market my product or services, market my business? If you're an entertainer, maybe you're a comedian, it's to let people know about your tour stops. Whatever your goals are, make sure that those are crystal clear as we always talk about when you start your podcast, and then let everything else funnel through that, including your run of show and your episode format.

So the answer to these questions are gonna inform your show format.

And I think let's lean into your strength. Right? Let's think about what is optimal for you. Where do you shine? So do you kick into another gear when you're facilitating conversation?

I mean, there are people who just shine in that format. Do you wanna connect with other subject matter experts in your industry or your field, your specialty? Then maybe an interview format is really gonna be great for you. So the bulk of your run of show is gonna be a intentional conversation with someone. There's so many ways to do that.

I can't wait to dig in next week. Do you have expertise that you wanna share with the world? Can you break down complicated ideas in a digestible way? Do you really shine 1 at like by yourself just talking. A host centric or teaching format might be best for you.

Do you have an active and engaged audience who just really wanna connect with you? I can think of a lot of examples where shows are based around their audience, and that may be a social audience, it may be a following, it may be, like you're saying, a comedian. So you've got that draw where people wanna engage with you, then an audience contribution or, like, a call in show might be great for you. Lastly, do you love pouring over research? Do you love curating a narrative?

Do you wanna take people on a deep dive of, like, exploration of a topic and really get into it? Then a journalistic or, like, maybe an investigative format might be best for you. So those are kind of the 4 formats, like, the bulk of so you've got your intro. You've got your music. You've got your other elements. And then what's the bulk of your conversation or the bulk of the content you're putting out? What kind format is that?

Okay. The next thing is to consider your audience and what's best for them. So keep your ideal audience in mind. And if you're not quite sure who that is, Mackenzie and I can help. We've been talking about that a good bit here Definitely.

Lately. We've got several strategy sessions with folks just like you, podcasters like you that are coming up. And that's what we do. We help people get clear about who their audience is, where they're consuming the podcast. We talk a lot about show format.

That's gonna affect how long a an ideal show should be. Should so should it be 20 minutes or 40 minutes? Who's listening? Where are they listening? How are they consuming the podcast?

What's best for them? And then also, what's best gonna serve them? And what how much time do they have? Is it a podcast for for moms? I've I've got one of our clients in in particular in mind, and we've been working with her for over 7 years.

And I can think of maybe a handful of her podcasts that have ever been more than 25 minutes long. They're usually around the 20 minute mark, and that is just right for her audience. It's it's mostly moms. And so a lot of carpool line, you know, waiting to pick up the kids from soccer kinda thing. So life kinda happens.

I feel like and I'm not not the expert on this. You would be Mackenzie. You're a mom of 2. Yeah. I feel like life kinda happens in 20 minute segments. So if you can find a little 20 minute pocket, I'd say you're doing pretty well. So that's probably where they're gonna consume a podcast.

Yeah. I think let's really lean into your strengths and what your audience needs. I think where those two things meet is really gonna be the magic for you and your show.

Yeah. So the next thing is that you wanna think about your capacity. And so last week, we talked about how you could work smarter and not harder. I think that's what we're all trying to do here. And we were kinda talking about that in the context of creating social content from your podcast, but I think it also applies to your episode format too.

So if you're a really busy person, maybe an hour long weekly episode, that's not gonna be possible for you. You don't have that kind of time in your week or your month to do that even if you're batching episodes. So you've gotta kinda look at, like, what is your bandwidth? And maybe your bandwidth is the same bandwidth that your audience has, and that's shorter episodes. I'm rarely telling podcasters, hey.

You need to, you need to do longer episodes. And we're in the attention economy, and people's attention is divided in a 1,000 different directions. So 9 times out of 10, if you're not entertaining, it's to provide more clear and concise, relevant, helpful, meaningful conversations or topics in a shorter amount of time. And I'm usually telling people that's between 20 30 minutes, especially at the start of your podcast. So if you're new and you're in those first 10, 20 episodes, you're still trying to gain listeners.

You're still trying to figure things out. So on the side of simplicity and do what's best for for you and and your bandwidth.

Sometimes I really think we overcomplicate it. I actually did a podcast with one of my favorite authors last week, Shauna Nyquist. And she asked a question that I've returned to it probably 4 or 5 times in the last week. And she said, is there an easier way? And I just have applied that in so many areas lately of is there an easier way to do this?

Can I not overcomplicate it? I'm hosting a dinner this weekend, and I had all these elaborate plans to make, like, 6 dishes. And then I thought, is there an easier way? What do I do great? And how do I tap into that and put my best foot forward and be honest and realistic about my capacity?

In this season of my life, I can't create a 5 course dinner. But I can create the, mango curry that is a specialty in our house and that we all love. So that's what we're gonna do. So don't over commit yourself to something that you can't deliver on. In the other part of my life, the other podcast that I host, I've really been trying to be realistic of what can I commit to?

We actually took a break so that we could regroup and come back, with kinda changing up our format a little bit in a way that was more sustainable for my workload, but then also leaning into what our audience needed and what they could consume. And they really were asking us for more deeper, richer content, like diving deeper on topics. And we just were hand to mouth and not able to deliver for them. And so we've rethought our format. We're going to a season so we can really dive in and give them jam packed content full episodes in the time allotted rather than just keeping going with something we can't sustain.

Totally. And I'm gonna give a a shout out for that podcast that Mackenzie hosts. It's called the Living Centered podcast. And like she mentioned, it's in the in the mental health space. It is excellent.

Yeah. We produce, and edit that podcast here at PodCircle, and, this season has just been a joy to work on. And from a production standpoint, Mackenzie just absolutely knocks it out of the park. So it's not the same kind of podcast as as PodCircle podcast, but it's it's very important work that they're doing over there. So

Thanks for the shout out, Kyle. Go. So bottom line, find the right format for you and your audience, and you'll be sure to win. So we can't wait to talk to you next week. Make sure you check out all the things in the show notes.

We talked a lot about these strategy sessions we've been doing. If you're on the front end of your launch, we would encourage you to download our complete podcast starter kit. You can find that at podcircle.com/start, and it'll have all the things you need to launch and to sustain your show. Let's get started.