What to say when you’re introducing your podcast

One thing that will draw people to finish listening to your podcast is the intro. What will move them to take action is your outro. These two pieces of information are one of the most important components of your show. That’s why it is critical for you to spend time to craft a good intro and the appropriate call to action for your outro. This article will explain how to craft a good intro.

Say what is the show about

The first component of your intro is telling your listeners what the show is about. It’s straight forward but not always easy to communicate. For example, you have a show about food and you start your show like “today we’re going to talk about how to make salads.” Saying that is fine but adding a problem statement to that makes it more interesting.

What do I mean by problem statement? It is just talking about a problem/issue persons might have related to the topic of the show. Here’s an example from the food show. “Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the number of ingredients to choose for your salad? What toping to add then on today’s episode we’re going to share 5 basic salads and their ingredients.

That approach draws the listeners attention to start thinking about how you made their lives easier with the tips. If they have a problem in that area then they are going to listen to your show.

Examples of podcasters who do this well are Guy Roz from the NPR “How I built this” podcast. Donald Miller on” The story brand” podcast and Amy Porterfield.

Say your name

The next thing to put in the intro is your name. On a blog that’s not necessary because your name is at the end. But podcast persons don’t have that luxury. Saying your name reminds listeners who you are. It helps them build an emotional connection with you and remind them who they are listening to. You don’t need anything fancy. Welcome to the ABC podcast I’m your host Andrae Palmer. The podcast examples I mentioned earlier have different ways of doing it. But the variation brings out their style.

Let the listener know you’re about to begin

The last component of your show intro is letting your listeners know you’re about to start. This will give you the space to add a music bed/ break before you get into the heart of your podcast. It also allows you to add sponsored messaging between breaks. Here are a few examples:

We do into details after the break
Ok let’s dive into our show
The interview after the break.

These are just some basic ones, but let your imagination run wild. Just keep it simple and you will be ok.

Put all 3 components together and you have your podcast intro. Some other things to note is that there are other ways to do this. This is just one way, you can follow the news format by mentioning the headlines of the stories you plan to share and that will work as well.

Conducting interviews for your podcast

One of the things that can add something extra to your podcast is interviewing other people. This will expand your credibility, give your listeners a different perspective and add a new dynamic to your show. But interviewing people can be nerve-racking. In this article, I’ll share some tips on how to do it without getting jittery.

Secure the interview

The first step is actually securing the interview. There are various ways to do it, you can email your contact, or send them a message on social media or reach out to them at in-person events. Just ask in a respectful way that you’re seeking some tips on how to do what they do. All of this must relate to how you serve your customers. Once you get confirmation, add the interview to your calendar and prep to get it done.

Have basic questions that you want to ask

At first have a list of questions that you want to ask your guest. Not everyone feels too comfortable winging it. This helps you get the main answers you’re seeking for our show. Questions that you can ask include:

Tell us a little about your story and what you do?
Now, what can persons do to overcome this problem?
What are some tips to do x?

It’s important to not follow up questions you want to ask while the person is speaking. This will keep the conversation flowing naturally. It’s also important to be curious as well this will help you find more question to ask without wasting the person’s time.

Test recording software and equipment before you go live

Before the actual interview do a test recording. This will ensure that you identify any issues that can happen. Make sure all connections are working. ANd have a plan B just in case your main method fails. You can never be too prepared but doing these simple checks reduces the stress.

Once you’re up and running go live and do the interview. Its ok to feel nervous and anxious at times but with time interviewing people will become easier. When you’re finished save your files appropriately.

How to turn your ideas into podcast episodes

Having lots of ideas for a podcast is good. That makes the process to move ahead much simpler. But how do you transform your ideas into a podcast episode?

With a little planning, you can make it happen. I’ll show you how in this article.

Create an editorial calendar

First up, you need to churn out ideas. Once you’ve gathered all your ideas, the next step is to put them together in what is known as an editorial calendar for your podcast. This is where you sequence when you are going to publish what. In addition to that, start outlining answers to your ideas in a logical order.

In your editorial calendar, choose which day or days you plan to publish episodes, Then decide when it will go live. The other thing is after you decide on a schedule, write out which topic or group of ideas you plan to tackle. Meaning if you cover health, October could be diet, November exercise and so on.

Doing this will further break up the production into chunks. Making it much easier to produce your episode with a plan in place. It will also help you keep your ideas organised.

