How to Create a Podcast Plan: A Step-by-Step Strategy Guide for 2024

Are you looking to create a podcast that captivates and thrives? Planning a podcast is something that everybody seems to be doing nowadays, but that doesn’t mean that each new podcast you hear about just materializes out of thin air. Behind every good podcast is a whole lot of planning. Even the most popular and prolific podcasters in the world map out a strategic plan that outlines episode themes, topics to cover, guests to invite and so much more.

A sound podcast plan is your roadmap to success. Avoid the guesswork with our straightforward guide, which provides the 10 key steps to develop a strong foundation for your podcast, ensuring your voice is heard and valued by its audience.

In this article

1. Creating a Podcast Plan in 10 Steps:
2. Defining Your Podcast’s Purpose and Goals
3. How to Write a Podcast Script
4. What to Include in the Outline of a Podcast Script
5. What Goes Into a Podcast Introduction Script?
6. Creating Momentum With Your Podcast Script
7. How to Structure (and Script) Your Podcast Segments
8. Podcast Interview Formats
9. Don’t Forget About Your Outro Script in Your Podcast Plan
10. Where to Find More Podcast Script Examples
11. Write Catchy Episode Titles
12. Get Listener Feedback as Part of Your Podcast Plan
13. Summary
14. Frequently Asked Questions

Creating a Podcast Plan in 10 Steps:

Defining Your Podcast’s Purpose and Goals

Any successful podcast starts with a clear purpose and defined goals. After all, your podcast is more than just an audio file; it’s a way to connect with your audience authentically. When your personal beliefs and dreams become part of your podcast’s purpose, your content gains greater depth and meaning. This deeper connection with your target audience is a key factor in the organic growth of your listener base.

On the other hand, neglecting your podcast’s defined purpose can lead to disengagement and a lack of fulfillment. The question then becomes, how do you define your podcast’s purpose and set measurable goals?

Understand Your Motivation

Understanding your ‘why’ is the first step in defining your podcast’s purpose. Your ‘why’ is the driving force behind your podcast. It could be to share knowledge, build a community, or promote a business. Understanding this motivation is crucial for sustaining the production of your podcast and for preventing burnout. This is because the reasons people start podcasts vary.

Some do it to build a reputation, engage an audience or as part of their content marketing strategies. By determining your ‘why,’ you can guide the purpose and goals of your podcast in a direction that aligns with your motivations.

Set Measurable Goals

Once you’ve determined your ‘why,’ it’s time to set measurable goals. It’s not enough to simply say, “I want to start a podcast.” You need to define what success looks like for you. Is it having a certain number of listeners? Is it being ranked in the top charts on Apple Podcasts? Setting SMART goals — specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-based — ensures that you have clear objectives to aim for.

Establishing goals with a specific timeline can make your larger objectives more manageable and achievable.

How to Write a Podcast Script

Before getting granular with each word of your podcast script, try to look at your show from a bird’s-eye view. Which elements of your script will make the listening experience consistent for your listeners from episode to episode? Will your show be fully scripted, ad-libbed or somewhere in between?

Scripted Podcasts

A polished and professional-sounding podcast is similar to what you might hear in a newscast or documentary. The script is written out and rehearsed before recording. Generally, this podcast may have particular themes that are explored in sequential order, demanding more structure and precision. Each episode is typically edited by a podcast editor or audio editor.

If you’ve got writer’s block, get started with these free podcast script templates. There’s more below too.

You should also adopt a more conversational tone of voice — speak to your target audience and not at your audience. Our 2022 Annual Trends Report underscores how a conversational voice is much more appealing and effective in creating an emotional connection with your audience.

Ad lib Podcasts

Freestyle podcasts are most similar to live radio shows or television interviews. Freestyle is an ad-lib recording style that can become greatly successful with an engaging and charismatic voice.

This is most often where the host has a podcast plan that takes the form of a list of bullet points of topics to cover in the episode. These few bullet points are known as “talking points” and could be questions, issues to be debated or topics to explore and uncover a unique perspective. This approach is very common when the host invites a guest for a podcast interview.

