Since our company became involved with the Podcast Movement conference several years back, Seth Resler – our Digital Dot Connector – has been front and center at the event.
His signature session – Podcast Makeover – took place once again at this year’s virtual version of Podcast Movement. And Seth and his all-star panel proved that despite the platform, this live critique format is effective and rich with applicable learnings for podcasters at all levels.
The old cliché – “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression” – is the main theme of today’s guest blog post. Seth walks us through the main takeaways from his session – tips you can use to optimize your podcast. It all starts with a great opener. – FJ
For the past several years, I have hosted the Podcast Makeover session at Podcast Movement, the world’s largest podcasting conference. In this session, a panel of professional broadcasters and podcasters critique up-and-coming podcasters in a live “aircheck” session. This year, with the conference moving to a virtual format due to the pandemic, we changed the session up a bit.
If there’s one thing the Podcast Makeover session has taught me over the years, it’s that the first 30 seconds of an episode can make or break a podcast. If people aren’t reeled in right away, chances are they’ll move on to something else. So instead of critiquing several minutes of just two podcasts, this year we decided to invite a panel to critique the first 30 seconds of several podcasts. Did the openings of these podcasts make them want to hear more?
My panel consisted of some of the best in the business: Moth Grand Slam storytelling champion Shannon Cason, Lisa Orkin, Creative Director of Radio Ranch and host of the Project Woo Woo podcast, and Peter Sagal, the host of Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, the Peabody award-winning news quiz show on NPR. You can watch the full session here:
https://jacobsmedia.wistia.com/medias/37bs7yaeqh?embedType=async&videoFoam=true&videoWidth=640
Based on the feedback from my panel of experts, here are five keys to developing a killer opening to your podcast episodes:
1. Thirty seconds is not a lot of time.
Listeners size up podcasts very quickly. Thirty seconds may sound like a lot of time, but when you actually put it to the test, it’s not. During this session, we heard several podcasts that failed to explain to the audience what they were all about in the first half a minute.
For example, the Damn The Torpedoes podcast is hosted by a military couple facing the challenges of military family life. Lisa Orkin told us that as a former military spouse, she would be very interested in listening to this podcast…if she know what it was all about. But after listening to just the first thirty seconds, she didn’t.
New podcasters often make the mistake of easing into their episodes with idle chit-chat instead of telling listeners exactly what they can expect from the episode. Marc Maron, host of the popular WTF podcast, may be able to get away with opening his podcast with an extended ranting monologue before starting the interview, but he’s the exception, not the rule. (Full disclosure: I am a WTF fan, and yet I always fast forward through the opening monologue to get to the interview.)
The rest of us should aim to tell people what the overall podcast is about, what this particular episode is about, and who the hosts are all within the first thirty seconds.
2. Know your audience.
One of the podcasts put to the test in this session, Water In Real Life, is about the water industry, which led Lisa to ask whether the audience for the podcast was other professionals in the water industry or the general public wanting to know more about the water industry. Peter echoed this question, explaining that the answer should inform the sound of the show, including what tone to strike at the outset.
Podcasters may be inclined to always aim for the larger audience, but as the session went on, it became clear that it can be more effective to dial into a smaller, more specific audience. When Shannon, Lisa, and Peter heard the first thirty seconds of the podcast, A Quilter’s Life, they were immediately enamored with it.
I asked Peter if, based on what he had just heard, he knew who the audience for this podcast was. He said, “Yes, and I’m not in it, but I’ll listen anyway!” He pointed out that when a podcast knows its niche and can speak to it authentically, it attracts us not just as participants, but as voyeurs. “[It’s a] chance to spend time in other people’s worlds that aren’t ours, and that’s really exciting!”
“The idea that you have to get everybody — especially in the first 30 seconds — is just going to kill you before you even start because it’s impossible,” said Peter.
3. Hitting the marks is good. Hitting the marks with personality is even better.
When the panel heard the first thirty seconds of The Thing You Do, they knew exactly what the podcast was about because the host was very direct:
“Welcome to episode five of The Thing You Do, a podcast about interesting jobs and the people who do them. My name is Tami and I’m your host. My guest this week is Richard Bergen. Richard has written and directed and is now in post-production on a horror movie. Richard also has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism.”
