It's time to script your podcast intros ✍
Summary
TLDRThe video script discusses the importance of creating a unique and engaging podcast introduction to stand out in a saturated market. It critiques the common, generic intros used by many podcasters, which can lead to listener fatigue. The speaker advocates for a scripted monologue approach, which involves crafting a compelling narrative that hooks the audience and sets the tone for the show. The script uses the 'Audience' podcast as an example, highlighting how it introduces its premise, guest background, and the podcast's focus on storytelling. It emphasizes the significance of a call to action and the need to avoid simply regurgitating information. The video encourages podcasters to think creatively about their intros to increase listener retention and engagement.
Takeaways
- 🎙️ **Scripted Monologues**: Creating a scripted monologue for a podcast intro can increase listener engagement and differentiate the show from generic intros.
- 📈 **Enhance Creativity**: A well-crafted intro can push the boundaries of creativity and make the podcast stand out in a saturated market.
- 🔄 **Avoid Podcast Fatigue**: Listeners can experience fatigue from hearing the same type of intros across multiple podcasts; a unique approach can help retain their interest.
- 🎶 **Less is More**: Avoiding an immediate music jingle and instead focusing on content can set a more engaging tone for the listener.
- 📚 **Storytelling**: The intro should tell a story and provide a compelling reason for the listener to continue with the podcast.
- 👂 **Listener-Centric**: The focus should be on the listener's experience and what they will gain from the podcast, rather than just the host's or guest's background.
- 📈 **Call to Action**: Including a call to action in the intro is crucial for measuring the podcast's success and encouraging listener interaction.
- 📉 **Monitor Metrics**: Keeping track of metrics like listenership and newsletter subscriptions can help gauge the effectiveness of the podcast's approach.
- 📧 **Email Sign-ups**: Encouraging listeners to sign up for an email newsletter is a good strategy to build a loyal audience and keep them engaged.
- 🎉 **Awards and Recognition**: Mentioning awards and accolades can add credibility and interest to the podcast's content.
- 📝 **Edit and Refine**: The process of scripting, writing, and editing the intro is essential to creating a high-quality and engaging listener experience.
Q & A
What is the main topic of discussion in the video?
-The main topic of discussion is creating an engaging and scripted monologue intro for a podcast, highlighting the benefits over a standard generic intro and how it can increase listenership and retain audience interest.
Why does the speaker suggest that a scripted monologue intro might be better than a standard intro?
-A scripted monologue intro can set a unique mood and tone for the podcast, making it stand out from the competition and avoiding podcast fatigue among listeners who may hear similar intros across multiple shows.
What is the issue with using a standard intro format that lists all the topics covered in a podcast?
-The issue is that it can become monotonous and fail to engage new listeners effectively. It does not provide a unique hook or focus on a specific topic, which might not be compelling enough to retain the audience's attention.
Why is it important to consider the listener's perspective when creating a podcast intro?
-Considering the listener's perspective is crucial because it helps to create an intro that resonates with them, making the content more relatable and interesting. It also helps to avoid overwhelming the listener with too much information at once.
What is the significance of having a call to action (CTA) in a podcast intro?
-A call to action is significant because it provides a clear next step for the listener, such as subscribing to a newsletter or engaging with the podcast in another way. It helps to measure the success of the podcast and keeps the audience engaged and motivated.
What is the role of storytelling in creating an effective podcast intro?
-Storytelling in a podcast intro helps to create a narrative that hooks the listener, making them curious about what will follow. It provides a context and background that is more engaging than simply listing topics or guest information.
Why might a podcast creator want to avoid repeating the guest's backstory in the intro?
-Repeating the guest's backstory can be redundant and may not add value to the listener's experience. It's more effective to focus on creating a compelling narrative that teases the content to come without revealing everything upfront.
What is the purpose of using sound bites and music in a podcast intro?
-Sound bites and music are used to set the tone and mood for the podcast, creating an atmosphere that aligns with the content and engages the listener's senses. They can also serve as a transition between different segments of the intro.
