Best Podcast Ideas: 10 Ways To Create A Podcast

Podcasts are a great way to create growth, thought leadership, and impact while building your brand at the same time. Many people are intimidated by the idea of creating a podcast, but it doesn’t have to be hard. In this article, I’ve got 10 podcast creation tips and tricks to help you make your podcast ideas a reality, and then when you’re ready to launch, be sure to check out the Countdown to Launch Free Training I created.

What is my podcast about?

When you get started you likely have an idea for your podcast or maybe even a name. If not, no big deal. What I want you to do is answer a few questions that’ll help clarify the structure of you podcast, who is your audience, and what is your value proposition. It’s important to set a solid foundation that you can build upon.

What topic or industry is your podcast going to focus on?

The more specific you are with your podcast topic the better. It’ll make writing your podcast script and finding guests (if you do an interview based podcast), because you’ve got a narrowed focus. It’ll allow you to create episodes that your tailored audience are most likely to listen to.

With my Sports Marketing Huddle podcast I created a show for people in the sports marketing industry, so I was clear on who my target demographic was. My audience also knew what to expect.

Here’s what I want you to do. Grab a sheet of paper or your computer and write down the podcast topics for your show. See if you can create 3-5 of them. From there can you narrow it down to just one? Does one stand out or serve as an overarching theme? When you look at it does it resonate with you and feel good? When it does that’s your podcast topic.

Interview format or topic based or both?

Interview shows can be great for getting a fresh & different perspective every episode. This allows you to deliver unique value to your listeners that they can’t get elsewhere. It also is great for growing your audience as it allows you to build your network quicker (since your guest will likely share the episode with theirs network).

A topic based show centers around the topic(s). For example, sports betting, wellness, or entrepreneurship. From there you can drill down into segments within that topic.

Evergreen or Real Time topics?

One way to think about podcast ideas or episodes you want to create is to ask yourself if your podcast is going to deliver Evergreen or Real Time content. There is no right or wrong way of doing this, it’s more of a preference.

Evergreen content is just as relevant today as it is a month or year from now. For example, a podcast episode on 5 Tips For Easily Launching A Podcast is timeless. Real time content has an expiration date. For example, a podcast episode on 5 Cinderella Teams That Will Bust Your March Madness Bracket is only relevant until the NCAA tournament starts.

An evergreen podcast will have a longer shelf life so you’ll be able to promote it on an ongoing basis (which can be great for your marketing). A real time podcast will allow you to take advantage of trending topics when people are most interested in them. They can be a short burst of high engagement.

With my podcasts I like to have a mix of evergreen and real time content (when possible).

Brainstorming session

Creating podcast ideas for what to talk about can be simple. What I want you to do is remove all distractions and give yourself the gift of a podcast brainstorming session. The steps are simple:

Set a timer on your phone for 30 minutes.
Grab a pen and paper or your computer and start writing down ideas. Ask yourself, “what would I love to talk about?”, “what do I know or have learned that could help others?”, or “what topics in my industry do I have an opinion on?”. Whatever comes to mind I want you to write down. Let it flow. Enjoy this.
Once you are done with this brainstorming session congratulations. You now have a list of ideas you use to create podcast episodes from. Go through each of your ideas, pick the ones that resonate that most with you, and then go create them!
When you get through all of the ideas on your list rinse and repeat this process to generate more podcast ideas.

How long should your podcast be?

One way to come up with ideas is to think about the length of your show. How long do you want your podcast to be? This is a blank canvas and there are no rules. I’ll break down four potential options for you: short form, long form, micro, combo:

Short Form Podcast (15 minutes or less):

I am a big fan of creating short form podcasts, especially at the beginning of a podcast launch. This is because you are more focused on executing and publishing episodes, which is less taxing when your show is 15 minutes opposed to an hour long. It also forces you to be better as a host as you have a short window of time to pack in a good amount of value. This will have you removing fluff and things that don’t serve you or your audience.

Also, the attention span of people now is that of a peanut. They like quick and consumable. Remember: one of the top rules of podcasting is to create for your audience. By creating a podcast that is 15 minutes or less it’s a win-win for everyone.

Long Form Podcast (45 minutes or more):

When clients come to me to launch a podcast many of them have a grandiose idea of an hour long podcast. They think it will be easy and fun to talk about something for an hour (which it can be). I do caution you, however, that if you are going to publish a long form podcast you are going to need to have a few key elements taken care of.

You have the content to support an hour. Your audience wants to be inspired, educated, or entertained so you need to be able to give them that the entire time. To fill an hour I recommend having a well put together script/outline that allows you to be in control of where the conversation is going. Otherwise you are at risk of having your audience stop listening after 17 minutes because they have other things worthy of their attention.
You are value driven. Your audience will listen longer when you are providing value to them. If you are just rambling on they will bounce (which makes the remaining part of your podcast less valuable).
You are engaging. There is a reason why Ted Talk’s are only 18 minutes long. It’s because people start to lose attention after that. To fill an hour you are going to want to bring the energy, be a good storyteller, and be engaging.

Micro Podcast (5 minutes or less):

I love creating micro podcast episode and highly recommend you consider creating them as well. Why? There are several reasons.

They are easy to create. We all have 5 minutes in our day to record something. This allows you to execute easier as you spend less time on writing a script, coordinating, or editing.
More focus. Because they are short you are focused on just one topic, thought, or nugget of wisdom. This adds clarity and power to your episode, which is great for delivering value to your audience.
They are bingeable. Because your audience can consume them so easily there is a great chance they’ll listen to multiple episodes. This will increase your downloads and awareness.

Combo Podcast:

Remember, there are no rules to podcasting so you can create a combo platter of length for your show. This is what I do. The majority of my shows are 30 minutes or less. I also sprinkle in podcast episodes that are between 5 and 12 minutes. The reason for this is because the interview podcasts I do tend to run longer (30 minutes) and the solo episodes where I am dropping one nugget of wisdom tend to be shorter. I like to get in and out on those.

Podcast Ideas Wrap Up

If you are looking to start a podcast then creating ideas for your show should be fun and simple. The key is being focused and intentional about it. There are so many ways you can do it so create what flows best for you.

I’ve found that generating podcast ideas is the easy part. What is often lacking is execution in making them happen.

If you want help starting a podcast then I’d love to help you out. Let’s jump on a call together.