The Only 2 Things You Need to Produce a Great Podcast Episode

This is Grow the Show, and in this quick hit episode, I'm going to share with you how you can make amazing podcast episodes while still being a beginner. So one of the best parts about podcasting is that it's so easy to create one, right? And anybody can be a podcaster. And what's even better about it is that you can have a great podcast without being, you know, a master interviewer who has spent 20 years on the craft without, you know, editing as much as I edit my show or NPR edits their show. And really from the get go, you can have amazing content. Now of course, this episode is not to say that you shouldn't work on your craft. Of course, you should work on being a better interviewer. Of course, you should edit your show if it's going to make the end product better. And of course, you should be focused on making better content. But what I have found working with more than 200 podcasters in my accelerator program, and interacting with and serving more than 10,000 here on the Grow the Show podcast. What I've learned is that there's really two things that make or break whether a podcast episode is going to work. And it actually is regardless of how much experience you have as an interviewer, regardless of how little or much you edit, it just boils down to two things. And the good news is, I've already explained how to do these two things on the podcast feed before. So I'm going to share them with you now, and then I'm going to direct you to two other past Grow the Show episodes that will explain in depth how to achieve these two things. But here we go. These are the two things that if you just focus on doing two things on each one of your episodes, your show will work. You'll have amazing content and your audience is going to love it. And then from there, it's just about learning how to get more listeners to tune in. Those two things are this. Number one, pose a specific question that your episode exists to answer as specific as possible. And if you really, really want to take it to the next level, you can take the four use framework, which is something that I've borrowed from the copywriting world, which is make the question that your episode is there to answer one or more of the following, unique, urgent, ultra-specific, or useful. If you can say this episode is going to answer this question, and it's one or more of unique, urgent, ultra-specific, or useful. And you actually keep the topic of the show within answering, and you actually keep the focus of the show on answering that one question and not digress too much, your show is going to be great. People are going to enjoy it because they will know why they're there, right? And they will be there to get the answer to that question. And so whether you do a ton of editing or no editing, whether that's your first interview ever or your 150,000th interview ever, if you pose a specific question that the episode is there to answer a mission, or thesis, or story prompt, or something, and you make the first 5 to 10% of your episode solely about convincing a listener to listen to the rest of the episode, rather than dilly-dallying or doing a bunch of other crap, then your show is going to work. You're going to have a really, really high retention rate. The intro is not the time to dilly-dally or promote stuff or talk about the weather or do literally anything other than make it crystal clear to the listener. What the question is that this episode poses, and why they made a great choice in selecting this episode to listen to, and why the answer to that question is going to be amazing. This is true for storytelling shows. This is true for how-to shows. This is true for fictional shows. It's true for sports talk shows, literally anything that your podcast is about. People are going to listen to the episode, they're going to really enjoy it, and again, the game at that point is just learning how to get more listeners into the fold. If you want help on how to do either of those two things, if you want help on how to make a better intro, I direct you to the Grow the Show episode on March 8, 2022, which breaks down exactly how three legendary podcasters intro their episodes in a way that makes the episode that's about to follow super compelling, literally three totally different examples that you can mix and match from to bake into your intro. That's March 8, 2022. The episode is called how three legendary podcasters hook their listeners in 90 seconds. And so the second piece, if you want to learn how to do that, if you want to learn how to pose a specific question at the episode is there to answer, check out the episode of Grow the Show from February 17, 2022, which is called how to make any podcast hilarious and entertaining with Planet Money's Robert Smith. Those two episodes are linked in the show notes. You can also just scroll around and find them in the app you're listening to me now on. And if you focus on those two things, listen to those episodes, understand what you're currently doing with your show that's not working when it comes to your intro and the focus of each episode that you publish. If you write those two things, that's literally all you have to do. Like I said, at the beginning, you don't have to worry about interviewing and all this crazy stuff to change your content. Just focus on those two things and then focus on finding your listeners and you will be well on your way to a growing thriving podcast. So this has been a quick hit episode of Grow the Show. If you have any questions, please join us in the Grow the Show. Facebook group, the link to that is in the show notes. We'd love to answer them. We'd love to get to know you, see how we can help. And that is it for this quick hit episode of Grow the Show.