How does the speaker suggest podcasters can push creative boundaries with their intros?
-The speaker suggests that podcasters should think beyond the standard format and consider scripting a monologue that tells a story, creates a unique mood, and provides a clear call to action. This approach can help the podcast stand out and keep listeners engaged.
What is the potential downside of using a very common intro format for a podcast?
-The potential downside is that listeners may experience podcast fatigue due to the repetitive nature of hearing similar intros across multiple shows. This can lead to a plateau or decline in listenership as the podcast may not be as memorable or engaging.
Why is it recommended to avoid giving too much information about the guest or the topics in the intro?
-Giving too much information can make the intro less engaging, as it does not leave room for curiosity or anticipation. It's more effective to provide a teaser that piques the listener's interest and encourages them to continue listening to the podcast.
Outlines
🎙️ Podcast Intro Creativity and Listenership
The first paragraph discusses the importance of creating a unique and engaging intro for a podcast. It emphasizes that a scripted monologue can be more effective than a standard generic intro in enhancing creativity and retaining listeners. The speaker uses an example from a podcast called 'Make it Happen Mondays' to illustrate common introduction styles and suggests that a more compelling narrative can prevent listener fatigue and increase engagement.
📚 Crafting a Storytelling Podcast Introduction
The second paragraph delves into the process of crafting a storytelling podcast introduction. It highlights the use of a single topic to pique interest and the absence of an immediate jingle to set the tone. The paragraph continues with an example from the 'Audience Podcast', which introduces a guest, Stuart, and his work in creating high-concept podcasts with complex protagonists. The introduction is designed to hook the listener and includes a call to action, encouraging listeners to engage with the podcast's platform, Castos.
🏆 Leveraging Awards and Accolades in Podcast Intros
The third paragraph focuses on the strategy of using awards and accolades to introduce guests and their work within a podcast. It discusses the work of Jenny Turner Hall, an award-winning writer and storyteller, and her contributions to various fiction podcasts. The paragraph also mentions the importance of not just listing a guest's achievements but also providing context and a narrative that engages the listener. The introduction is meant to build interest and anticipation for the interview, using storytelling techniques to create a compelling podcast experience.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Scripted Monologue
💡Podcast Intro
💡Listenership
💡Call to Action (CTA)
💡Podcast Fatigue
💡Storytelling
💡Compelling Characters
💡High Concept Podcast
💡Business Acumen
💡Enterprise Sales Rep
💡Private Podcasting App
Highlights
The video discusses the importance of creating a scripted monologue intro for podcasts to increase creativity and listenership.
Standard generic intros can lead to podcast fatigue for listeners due to their commonality.
A scripted intro can set a unique mood and tone for the podcast, especially beneficial for new listeners.
The introduction should not just be about the host but should focus on the listener's experience.
Scripted intros can help retain listenership by providing a unique and engaging start to each episode.
An example is provided comparing a standard podcast intro with a more engaging, character-driven approach.
The importance of not repeating the guest's backstory in the intro is emphasized to avoid redundancy.
The video demonstrates how to create a high-concept podcast with a complex protagonist using the Audience Podcast as an example.
The introduction should hook the listener and provide a single compelling point rather than an overwhelming amount of information.
The use of music and sound effects in the intro can help set the tone for the podcast.
A call to action is crucial in the intro and is often overlooked, which can impact the podcast's success.
The transcript discusses the value of crafting introductions that tie into the story being told in the podcast.
An effective intro should create anticipation and curiosity in the listener without revealing too much.
The video emphasizes the need for a clear premise for the podcast and how it should be communicated in the intro.
The importance of a call to action for measuring the podcast's success and motivating the host is discussed.
The introduction should be a crafted story that complements the guest's narrative and adds value to the listener's experience.
The process of creating a scripted monologue involves careful consideration of sound bites, topic introduction, and guest presentation.
The video encourages podcasters to think creatively about their intros to stand out in a saturated market.