Start outlining the first set of ideas.

Now that you have an editorial calendar in place, start outlining each idea. You have a lot of questions to answer on your podcast create an outline for each question. Follow the editorial calendar you have in place.

you do this is by writing out 3 – 4 points that will answer the question in detail. You can even break down each point further. If the answers have lots of information, break them up into different episodes and create mini-series. That way you’ll have more content to share on your podcast.

As a side note, you can also find a guest for your show to answer these questions for you. This will help build your audience and provide even more value for your listeners.

Gather your recording kit and record your show

Now that you have your outline, set up your podcasting kit and start to record each episode one by one. Amy Porterfield records all her shows in batches. This makes production easier. It also provides a system to work with that allows you to focus on one thing at a time.

Connect your microphone to your computer. Open your recording software, and hit that record button. Once you’re finished, save your podcast episode in a folder. Save it with the question and add the episode number.

That’s it. You have just transformed your idea into a podcast episode. You have created your editorial calendar, outlined each episode and recorded your show. Feel proud of your accomplishment.

How to find ideas for your podcast

When looking to start a podcast, one of the most overwhelming feeling is, how can I find enough ideas for my new show. While putting together ideas sometimes you get a spark, other times nothing. This can lead you to abandon starting a podcast altogether. I know the feeling because I use to get panic attacks at work trying to find ideas for the radio features I produce. Not a nice feeling, worse when you have a deadline.

Luckily after some searches and queries, I found a way that helped me generate hundreds of ideas that can help you get over the starting phase of your new podcast. All you need is a notepad and a pen.

Write a list of the problems your customers have.

This is something I found in “Duct tape selling” a book by John Jantsch. What this does is give you a platform to start mapping out all the problems you help your customers with. Aim for at least 10 if you have more, then great. These will serve as a good starting point.

As a daily practice, write at least 10 ideas you can use on your show. This includes guest to interview and so on. Don’t filter the list just write them down, you can organise them later. I got this idea from James Alchuters book,” choose yourself.” This one helped me greatly.

Search Quora for frequently asked questions

Another resource for ideas is quora. Based on your industry, visit quora and search for frequently asked questions and add them to your list. These will be valuable later when you’re crafting actual episodes.

To do this visit quora and sign in to your account. If you don’t have one create one. The next thing is to find the category with your topic and find the frequently asked questions. Browse the topics and not the questions and their variations in your notebook.

By now you should have dozens of ideas for your show, but I have one more resource for you to check.

Facebook groups and forums

In the one-hour content plan, Meera Kothand says searching facebook groups and forums are a great source for ideas. And you can use them to your advantage. To do this, log on to Facebook and search for groups relating to your topic.

Once you find the groups, join them and search the group with the word “newbie,” ” beginner” or “getting started”. These will give you more ideas to add to your list. The good thing about doing this is that you are finding questions that real people are asking.

Other places to search are forums, twitter search and google keyword tool. This will give you lots of ideas for your new podcast.

Conclusion

Once you have your list of ideas, it’s now time to format your episodes and start to record your podcast.

What are some of the ways you use to generate content ideas? Leave a comment below.

3 Podcasting formats you can try

When you decide to start a podcast one of the things you’ll need to decide is, what format you’ll use for your show. With the multitude of options available, I’m going to share with you 3 options you can try out and find the one that works for you.

Narration bite

This format is popularly used in broadcast radio. This is where the host narrates the story and they insert sections of the interview, or bites as they call it. This is to supplement telling the complete story. For podcasters, this means writing out what you want to say and transcribing the interview for the sections you want to use.

The drawback with this format is that it’s a lot of work. Both in pre and post-production. It involves doing the interview, writing your script and editing the show after you record your podcast episode. Entrepreneur magazine’s “Problem solver” podcast comes to mind with this format, the BBC also uses it a lot with their documentaries.

It’s a format you can use to get really creative with your episodes in post-production. But keep in mind it’s the most time-consuming.

Interview style

This format is the easiest of all 3. You have a guest, and you ask questions. Once you are finished you can edit the interview, keeping what you want and deleting the rest. In the post-production, all you need to do is an intro, and outro for your show, and add the interview in the middle and you’re done. You can knock out multiple episodes weekly this way.

The drawback with this format is a boring guest. If the interviewee is boring when talking about his or her subject area, then the show can drag on and is then hard to listen. If the guest is engaging and excited about the subject, then the interview can be easy to listen to and fun for your listeners. It will also be easy to edit.

