#020 The Two Essential Elements of an Effective Podcast

Whenever I tell someone in casual conversation I produce podcasts for a living, a lot of questions invariably arise. And for good reason because it’s still kind of an unknown entity in our culture. I’ve also met many people who say they’re interested in starting a podcast and want to pick my brain about it. The enthusiasm is definitely there, but they are overwhelmed with a seemingly endless list of tasks to complete before the idea can see the light of day.

Questions such as:

• Do I need sponsors?
• How do I get my podcast on Spotify?
• How long should my podcast be?
• Do I need to have guests?
• How do I find guests?
• Do I need sponsors?
• You mean people I don’t know are actually going to listen to this? (Cue the music from Psycho)

Now, as one who has produced podcasts for myself and clients for 8+ years, I will say there is a lot of work involved in producing a decent podcast. So if you’re considering getting into it, consider yourself warned. However, I believe if you understand the workload involved in producing a podcast, and more importantly can break the necessary tasks into a process, it is not only manageable but will soon be as natural as tying your shoes – assuming you wear shoes that are fit to be tied.

So in that spirit, I offer to you, dear podcast neophyte, the Two Essential Elements of a podcast. Once you understand this, you can begin to see how all the frills and accoutrements you see and/or hear on your favorite big-budget show with a small army of people working on it is mere window dressing.

Those two elements are: The Spoken Word, and the Written Word.

**Quick disclaimer. Yes, I’m aware that all podcasts have logos. You can’t submit your show to Apple without one. What I’m talking about in this segment of the show is what is essential on an ongoing basis, meaning once the basic logo is done, what is needed to keep it moving forward. Customized graphics with an individual episode are nice and help a brand stand out, but are not essential for the show to be effective.

Spoken Word

I begin with the Spoken Word. Perhaps you think this is the only essential element of a podcast since it is an audio show that you listen to at 2x speed while walking around the lake or folding your laundry. (That’s actually a great way to listen to podcasts as the brain is capable of comprehending far more than we give it credit for, but I digress!) 

I’ll get into why the Written Word is just as essential as the Spoken Word, if not more so, in a moment, but let’s discuss the spoken for now.

Let me ask a question, and the answer I give might be a surprise to you, but here we go?

What is the most important part of the Spoken Word? Believe it or not, the most important part of the Spoken Word is the times you’re not even speaking!

This is something I learned from the great bassist Victor Wooten’s book The Music Lesson. The way Victor put it is this: Imagine all the notes in a song (or words spoken for our purposes) were all played together with no space between them. It would be completely unintelligible. As Victor put it, nothing is what really makes the music! To correlate to the Spoken Word, it’s what makes the biggest impact with our podcast. 

Imagine a podcast where everything spoken is monotone, with no space between the words. Actually, it’s not that difficult to imagine with AI bots explaining key scenes from The Godfather Part 2 on YouTube, so maybe we do have a point of reference. The point is a listener wouldn’t make it past the first 60 seconds required for it to count as a download stat!

One must have soul and spirit in order for their words to persuade the listener you’re worth listening to. Knowing when to have silence is far more important than knowing when to speak, or finding the right cadence and rhythm in our words.

When you’re really in a groove when you’re speaking on your show, it’s like you’re explaining something to your children. You’re in that magical “flow state” and it seems like nothing can go wrong. Of course things do go wrong, but that simply adds a human element to the experience.

Now, this might seem like a shameless pitch for the podcast production services offered here at Podcast Artistry™, but hear me out. The spoken word is where a good podcast editor earns his or her bones. It’s also why paying a few bucks for a good editor to go over your audio might not be a bad investment. A good editor is aware of this need for pacing, and more importantly, for silence at the most impactful moments. Knowing when to take out those awkward moments when either the host or guest is stalling for time with those “filler words” (um, uh, you know, etc.) $125 per episode is not chump change, I get it. But it’s worth it when the finished product flows just the right way. 

Written Word

As I’ve already said, the written word is right up there in importance with the spoken word, even if the product is technically an audio podcast. 

Is it really? How will you persuade a casual browser on Spotify to check out your show on a whim? (That rarely happens by the way, you’re much better off focusing on keeping your current audience engaged with your content, but I digress.)

How will you persuade a repeat listener to listen to another episode?

Sure there are the basic elements of the written word that are absolute minimum requirements to submit your show to a third party platform (TPP), such as a title, host, email address, etc. but we’re talking about getting people to actually press the play button on your show, not just having it show up on Apple!

How about the title of your podcast. Think that’s important? I may be wrong, but Gone Newclear with James D. Newcomb has more “oomph” than “James’s Podcast”. Then there’s the tagline for your podcast logo, the copy for your show opening with either your voice or a hired voiceover. The questions you want to ask your guest. 

You have the copy for the show notes. Sure you want solid SEO for your episode title, but what about something that really grabs the listeners you already have? Then a short but captivating description, maybe some highlights with time stamps, a brief resources section and a way to contact the guest.

It is quite a bit when you break it down, but breaking it down makes it oh so manageable with a process!

Something I love about my podcast host Captivate is the ability to create show notes “templates”. At the click of a button I have a skeleton of an episode’s show notes which I then fill with meat from the episode I’m editing. The “good enough” package here at Podcast Artistry™ includes the following with show notes: Title, description, time-stamped highlights, resources, call to action. Five basic elements yet are comprehensive and quite professional in appearance.

Note I’m not saying this to pitch our production services, I’m simply showing how important, yet how simple the written word really is.

The Third Essential Element

So you see there are just two basic elements of a podcast, both of which can be broken down into their own processes and procedures in infinite, Lego-like fashion. But the most important element of any creative endeavor (and forgive the corny cliche), be it a podcast, a blog, a novel, a YouTube channel, or what have you is You. As I’ve stated many times in the various podcasts I’ve produced, and advise my own clients, Always model, never mimic. It’s okay to use something that works for another podcaster as a starting point or frame of reference for your own show, and then make it your own. But nothing screams “INAUTHENTIC” more than someone copying the framework of what works for another person.

I’ve seen it happen so many times, and I’ve probably done it myself unconsciously. What these poor souls fail to realize is that this system and process works for Influencer X because it is tailored around the personality and tendencies of Influencer X, not them! Not to mention Influencer X actually does the work necessary for the system to generate results.

Are you going to stumble and fumble your way through your first few episodes? Of course. But you’ll eventually find a cadence, a flow that suits you. It’s a bit unnerving to stick your neck out a bit and do something your way, but it is deeply satisfying once you’ve actually done it.