Different podcast structures are acknowledged, and the video suggests finding a unique approach that fits the podcast's goals.
Transcripts
today's video we're going to take a look
at how we create the intro for the
audience podcast and how you too can
create a scripted monologue intro for
your show why it's better than just your
standard generic intro why it's not for
everyone but how it can really push the
creativity and increase listenership and
retain listenership for your podcast as
an example I want to start off with
listening to How most of us myself
included on a lot of my personal
projects introduce a podcast here it is
uh not picking on John barrows I don't
know him I just search for our sales and
marketing podcast because I feel like
the way that sales and marketing
podcasts do introductions uh it's very
common because it's the easiest path you
know what I'll show you what we do is
with audience it's the harder path what
we you know what we do by default with a
lot of our interview shows is pretty
easy here's an example
hey everyone welcome back to make it
happen Mondays where we talk about sales
business entrepreneurship personal
growth mental health and everything in
between with guess who I truly and
that's fine so like that I just wanted
to stop right here and that
introduction's fine it's just like
there's always that that music Jingle
and then it's uh the make it have a
podcast and it's like here's all the
things we talk about and and that's okay
but it gets pretty boring after a while
let's continue truly respect and I think
make a positive impact on the world
around us and this was a fun
conversation I just had with Brandon
Claus here he actually is an Enterprise
AE over at Asana but started you know
saying things like this was a fun
conversation this was a great
conversation it was great to you but it
really doesn't set the mood or the tone
for The Listener especially if uh it's a
new listener and especially when
everyone prompts their podcast with the
start of this remember it's never just
about John in this case uh it's never
just about you it's about the listener
and what they're hearing across the
whole whole spectrum of well other
podcasts that might compete with you so
in a lot of podcasts do it the same way
your listeners hearing this a dozen half
a dozen 25 times in a given week and it
can just really start to create podcast
fatigue for your listeners so when you
start to think about okay why is my show
plateauing why am I not gaining the
listenership that I think I should be I
have really great I had really great
conversation with these people why
aren't people subscribing it's because
we're all saying that and we want to
maybe think about it differently let's
continue a little bit more this career
in sales with no money no college degree
and grind it his way all the way up to
being a top Enterprise sales rep over at
Salesforce and now over at Asana making
President's club and during this
conversation we talk about a lot of
stuff but it really centered around him
growing up with a real strong work ethic
with his parents and kind of what they
taught him about financial literacy and
business Acumen and then realize in
college just really wasn't for him and
he was washing dishes one day and his
roommate was a telemarketer so I'm just
going to pause it there I'm going to end
it there for this just as this example
again this is not wrong this is just a
very common way and what I really want
to hit home is a lot of us do it that
way which means your potential audience
we all hear the same thing and We crave
something different after a while
sort of giving the whole journey of the
person's background I still have 56
minutes to go or almost 57 minutes in in
John's podcast episode
I just want to make sure that I don't
hear this backstory again and that's one
thing that is very challenging this is
the hard work this is where the the
writing the scripting and the editing
really comes into place because it's
fine for John to set the stage to say
hey my guest went from Salesforce to a
son I had this great background in
business uh business Acumen from his
parents that's great I just want to make
sure I'm not hearing that again uh when
I get into the show because what we do
as creators we fall into the strap we
have this great conversation we record
it it's 55 minutes and then we sit down
we do the intro and we start thinking
about all of those things that we talked
about man wasn't that great wasn't that
awesome and we just kind of like
regurgitate it back out as the
introduction and it doesn't really hook
The Listener it gives them this big
blanket of coverage which is okay for
some but it doesn't really drill down on
any one specific topic one specific
Value Point it doesn't set a mood it
doesn't set a tone it doesn't really
hook me in okay now again I know a lot
of this is subjective subjective and I
don't mean to pick on John okay job I'm
sure it seems like a fairly nice guy but
let's just talk about doing a scripted
podcast uh introduction I'm going to
play our uh of our audiogram of our
introduction