Lisa and Shannon both said they knew exactly what they were going to get from the episode. Peter commented, “It’s not artful, it’s not imaginative or cool, but it is just what I need as a listener in those first thirty seconds to make an informed decision about whether I want to listen to it.”
However, the podcast that got the most positive reactions from our panel managed to not only convey all of the necessary information about the show in the first thirty seconds, but did so in a way that oozed personality.
The voice of Paula Chamberlain, host of A Quilter’s Life, instantly conveys a visual image that lets the audience know what to expect. She’s proof you don’t have to sacrifice your personality when hitting the necessary copy points.
4. Use sounds to set the scene.
Lisa pointed out that the water industry podcast – Water In Real Life – missed an opportunity to use water sound effects to communicate what the podcast was all about in its opening.
By contrast, the last podcast the panel listened to – How Not To Sail – used sound to clue the listener in. The sounds of waves lapping against a sailboat creaking in the dock instantly let people know that this podcast involved sailing.
5. Your podcast’s title and artwork can do some of the heavy lifting.
The final podcast was How Not to Sail. Both the name of the podcast and the artwork — host Bradford Rogers in a sailor’s cap standing behind a nautical wheel with a bemused look on his face — clued Peter Sagal into what the podcast is all about even if the words spoken at the beginning of the episode did not. In fact, Peter was not only able to deduce the subject of the podcast, but the tone as well.
It’s a good idea to test your podcast’s title and artwork by getting feedback to see how well they convey what the show is about before committing to them. If people hear the name or see the image and can instantly and correctly guess what they show is about, it will ease the burden on the first thirty seconds of your show.
My panelists offered several other insights during the fast-moving session. Shannon told us how he chooses an opening line for his stories, Lisa 
explained how she keeps a short radio commercial memorable, and Peter discussed Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!‘s shift from in-person to online recording sessions in response to the pandemic. If you want to hear secrets from the pros, watch the full video.
Thank you to Shannon, Lisa, and Peter for their insights. Thank you to Water in Real Life, Damn the Torpedoes, The Thing You Do, A Quilter’s Life, and How Not to Sail for being brave enough to allow us to critique their shows.
And thanks also to Dan Franks at Podcast Movement for inviting me back to be a part of Podcast Movement. I hope to see you all there (finger crossed, in person) in 2021!
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So how many times have you heard this? It took a minute and a half to hear what this podcast was about.
Exactly, Rick. A chronic problem. Only the truly established podcasters that have won over the trust of their listeners can get away with a slow open. Kind of like, there’s Howard Stern – and then there’s everyone else.
This is talk radio 101. One of the hardest things to teach a talk talent is to get to the topic right out of the gate. Hit the topic and go. Talent fight this. I think it’s the id (the super ego) needing to have control or maybe just laziness. Most talk hosts open a show like this, “It’s 10 oh 5, how is everyone, man let me tell you it’s beautiful outside. Oh, yea, last night I had a great burger, it was killer from that new place down by the school. How about that game last night too. Wow, that was really something…. (this goes on for 4-5 minutes, then the host FINALLY hits the topic just when it’s time to cut to commercials) And says something like. “we’ll be right back.” Yea, but the listener won’t.
I think it’s worse in podcasting because the “conventional wisdom” especially in the formative years was that the medium was “more chill” than radio. This relaxed reputation contributed to hosts meandering their way through the intro, commenting on each other’s wardrobes, and what was on TV last night. Just as in PPM, those long “setups” will kill you.
Thanks again for the great opportunity for feedback! I am still slapping my head (figuratively) at the writing at the top of the selected episode…but that kind of underlines the point of the session!
Thanks again for doing it. Also, thanks for not being perfect. If it were perfect, we wouldn’t learn anything!
It’s the time-honored adage: “Get to the point!”… maybe with atwist…”Get to the point, with personality!”
Nice job!
Seth is one thee best in the biz with “everything podcast!”
Thanks, Tim!