James Bishop 🙋‍♂️

As well as defining a style, show your host knows what they’re talking about and therefore proving your podcast is bringing insight to the listener. It's another way of illustrating your relevance and demonstrating your host is an important voice in that space. If you have already broken down your host’s life story it should be easier to demonstrate your host’s knowledge. If not, consider your host’s career, their background, their achievements in life and connect that to the subject matter of the podcast.

How can you encourage a strong connection between your host & listeners? To a create an invested fanbase they need to connect with the host. If you host reveals a lot about themselves and are genuine listeners can relate & connect. If your host addresses the audience frequently, maybe has a little nickname for the podcast’s listeners, they can forge a connection. If you host encourages listener feedback, or does livestreams regularly with listeners that can strengthen the bond and make audiences feel close to the host. Your listeners are all individual people. Addressing them, speaking to them directly, allowing them to have a direct hand in your show, being open with them will build a deep relationship between host & listener.

Repeating words or phrases creates familiarity and builds your podcast as something distinctive with a ‘brand’. Think about how you use key words and phrases to do this. It's a way to connect with your audience and even make your host & podcast more memorable and engaging for audiences. Podcast host's often begin and end the show saying the same thing they always have. When a phrase is funny and connects with their audiences, good host will have the sense to return to them because their audiences want to hear them again. You can also make merchandise and memes or short form content around these phrases.

How does your podcast change over timing? How do you keep it fresh and entertaining for listeners? For your show to maintain its freshness and intrigue it has to change and iterate. Once you start getting bored with the format, story, or conversation you know it’s time to change. How do you go about this? Season by season, you can always pivot the subject matter of your podcast to something new for a season. Rerecord your generic scripted sections and adapt your logline to signify a change in direction. Add new people to your team like a new cohost. Niche further into a subject to explore one aspect very deeply or broaden your scope to be able to incorporate new topics.

Consider different elements for your episode, having repeating themes or sections and elaborate on what you’ll do in these sections to make the listener know where they are in the episode. Use the beginning of your show to bring context to who you are and why you are relevant. This is what keeps new listeners hooked in and engaged. They like it when you setup what to expect. The middle is where you get into the heart of the episode. Share take aways at the end so listeners learn more than the show title. How fancy you get with your outro is entirely up to you.

Don't forget to think about recurring characters in your podcast. They are the contributors, guests, or voices who frequent often on your show. All great stories have engaging characters. It’s advisable to have recurring characters and people guesting on your show aside from your host because your audience can connect with them and look forward to their return. So recurring guests can be easier to book based on a past relationship, can be a more insightful and entertaining conversations second time round based on rapport and practise, and it can also cross promote older episodes. Recurring characters could also be your show producer or someone like a friend or family member the audience never meets but you often refer to.