and sort of do the same thing I'm going
to pause and continue as as we expand
upon it this is the audience podcast
audience podcast Central characters are
what drives virtually every Story Ever
Told
writ large good stories have compelling
characters
that's true across pretty much all
mediums and genres I think
and with the rise of Fiction podcast and
docu-series podcasters who want to tell
better stories need interesting
characters it's about you know showing
uh so we we haven't said who the guest
is we gave you one topic that we want to
uh we want to hit home on you want to
make better uh fiction podcasts or
docu-series or something like that
create better characters telling better
stories better characters aren't you
interested in that if you're not yes you
can certainly leave but you might still
be curious what what is he going to get
to in here maybe maybe not ready to
leave yet because you didn't just throw
everything onto the kitchen table for me
but you you gave me one nugget to really
think about and now that's sort of stuck
in the back of my mind no music no
jingle yet we're not setting the tone
with audio or any kind of audio escaping
right now now we go we continue with the
clips it's about you know showing a real
person music
but we maybe want them to do the heroic
thing to do
next you'll hear how a team of writers
producers and actors banded together now
with that that clip is from the guest
which uh we're about to talk about uh
what Stuart's about to talk about in the
monologue we set the tone a little bit
with the music and she sort of uh
reinforces the point about how
interesting characters can be not just
yes you make interesting characters but
like challenge that a little bit and
then we continue to create a high
concept podcast with a complex
protagonist
my name is Stuart and this is audience a
casto's original series for pot so what
you're going to talk about is what we're
going to hear is we're going to hear
from these writers who banded together
to create these complex characters uh
and protagonists for a story so again
still keeping you hooked it's still a
bit of Storytelling
um in this introduction now I'm not
saying that we're winning awards for it
although I'd really love it if you uh
nominated audience for any podcast award
at this point but it's not just taking
that standard approach let me just dump
all the cards on the table and this is
what you're going to get now we do the
introduction to the podcastos original
series for podcasters in pursuit of
creating better audio and uncovering the
business that powers audio creators
so that's our premise um it's something
that we're always working on we've had
many iterations of it so far I don't
think a premise has ever sort of really
complete but it's not just
a couple bullet points like this is our
this is what we're passionate about I'm
not saying you have to do this too with
with your podcast or structure it the
same way but this is how we introduce
you to audience and now we get a bit of
a call to action
speaking of making better audio castos
could help with our team of
professionals we can help you make your
show
add in our suite of Integrative tools
like stripe or our private podcasting
app and castos has everything you need
to bring your podcast to life learn more
by emailing hello at castos.com or by
clicking on the link in the show notes
a little bit transition sound effect as
we move into the next segment call to
action extremely important one of the
most overlooked things Even in our
friend John's example sales and
marketing show there was no call to
action at the top of that show and so
sometimes people say I don't I'm not
here for the call to action it's totally
fine but eventually at the end of the
day what we want to do is measure some
level of success with our podcast
whether that's just the listeners going
up or what I like to do is are we
getting either more leads in the door
are we getting uh newsletter subscribers
right and that's a great sort of
Bellwether to see if you have a healthy
action actionable audience uh in your
show it's something that gets overlooked
countless times from countless customers
that I talk to and even if you say well
it's okay I don't want to I'm not trying
to put a call to action I'm not trying
to sell something you should at least
push to an email newsletter because
eventually you'll want to do something
or eventually you're going to start to
get a little bit tired from doing the
podcast and maybe you need to see a
metric that keeps you moving that keeps
you motivated to keep going let's keep
going with this clip audio fiction or
audio play videos
whatever you'd like to call this
particular genre fictional podcasting
as you know hey it's like a TV show or a
movie with your eyes closed you know
that's Jenny Turner Hall an
award-winning writer and Storyteller
who's written some of the world's top
fiction podcasts she co-created
executive produced and so what we didn't
do is hey Jenny welcome to the program
tell us about yourself
right there was none of that there was
none of that repeated backstory from our