Because it’s not fully scripted, the character and charm of the host or their guest can make for an enjoyable listening experience.

Hybrid Podcasts

Aside from the introduction and the final closing remarks, it’s rare that podcast episodes have a word-for-word script for the entire show.

When planning a podcast, yield the best results by combining these two methods and developing your unique podcasting style.

We have a podcast outline template that we’ve used at Voices for our podcasts, and we’ve shared it with hundreds of new podcasters. It’s easy to follow and fill in the blanks.

What to Include in the Outline of a Podcast Script

What Goes Into a Podcast Introduction Script?

We’ve covered the 10 tips for planning a podcast and show structure template, and now it’s onto scripting. Not everyone needs to be fully scripted to deliver a compelling podcast, but intros and outros are most often scripted. Because of that, we thought you’d find these tips helpful. 

What to Include in Your Intro

When writing the intro script for the podcast, you should consider that this intro format will bring each new podcast episode to your listeners. It’s best to keep it short, say 10 or 15 seconds maximum. That way, the podcast intro won’t get skipped over with the +30 skip setting on most podcast players.

So what do you write? After (or even before) introducing yourself and any co-hosts you have, think Hook, Line, and Sinker.

3 Tips on Things to Include in Your Podcast Intro:

1. Give your listeners the #1 coolest thing happening in the show and the lesson or takeaway that comes from it as a result. (If you haven’t already introduced yourself, do it now. But skip the CV to keep it short)
2. If you have an exciting and juicy tidbit to share in your final segment, make sure to reveal it right away to grab the attention of your target audience and keep them engaged until the end — or at least encourage them to fast forward to the part that intrigues them the most.
3. Play your intro jingle at this point to signal that the show is getting started.

Creating Momentum With Your Podcast Script

Keep your audience engaged by maintaining a lively and varied flow of topics, whether in a lengthy discussion or a short program.

Try to use guests as a way to break up the conversation, pace, and tone of your shows.

You can use musical backgrounds (also known as jingles or music beds) or other non-music interludes (referred to as stagers, sweepers and IDs) to transition between topics. These breaks are commonly known as bumpers or sweepers, allowing your audience to digest the information you’ve just presented.

How to Structure (and Script) Your Podcast Segments

There is no “one size fits all” approach to a podcast as the very nature of podcasts is based on their broad variety and uniqueness from show to show.

It’s important to consider the structure and content of your segments during the planning phase to create a consistent show format that your audience will anticipate.

The First Podcast Segment

The first segment should be the most interesting to sustain listeners’ attention. This segment should appeal to the entire audience. Broad content is encouraged to serve the majority. For example, news and current events related to your podcast subject matter are often of interest to an entire audience. 

The Subsequent Podcast Segments

All subsequent segments can be more in-depth and focus on specific areas of interest. Depending on your comfort level, you can fully script these segments to make sure you’re speaking to them exactly as you want or you can make yourself a set of bullet points to speak to in a more conversational and free-flowing style. The latter option works best when you have guests on the show as scripting a full conversation with your guest tends to take some of the authenticity out of the podcast episode listening experience.

Podcast Interview Formats

If you’ve decided on an interview-based podcast format for your podcast, preparing and conducting interviews becomes a vital part of your podcasting process. You’ll need to research and invite guests, prepare questions and master interview techniques to ensure a successful and engaging conversation. This means that you’ll have additional considerations when crafting your podcast script.

Once you’ve invited your guests, the next step is to prepare your interview questions. These should tap into the guest’s expertise and career experiences, providing valuable insights to the audience. Use the 5 Ws (who, what, when, where, and why) to formulate questions that are relevant to the guest and the podcast theme, and prepare clarifying questions for a more in-depth discussion.

Being a good interviewer and having an interview style is an art form in itself (you can get tips on how to be an amazing host and interviewer here). Conducting a successful interview also requires mastering certain techniques like:

• Building rapport and trust with the guest
• Active listening
• Asking open-ended questions
• Utilizing follow-up questions
• Asking for clarification

These techniques ensure that both the audience and the podcast host understand the guest’s talking points.

