Jeffrey Daniel Frey’s Blog

I wrote and podcasted about this topic just a short while ago. A great example of how to switch your podcast format can be found here: Tech Writer Voices: Podcasts on Technical Writing. Read the show notes and listen to the first few minutes. If you’re a technical writer… listen to the whole thing!

This week, I talked about podcast formats… from single to multiple speakers, interviewing guests, single to multiple topics, etc.  The most effective of all?  A combination!

Don’t be afraid to venture out and podcast by yourself.  Likewise, though I gave you lots of warnings, find someone else to podcast with.  When you’re thinking about topics, podcast about one thing, many things, many things surrounding one thing… it’s all good.  Many listeners like to be surprised by something new that you’ve decided to try.

Warning: (why does there always have to be a warning?)

Some listeners don’t like change.  If you watch any late night comedy / variety show… you know that.  Intro, 20 minute dialog, funny skit, interview #1, interview #2, band, interview #3, end.  If you’re going to try something new, ease your listeners into it… they’ll thank you for it.

Interviewing guests can be a great way to podcast. You come up with the questions, and they come up with the answers. You only have to come up with less than half of your podcast content… and your interviewee comes up with the rest.

Great example of an interview podcast: http://www.paulcolligan.com

Though that’s about as much as I wanted to say about interviewing… my legal mind from yesterday has to tell you to MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THEM SIGN A RELEASE. Don’t put anyone on ‘the air’ that you haven’t already cleared your final production podcast with. Interviewees that feel misrepresented can be a horrible monkey on your back… especially if they’re famous.

For the past two days, I’ve discussed a single speaker format for a podcast, but what about having two or more speakers?

If you can hit it off like click and clack (http://www.cartalk.com), or compliment each other like the Bourquin brothers (http://www.newmediaexpo.com/audio.htm), you’ll have a magic thing that is hard to find. Experience tells me that two people usually have two different lives with two different sets of goals. If you decide on a two person format podcast, be prepared to miss some deadlines when both of you can’t make that recording date you set up. Think through who will take control when someone decides it’s not going well for them anymore. Also make sure you keep your audience informed when one of you decide to move on to something else.

I may be over exaggerating, but you get the point. Though you might not be thinking about this with you little hobby podcast that you and your friend are putting together… I suggest having a contract. Something simple that you both sign to answer some of the questions surrounding ownership and money of the podcast. Who knows, you could end up being an overnight sensation, not knowing where that leaves your friendship.

Be certain to discuss a lot of the questions I’ve been writing about over the past few months, like frequency, duration, topics, etc. Also, don’t let just one person know how to do a podcast. Both of you, unless you have a production crew, should be equally familiar with recording, editing, and posting a podcast. If the knowledgeable one is out, the other needs to keep up for the fans.

Yesterday I talked about a single speaker with one topic… but today I want to talk about a few examples with one speaker and multiple topics.

Example 1: http://geekbrief.podshow.com

Great podcast about tech news and gadgets: single speaker, multiple topics, but all in the same field.  Sometimes she ventures off about something, or rants about a product, but for the most part… she’s directed at giving you tech and tech gadget news.
Why does this work well?  Having multiple topics can draw multiple people groups in.  Let’s say you’re podcasting about health news.  If you cover a men’s topic, and a women’s topic… you’ve brought both men and women to your podcast… maybe you can do a podcast on diet, exercise, and work related issues surrounding them.  That way, you pull in a conscientious eater, a gal that goes to the gym, and a guy at work that doesn’t have time to think about either but really wants to.

Lesson: vary your content, but keep it around the one topic.

Example 2: http://www.schoolofpodcasting.libsyn.com

So, why does this work?  He delivers content to you, some you care about, and some you don’t.  If you don’t, he only spends a short time on it, and gives you a preview of what you’re about to hear in the whole podcast.  So, even if the thing you’re interested in doesn’t show up until last, you can deal with it.  (This is how local news and Hollywood news shows work… at the start of the show they show you a clip of what’s ‘coming up’… like a huge wreck or girls in bikinis… but they don’t actually show you the story until it’s 58 minutes through the 1 hour broadcast.)

Lesson: let people know what you’re going to be talking about, and don’t spend too much time on one topic.

Tomorrow… multiple speakers.

People seem to like my whole week dedicated to a certain topic thing… so this week… Podcast Formats.

Single Speaker / One Topic

If you are just one person doing a podcast, and talking about just one thing… keep your focus on the one thing. Yes, there are podcasts that meander through a subject and that rant about random things surrounding something, but the majority of established podcasts with single speaker / one topic focus.

Pro: there is no one else to have to worry about what they say.
Con: there is no one else to cover or critique what you say.

