When a person first chooses to listen to your podcast, he knows nothing about you, your company, or what it is your podcast is suppose to do for him. And while I’ve said again and again that we must either educate or entertain, before we can do either (or both), we must first create an environment that is welcoming to that listener. To create a welcoming environment, there are six things you should share with your listeners in the first 60 seconds (or less) of every show:
- Music
Music sets the mood of your show. Is it serious? Fun? Newsy? The music will telegraph to your listener the overall style/vibe of your show. It also eases a person into the listening experience. To start talking at the beginning of your company podcast without some music is often startling (and sounds/feels unprofessional). - Show Title
This is a continuity issue. If your website/rss feed says you’re the Rockem Sockem Corporate Podcast, please say so in the audio. Think of this as being polite. . .if I visited your house as a guest, you’d tell me your name. The same applies to the name of your podcast. - Tease/Glimpse of Episode Content
This lets me know if what you’ll be talking about today is relevant to my needs. If it is, I’ll stick around. If it’s not, I don’t want to waste five minutes trying to figure it out. You can have fun here as well. Create a little curiosity. Say something funny. But be sure to give me a glimpse into what I’ll be hearing during this episode. - Host Name (who is talking to me)
Depending on the style of the show, introducing the host will sometimes follow right after the Tease. Regardless of where you introduce the host, be sure to do so. This can be done by a voice over actor, “And how here’s your host, Fred Flintstone” or can be done by the host himself, “I’m your host, Barney Rubble”. Either way, this is not the place where you try to convince me how smart you are. Claiming your own credibility is the weakest way to establish it. Just give me your name so I know who is talking to me and so I can refer to you by name in the event I contact you. - Show’s Purpose
Why are you delivering this podcast in the first place? What problem do you solve? Why should I care? Will I lose weight, grow hair, get smarter, work better, jump higher, think more soundly? Let me know what I’ll be getting out of your show so that I understand the value you plan to deliver to me. (And again, don’t try to tell me how smart you are. Remember, claiming your own credibility is weak and boring.) - How to Contact the Show
This is VERY important. Most corporate podcasts drop the ball here. Please tell me how I can contact you with questions, comments, or suggestions. For our customers, we recommend they create a new email address that reflects the podcast itself. Something like podcast@fredandbarney.com.
By the way, when I end a show, I repeat the “how to contact” information. I want to make it is easy for them to reach out to me if they’re interested in doing so.
For a couple examples of what your first 60 seconds might sound like, if you’re reading this on our website, below you will find two examples of how to combine these six elements into an introduction that welcomes the listener and gets the episode off to a strong start. If you’re not reading this on the website, please stop by!
How about you? What do you include in your podcast? Do you feel this is too much? Let’s hear about it!
Polycom On Demand
Acutrack Podcast