What will you say? Hopefully, you've listened to other podcasts and developed an idea about your podcast show.
Let's start with a few basics. First, how often do you want to produce a new
podcast? Will this be a one time thing (hopefully not)? Or will you be producing
podcasts on a regular basis? If you will be doing so on a regular basis, set a
schedule for producing your podcast, so that you do it on the same day each
week, every two weeks, or each month - however often you will be podcasting.
Next, let's consider what type of podcast you want to do. There are several choices. Here are the various types of podcasts:
The Monologue: This is a podcast with only one speaker. This type of
podcast can be used for multiple purposes. You can use it simply to be
heard concerning topics that you are passionate about, or you can use it
to teach a course, which could in turn be broken up into a series of
podcasts.
The Interview: This is a podcast where you interview another person. This
can easily be done with Skype. You have a list of questions, and the
person being interviewed answers them. It's a fairly simple concept, and
depending on your niche and the person being interviewed, of great
interest to your audience.
The Conversation: This is similar to the interview, and is also
accomplished with Skype. However, it has a more relaxed atmosphere, and instead of a series of questions and answers, the people on the call actually conversate about a topic. Think amusing and interesting morning radio shows for this one.
The Call In Show: This is not one that you will probably start with, as it is
more complex. It requires the use of a conference line, and of course the
podcast must be promoted in order to get people to call in ahead of time. It
could be done with Skype, but it would take a lot of work, because each
call in would result in a separate recording, and then the whole thing
would have to be spliced together bit by bit.
News Podcast: You could use a news style delivery for your podcast,
where you essentially hit on the top news type stories in your niche. If
there is a lot of news to cover in your niche often, this is ideal.
Most people will start with a news podcast or a monologue. Determine which
type will be best for you, and then let's look at the format of your podcast.
The format is essentially how your podcast will be conducted - the overall order of things. Here is a sample format plan:
Lead in music
Welcome
Announcements
The information you want to present
Final Comments, wrapping up
Lead out music
All of this is fairly simple, except for the information that you want to present. This goes back to the type of podcast you want to present. If you are doing an
interview, you would start by introducing your guest, have him say hello, possibly ask him for some background information, and then move right into the interview questions and answers.
What it is important to realize here is that there are no rules. There is essentially only one rule that you must follow, and that is adhering to copyright laws. This includes copyrights that pertain to the music that you use and the content that you use in your podcast. Other than that, the sky is the limit. You can do and say
anything that you want to say - this is your platform.
In the beginning, you may want to follow the same platform that other podcasters
in your niche follow, but hopefully as you get more into it, you will develop your
own unique style and flair. This is, after all, why people will want to listen to your
podcast.
Once you've written out your platform, and you know what you want to cover in
your podcast, the next thing to determine is how long your podcast will be. By
determining this, you can assign a time limit to each item on your platform list. It's
easy to get lost in a topic that you are passionate about. Unfortunately, no matter
how popular, verbally gifted, or animated you are, nobody wants to listen to you
talk for six solid hours.
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