Persons who use this format a lot include “story brand” podcast by Donald miller, “online marketing made easy” podcast by Amy Porterfield and Dave Ramsey.

Lone Ranger Style

The last one is the lone ranger. This is where you are talking about your area of expertise. You can also have a co-host. All throughout the episode you talk about or teach your thing. You answer questions, teach stuff and it’s just you.

This format takes a lot of prep work but its also easy to maintain with a system. If you have lots to share, you can record each response on the go, and that can save you plenty of time in post-production work.

“Side hustle school” podcast, “marketing school” by Neil Patel and ProBlogger use this format. You can listen to the suggested podcasts to get an idea of how the final show sounds. Try them out and get your podcast started.

How to create a campaign to promote an event

Attending an industry event is fun. You get to learn new things, meet people and reconnect with old ones. It can also serve as a great source of content for your podcast. Leading up to the event however, you can create a host of content to promote the event creating a mini-campaign.

In this post, I’ll show you how you can generate content ideas to promote an event.

Pre-event

A month or so before the event, secure an interview with the organisers to get some information about the event. This will help you know what’s happening and if there’s anything new to expect if the event is an annual thing.

If the event is new, get background information. Here are a few questions you can ask the organisers:

If its the first time, why did you decide to host this event?
What topics do you plan to cover?
Who are the speakers who will be there?
Why was this focus chosen?
What can persons expect when they come to the event?
Who would get the most out of this event?
You can wrap by asking location and pricing.

As a side note if they are looking to address a particular issue, spend time talking about it. This is a good way to entice your listeners to actually go to the event. As the event will bring out the solutions.

You can do that in one episode and also do giveaways of tickets or offer early bird pricing. This can serve as an incentive for your listeners to take action and go to the event. Leading up to the event you can do reminders and notices about the event and count down for when the early bird prices will end.

At the event

While at the event record the live presentations. The easiest way to do this is to get a feed from the PA system engineer and connect your recorder to the system. Just ask around and once you find them they will hook you up. Take detailed notes to share with your listeners. Also, update your social media pages while at the event.

Live-tweeting using the events hashtags, Instagram pics and stories.

In addition, get feedback from the persons attending the event using your recorder. These responses can be used for a podcast episode. Talk with the organisers about how well the event is going and general feedback. Also just to pick their brains for plans for next year. You can also ask about turn out.

Next, talk to some of the keynote speakers to get feedback on their presentations and ask follow up questions from your notes. This can help you clarify anything you might not understand and can help generate more content for your podcast.

The last thing at the event, talk to business owners with booths at the site. Talk to them about how the event is going as well as get tips to share with your listeners. Ensure the persons you talk to solve a problem relating to your business and your audience. These interviews can also serve as separate podcast episodes.

Post-event

After the event is finished organise all your notes and interviews in a logical order. Episode 1 talks about how the event went and general key discussion points. You can use clips from the keynotes in your show. That’s why you recorded it.

Episode 2 and 3 is feedback from patrons and sponsors. Let them share how the event went and their experience. Also, anything that can contribute to a full interview from different perspectives. From there, you can use the tips gathered from the business for future episodes that,s a not event-specific. And depending on how many tips you get will determine how many podcast episodes you can crank out.

How to make the most of live events for future podcast episodes

Going to industry-related events is a good way to get new content ideas for your podcast. this is so because you can talk to lots of industry insiders and other persons at the conference with valuable information for your audience.

To get started here’s what you’ll need. A portable recorder such a Xoom or Tascam. A dynamic microphone, xlr cables and rechargeable batteries, a notebook and a pen. This is your conference kit.

Once you have your kit ready it’s time to hit the conference. As a side note, you can use your cellphone to do interviews as well. So if you can’t buy the equipment then use what you have.

When you get to the conference first scout the booths and agendas for all activities that you can get valuable information for your audience. Make notes in your notebook before you start to hit the floor. That way you get the relevant interviews. Keep in mind that how you frame your questions will be super important. What you’re looking to get is tips to share on your podcast.

Once you have all the interviews you plan to do, get started collecting information. Connect your microphone for your digital recorder and go up to each booth one by one. When approaching people, smile, say hello and introduce yourself.