Tip: Many podcast guests appreciate receiving the questions ahead of time so they know what to expect and can have some answers top of mind, too.

In the podcast intro and outro script examples above, the host was chatting to a supermodel, famous for her costume parties.

Here’s an example of what that podcast interview sheet may look like:

Don’t Forget About Your Outro Script in Your Podcast Plan

In the podcast script’s outro, thank your guests for appearing on the show and recap the discussed topics.

Now is also the time to talk about any exciting future episodes that are coming up and include a call-to-action for the listener.

For example, you may want to promote a special event that is relevant to your podcast and/or brand or entice listeners to become loyal subscribers. You can also direct your listeners to your show notes for links to videos or articles mentioned during the show so they, too, can enjoy those pieces to the fullest and better understand where you were coming from when talking about them!

You will also want to play your outro jingle at this point.

Where to Find More Podcast Script Examples

The above examples are just an introduction to how to begin. You can find many sources online that can help spark your creativity when crafting the ideal podcast script or outline.

You can search for transcripts of your favorite podcasts on various sites such as Listen Notes, which has a ton of free transcripts available for some of the most popular podcasts.

Alternatively, you can simply listen to your favorite podcast and take notes on the different elements that comprise their podcast script and use some of those elements in your podcast script template.

To get the creative juices flowing, visit our podcast voice over page to hear voice actor demos of podcast intros, advertising segments, segues, and outros!

Write Catchy Episode Titles

Episode titles should:

• Spark curiosity
• Clearly communicate the topic
• Avoid vague titles
• Provide informative titles to prevent confusion and set expectations
• Use news headline-style formats
• Incorporate guest names at the end of the title for interview-based podcasts to catch interest and enhance credibility and appeal.

Get Listener Feedback as Part of Your Podcast Plan

Once you’ve created your podcast, it’s time to get the word out. Implementing a marketing and promotion strategy is crucial to attracting a larger audience and growing your podcast. Utilizing social media platforms and actively engaging with followers can enhance listener involvement and promote continued community growth.

Once you have a listening audience, encouraging listeners to leave reviews and ratings for your podcast is another effective strategy. Include clear calls to action in podcast episodes, websites, and social media.

Offering rewards for leaving reviews, such as shout-outs during episodes, can incentivize listeners to engage with the review process.

They may even introduce new ideas that will give you an edge over competitors and enhance the listening experience. These suggestions could include segment duration, topics covered, guests featured and more.

Summary

Creating a podcast entails a series of thoughtful, strategic steps. Define your podcast’s purpose and goals. Select an engaging topic. Develop a consistent podcast format and craft compelling content. Promote your podcast and conduct engaging interviews. Monitor and adjust your strategy based on analytics data. But remember, the most important thing is to create content that is authentic, valuable, and resonates with your audience. So, get out there, hit that record button, and start sharing your voice with the world!

Sign up for a Voices account to find the voice for your next podcast intro, podcast ads or segue music.

Happy podcasting in 2024!

Frequently Asked Questions

How to structure a podcast?

Start each podcast episode with an engaging introduction, dive into the main content and end with a satisfying outro. This podcast episode structure can help keep your listeners engaged and provide a clear flow to your podcast.

How do I make a podcast schedule?

To create a podcast schedule, group recordings, segment tasks, plan for operational tasks, set release dates and use automation tools. Make sure to inform your audience about the schedule for increased engagement.

What are the key steps in creating a successful podcast in 2024?

To create a successful podcast, define your podcast’s purpose and select an engaging topic. Next, develop a consistent format and assemble essential equipment. Third, craft compelling intros and outros, conduct interviews, implement marketing strategies and have a clear call to action for listeners. These steps will help you in creating a podcast with impact.

How to select an engaging topic and niche for my podcast?

To find the ideal topic and niche for your podcast, start by exploring your market for content gaps. Then, choose a topic that aligns with your audience’s interests. Lastly, consider your background and experiences. This will help you select an engaging and relevant subject for your podcast.