hook at the top of the show or again uh
in the in the example we use at the top
of this video we're not just dumping all
the cards on the table it's not a repeat
of all of that stuff we're writing the
introductions where writing the
monologue to tie the story together
we're helping tell their Story by
creating our own story in this podcast
wrote the unexplainable disappearance of
Mars Patel audio serious History podcast
for kids
her work on that series won a Peabody
Award and she also teamed up with Marvel
to write and direct wastelanders
Wolverine
while it doesn't get quite the
recognition as some of her other work
she also executive produced a series
called a simple her story
that title might be a bit misleading the
story is anything but simple and that's
kind of the point it was created by
Jocelyn karitzky an award-winning actor
and Creator who founded the Muse project
an initiative writing this to keep you
keep the listener engaged so again
instead of just handing over the mic to
the guest which a lot of us do again
guilty as charged they'll they'll start
to go on about their backstory they'll
start pontificating about it they could
draw it out a little too long what
Stuart's doing is honing in on it saying
here are the awards the accolades the
places that she's worked and then
expanding on what this project might be
about giving you a little bit of
backstory that maybe the guests would
have missed in your show again I'm not
saying this has to be done in all your
podcast episodes but when you're
thinking about you know storytelling and
sounding compelling to your listener you
know I think an own biased I think
Stewart's nailing it on the head that
seeks to Spotlight women theater actors
and a simple her story does just that
it's about women who have run for
president there's more than a hundred by
the way the first woman to ever do it
was Victoria Woodhall and she's the
central character of season one
Victoria Woodhall is a labor and
suffragist activist who left behind and
important albeit complex Legacy
as it turns out she also makes for a
fascinating protagonist for a simple her
story
another little interesting twist to this
is that the series features an
all-female cast even in the roles of men
to listen to it feels like part Audio
Drama part historical and then we're
going to start to continue to build that
um that backstory build that interest in
uh in the show I'm gonna skip ahead just
fiction part experimental theater
really it's kind of hard to classify
that's not too surprising considering it
was written by Jonathan Goldberg a
playwright who has a reputation for
making these well-crafted zany audio
dramas
so when Jenny found out about it she was
now we're going to put you right into
that story instead of us having an
interview getting to this point we're
getting it to you right now at the start
of the show pretty excited
I was introduced by a playwright in the
background
Jocelyn ready to learn and she
Jocelyn just had an idea for a podcast
series and she was that was starting to
get uh written by Jonathan and they had
been talking about it for quite some
time and Jonathan was in the middle of
writing it and I said I love the idea
for a simple herstery so and there we go
we get into the rest of the interview
and it goes on from there I'm just using
this intro uh clip as as the framework
for this discussion so
scripted monologue creating that story
for the storytelling about to happen in
the podcast
um that's just the way that we approach
it it's a lot more work it's you know
thinking about the threads that you're
going to pull on to create the uh create
the introduction how are you going to
edit this together like which sound
bites are you going to pull when you
introduce your your guest and and the
topic and how you sort of tie that in to
funnel The Listener you know into the
show again I'm not saying that this was
perfect for everyone or that everyone
should do that I just like to look at it
as sometimes we get into a vacuum we
wonder why our show isn't performing
well we don't you know we're just
thinking about our show only like this
is a great podcast this is great content
why aren't people listening to it it's
because we're all saying that and we're
all creating a format of show that we
want you know your listener listens to
and you know whatever another half a
dozen maybe or a dozen other business
podcasts or podcasts similar to what
you're putting out and eventually they
get fatigued and they start to Trail off
so you really want to think about
pushing those creative boundaries this
is just how we do it with the audience a
little bit of a longer video here as we
just listen to some clips and navigate
and dissect them in and out here but I
hope you found that useful if you did
leave us a comment in the comments below
if you have a different way of doing
your intro let me know in the comments
below we'd love to hear more about it
thumbs up if you like the video
subscribe to the channel if you want
more see you in the next video
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