When they respond, let them know you want to ask them a few questions to get some tips relating to what they do for your podcast. Example, if the person sells drip irrigation equipment, ask for tips on how persons can set up a system, and maintenance tips. Let them know what the show is about. if they agree to do the interview proceed to ask questions.

Before starting the interview ask the person their name and title. This will help you identify each person you talk to when you are ready to edit. Here are some questions you could ask:

How did you get started in the business?
Walk me through how your product/software work?
what are some tips that people should keep in mind when dealing with this problem?
While building your business what challenges did you face? how did you overcome them?

The aim is to get their story and get them to talk about their product and services, as well as give you tips. While doing the interview look the person in the ey. It helps you connect with them as well as let them know you are paying attention. Don’t be afraid to ask follow-up questions. As well as ask additional questions to get a full understanding of what they do.

The people you talk to depends on the problem you solve for your audience. Get relevant information that is tied to your show. That way the value you collect will let the experience worth it. BE sure to talk to the event organizers as well as a few of the keynote speakers. TO round out your coverage of the event.

If possible share while you are at the event on your social media channels, and start prepping your episodes while at the event. Take notes of the things you can use and so on. THis will make life easier for you when producing the podcast episodes.

Collect contact information from the persons as well, so that you can share the episode featuring the interview with them for more exposure once uploaded.

These things should help you get the most out of any event you attend.

If you have other methods for covering events. let me know in the comments below. Also, feel free to share any questions.

Podcast Equipment for beginners

If you’re thinking about starting a podcast, one the questions you might have is what equipment should I buy. With the array of choices, you might be confused and eventually delaying starting your podcast. No need to delay any longer because what you will need to get started is a few basic things, and they don’t need to be expensive.

Microphone

A microphone can make or break the quality of your podcast. This is the most important piece of equipment you will buy. How much you buy depends on how many persons you will be recording in your podcast production studio. For now one will do. When choosing a microphone they’re some things to look out for.

First, you will need a dynamic microphone. The reason for this is they are built for live performances and are less sensitive compared to a condenser microphone usually used for studio recording. These types of microphones are ideal for recording in home offices and small spaces where you can easily set them up and record without the worry of picking up unwanted noises. You will need to keep your environment quiet while you’re recording though.

The most recommended microphone by top recording engineers worldwide is the shure sm 58 microphone. It is a rugged microphone and has an excellent sound. I have used this microphone at press conferences in Jamaica for years, not to mention at church.

Their other microphone on the high-end side from a price perspective is the shure sm7. Almost all radio stations in Jamaica has this microphone in their studio. I have been working with this microphone at the Jamaica Information Service for over 8 years and they sound great.

Mixing board / Audio Interface

Most dynamic mics’ comes with an XLR input. To use this input with your computer or laptop you will need a mixer to connect to your computer. An audio interface is a great way to do this. They come with a 1 to as high as 8 or more channels. They can record multiple tracks which can be great for recording guest inside your office.

They’re many options available and they are built pretty well. I personally use the M Audio mobile pre. I’m not sure if they are still making this unit because I’ve had it since 2010 and it is still working the only issue now is the headphone jack is not working properly.

When buying, choose a device with the number of inputs you are going to use over and over again. It would be a waste of money to invest in a unit with 4 channels when you only need 1 or 2. Higher price does not always equal better quality but you might get a better-built device.

Studio headphones

The ability to hear yourself clearly is important not only when editing but recording as well. A good headphone can get you that. I personally love the shure srh440 headphones. They sound great and transparent. If you want to hear a lot of booming bass in your headphone, you won’t get that in this one.

The other headphone I know very well is the AKG k240 headphone. They also sound great, and very flat and transparent. My only issue though is that it’s not as bright as the shure srh440 but with a good reference point they are good to have.

Recording and Editing Software

Most audio interfaces come with recording software like Cubase ai, or Ableton live lite. For podcasting purpose, both are good to use, If you happen to get a copy with your audio interface use it. The plus to this is that you don’t have to go software hunting. You can set up templates for your show. Also, they are not that difficult to use.

Another option is audacity. This is also free and can work on both mac and pc.

Arm Suspension Stand

Finally, you will need a microphone stand to attach to your table. You can get a regular desk stand if space is an issue for you. Otherwise, get an arm suspension stand.

Conclusion

Starting a podcast is not difficult. With your shopping list now in place go and take action. Buy what you need and get started.
If you have any questions, leave a comment below.