The Necessary Elements of Podcast Planning

Those who are new to the world of podcast production need to educate themselves on a myriad of topics. Perhaps the most important thing to learn would be how to plan out your production from top to bottom. This will be far from easy; in many cases, the learning curve proves quite steep. However, learning all about the necessary planning elements can serve as a solid enough foundation for just about anybody to build on. With that said, here are four specific things that any up and coming podcast specialist needs to know about:

Element # 1: In-depth Goal Setting

Goal setting is always going to be at the heart of any worthwhile endeavor. This is something done for both your show as a whole and for its individual episodes. For the former, it is important to have a vision of where you intend to take your show. When it comes to the latter, you will want to be aware of key points that you need to cover. Without either of those, even the best concepts would crumble and fail sooner or later. Even as early as the show’s conceptual stage, podcasters need to determine for themselves as to what it is that they aim to accomplish, so that they can center all of their subsequent plans around such goals.

Element # 2: Proper and Sufficient Research

If goal-setting is just the start of your planning efforts, then the research easily comes in as the second crucial step. Now, it is important to acknowledge that depending on what it is that you specificaly need, the amount of research that you will need to conduct is bound to vary. For example, should the need arise for you to cover a topic that you have little to no expertise in, then extensive efforts is duly required. The same goes for when you plan on including a high-profile guest on one of your episodes. Without the right amount of research, your show may not come across as adequately authoritative or even anywhere near as remotely interesting as it could potentially be.

Element # 3: Effective Time Management

As we all know, time management is a crucial skill that will extend far beyond the mere world of podcasting. To quote a common saying, ‘time is money.’ The more of it you waste, the fewer opportunities you can take advantage of. As it pertains to your general podcast planning, a well-thought-out production schedule is certainly going to make the lives of everyone involved–from your podcast guests and your podcast editors–much, much easier. As it pertains to a more technical level, knowing how much time to devote to a particular topic, for example, will also yield you better results in the form of greater listener retention. Should an episode require more time to cover a topic, then you can always market that as a multi-part special, which is sure to generate greater interest.

Element # 4: Efficient Editing

Once your goal-setting, researching, and time management are all on point, the last–but certainly not least–crucial element to podcast planning boils down to your editing efforts. Many glamorize the interviewing and even the conceptualizing, but how well your editing goes can often make or break the success of your show. Careful editing can reduce the gaffes that both guests and hosts make, for example. When there are necessary omissions or additions that come late into the process, being meticulous with the editing can make all of those possible. As on-point as everything can be, the bit that saves everyone is the editing.

While all of these look simple at a glance, the devil is always in the details, as the saying goes. With enough knowledge and practice, podcast planning can only get easier to do and the rewards one can reap will only get grander. If learning about the necessary elements of podcast planning feels like just the tip of the iceberg for you, then there are always other paths to look into. Once such path is the option of booking a free discovery call with the good folks at Podcast Engineers. Don’t hesitate to make that call, for the path you’ve always longed to take is often just around the corner!