In this episode, we begin a discussion on building a good intro and a good outro for your podcast episodes, as was described in a recent post in thepodcasthost.com. The title of the article in this post was “PODCAST INTRO & OUTRO TIPS: INTRODUCING & ENDING YOUR EPISODE: Your podcast intros & outros are what get your listener to your main content, and make them want more.”
This post delivers tips at-a-glance which includes:
- Your intro will be your listener’s first impression of your show and the content of your show;
- You have a very short runway of time to “hook” your listener and want that individual to become interested and desire to consume your content (this could be 3 minutes or 5 minutes or less);
- You have a very brief opportunity to alert the listener to what will be delivered and the BENEFIT that will be received by consuming the episode;
- Your outro is a wonderful opportunity to summarize and emphasize the benefits of your content and to get the individual to SUBSCRIBE to your show;
- Your outro is the last reminder for the listener to a call-to-action (e.g., subscribing, donating or doing any other task that will benefit the listener, as well as your show).
A summary of the objectives of both are given in the article:
“On the surface, the most important part of your episode is the main content; where you discuss or address what was promised in the title. The podcast intro, though, is what gets your listener to that content. And the outro helps keep them listening to more episodes.”
You should remember that the listener has no loyalty or obligation to you, your business or your podcast show or content. Thus, you will have to create compelling intros and outros in order to get the listener to become a raving fan of your show and then connect with you as a podcaster by consuming your content — and finally, engaging with your listener and becoming a routine part of his day. The tough part is that you have to compete with nearly a million other podcast shows for attention, for retention and for commitment to consume your content.
The article then proceeds to provide different sections on what the structure of a good intro and outro would be:
- What makes a good podcast intro?
- What to include in a podcast intro?
- Include your name or nickname;
- Include the title of your podcast show and episode;
- Include the purpose of the podcast show — i.e., what is the podcast for and who is the intended audience;
- Include the theme of the podcast and what is the episode about?
- What problem does the podcast solve or which is the issue that is addressed?
- Is there a solution to the problem or issue presented in the episode? As is stated in the article: “Each episode deals with a specific subtopic of its own though, which provides a solution that helps them work towards their overall goal. We want to mention this in our podcast intro so the listener knows they’ve come to the right place.”
- Inform the listener if there will be a step-by-step process for resolving the solution to the possible problem or issue.
- Deliver to the listener a very brief overview of the issue and the benefit that you will deliver — and the article gives you a simple template for that: ““Hello and welcome to the ___ podcast, this is the show for ___, all about ___, and on this episode, have you ever struggled with ___?, well that’s exactly what we’re going to help you with on this week’s show, where you’ll learn how to ___” —
- You can then plan for the results: “You don’t need to copy this verbatim, but make it the framework of your podcast intro. This will mean that everyone you want to keep listening is going to make it through to the main body of the episode, and then you can win them over with your content.”
- What would make a good podcast outro?
- The objective of a good outro could be: “The final minute or two of your episode goes towards creating a lasting impression of the podcast in the mind of your listener.”
- How a poor outro could be the difference between a new listener becoming a subscriber or not;
- The purpose of a good outro is: “essentially to thank the listener for listening, and to point them in the direction of any vital details that emerged during the episode.”
- You can also request a rating or review on the part of the listener;
- You can then promise to deliver any type of deliverable that you had promised in your content — e.g., a pdf document, a whitepaper, a free subscription to a newsletter, etc.
- How can you structure a good outro and what goes into it?
- You can thank your listeners;
- You can point them to the show notes or specific areas of links or images or text in your show notes;
- You can offer a teaser with a very small preview of the exciting and compelling next episode with great content;
- You can point them to your web site, where you can have all the links to social media sites and programs and other directories and podcatchers;
- Definitely deliver your CALL-TO-ACTION in very specific terms and links that are not confusing;
- Some of these calls-to-action could be:
- Subscribe to the podcast
- Share the podcast, or tell a friend about it
- Rate/review the podcast
- Sign up to your email list, or download your ebook
- Buy tickets for your event or conference
- Support your call for donations or pledge to your crowdfunding project
Thus, the article goes into more hints and tips for intros and outros to help support and enhance your episode content, with your focus fixed on your topic.
What the article does not dwell on is the area of music to be used for the intro and outro. You should include any appropriate and legally obtained music clips (with appropriate fade-out and fade-in) that will highlight the show and add to the excitement, interest and passion of the show.
For this podcaster, I have used a standard intro in the past for what once was my flagship podcast show, The Struggling Entrepreneur, in 2006 (i.e., a 19 MB file in wav format), where the first 30 seconds are the standard intro, with a 25-second gap of silence, and then the last 60 seconds are the standard outro:
Now, at the start of the podosphere, I took a standard template that I used from a course called Podcast Secrets from Paul Colligan. And this has worked well, as long as the intro was no longer than 30 seconds.
But today, there are more templates for constructing good intros and outros, in addition to this article and post. However, one of the best podcast episodes that dealt with the issues and suggestions of intros and outros came from Daniel J Lewis in his show The Audacity to Podcast. If you search his back catalog, you can get episode TAP 030 that dealt with this topic and the details of intros.
Note: since the time of both Daniel’s podcast episode 030 and my original flagship podcast, both of us have taken the opportunity to shorten the intro — including the music and the final outro. The reasons for this could be several, including feedback from fans, as well as the development of podcast episodes and formats over the years — to the point where shorter intros can get right to the meat of the content sooner, as well as mentioning a short call-to-action at the end. You may have noticed that this episode of PodcastReporter.com also shortened the intro and outro. So the suggestions in the article mentioned in this episode are just those — suggestions, and not mandates.
So, whatever you choose to construct your intro and outro — whether from a template or from your own original creation — we hope that your show will be enhanced with great results from the actions taken by your listener (from consuming the content to subscribing to the show and fulfilling the task of a call-to-action).
Thank you for your attention.
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