If you’re a single podcaster, get some friends who will screen your podcast before you completely finish it. Sure, another person adds a whole other personality and set of opinions to a topic, but he or she can also help soften / harden or advise on what you’re saying.

Pro: there is only one thing to focus on, so content can be directed to one thing.
Con: there is only one thing to focus on, so if you can’t find content about that one thing… you’re out of luck.

It can be great fun researching a topic and telling people about it if there are a lot of things to say about that topic. If that topic is a bit thin, and there isn’t much to say, you could be making up things to spend time… and listeners can hear that.

In my experience, single speaker / one topic is a great way to start podcasting. Tomorrow, I’ll talk about a few examples for multiple topics that you might want to grow into.

Transcript to “7 – The Format of Your Podcast” (5:26) released January 28, 2007 (click here to listen):

Hi, J.D. Frey here from thewhyandhowofpodcasting.  I’m going to get right into podcast formats today because I think I could write an entire book on this subject alone.

There are several formats I want to talk about surrounding speakers and topics for your podcast.

First, a Single Speaker with One Topic.  A good thing about having a single speaker is that there isn’t anyone else to have to worry about what they say.  The problem is that there’s no one else to cover or critique what YOU say.

Single podcaster or not, always have people screen your podcast.  They can proof-listen to make sure you haven’t missed anything… because we all know that we’ve been too close to a project, or worked with it too long, that sometimes we miss things.

A good thing about having one topic is that there is only one thing to focus on.  The content that you have to gather can be concentrated.  The bad thing about that is that sometimes, when there is only one thing to focus on, you might wear out the content that there is to find about it.

The worst thing about that… not having content… is that people tend to make up things to say about the topic or unintentionally drift off topic because they’ve run out of content.

So, single speaker, single topic… just make sure someone screens your podcast and you have enough content.

What about a single speaker with multiple topics?

Having multiple topics can be a great way to draw multiple people groups to your podcast.  Let’s say you’re podcasting about the overall issue of health news.  If you cover a men’s topic, and a women’s topic… you’ve brought both men and women to your podcast… maybe you can do a podcast on diet, exercise, and work related issues surrounding them.  That way, you pull in a conscientious eater, a gal that goes to the gym, and a guy at work that doesn’t have time to think about either but really wants to.  The lesson there?  Vary your content and direct it at different groups.

If you are going to do multiple topics in your one podcast, be prepared for some listeners to care about some topics, and not about others.  To get around this, spend a short time on each topic, and give a preview of what you’re going to talk about in the whole podcast.  So, even if the thing a listener is interested in doesn’t show up until last, they’ll listen the whole way through.  The lesson there for that one?  Let people know what you’re going to be talking about, and don’t spend too much time on one topic.

So, multiple topics… vary your content, direct it at different groups, preview what you’ll talk about, and don’t spend too much time on just one of the topics.

Now, what about a podcast with multiple speakers?  I’m going to over exaggerate this, but experience tells me that two people usually have two different lives with two different sets of goals.  If you decide on a two person format podcast, be prepared to miss some deadlines when both of you can’t make that recording date you set up.  Think through who will take control when someone decides it’s not going well for them anymore.  Also, make sure you keep your audience informed when one of you decide to move on to something else… get the point?  Though you might not be thinking about this with your hobby podcast that you and your friend are putting together… I suggest having a contract.  Something simple that you both sign to answer some of the questions surrounding ownership and money of the podcast.  Who knows, you could end up being an overnight sensation, not knowing where that leaves your friendship.

When writing your contract, flesh out things about the podcast as well… like frequency, duration, topics, etc.  Also, don’t rely on just one person to know how to do a podcast.  Both of you, unless you have a production crew, should be equally familiar with recording, editing, and posting a podcast.  If the knowledgeable one is out, the other needs to keep the podcast running for the listeners.

Ultimately, the best podcast format is a combination of speakers and topics.  You’ll reach the most people in the least amount of time that way.  Just one warning… I know you’re saying… why does there always have to be a warning… (laugh)… but my warning is… whatever format you use, and whatever combination you use… some listeners don’t like change.  If you watch any late night comedy show… you know that.  Intro, 20 minute dialog, funny skit, interview #1, interview #2, band, interview #3, end.  If you’re going to try something new, ease your listeners into it.  Talk to someone one week, bring someone else on the next.  Talk about two things, then three.  Make the change as seemless as possible.

So, play around with the different formats, watch for gotchas on all of them, and if you need more advice, I’ll be writing a bit more about podcast formats this week on my blog… also feel free to send me an email at jdfrey at rice dot edu… j d f r e y at r i c e dot e d u… so I can answer your question directly.

As always, find more info at thewhyandhowofpodcasting.com and jdfrey.wordpress.com. I’m J.D. Frey… thanks for listening.