Podcast Episode Guide: Structure, Typology, Formats, and Outlines
There are no rules in podcasting. It’s an art! But it doesn’t have to be chaotic. Or boring. Instead, bring structure to your episodes so you can hold listeners’ attention, build awareness of your services, and give your audience different kinds of listening experiences. In this podcast episode guide, we’re going to cover different ways to structure your podcast, including typologies, formats, and considerations for your outlines.
If you prefer to listen, this article was sourced from an episode of Podcasting in Professional Services:
Podcast Episode Formats & Typology
There are many different ways to structure a podcast episode. In fact, many podcast hosts experiment with different episode types and formats. In my experience hosting four different business podcasts, the episode types and formats available depend on if your show has one host or multiple co-hosts.
Solo Hosted Episode Types
Interviews: The classic 1:1 interview style podcast that many shows use. Recently, I interviewed Michael Zipursky about his Consulting Success® podcast, which will hit 400 episodes in 2024.
Solo cast / monologue: This episode type is where one host records a monologue about a certain topic. Recently, I interviewed Ross Simmonds about his podcast, Create Like the Greats. He shared his experience with monologue episode types:
Panel Discussion: This episode type is where one podcast host moderates a panel of experts.
Hybrid: A mix of both monologues and 1:1 interviews. The podcast episode accompanying this blog post is an example of this episode type.
Co-Hosted Episode Types
1:1 interview (one co-host interviews the other): Co-hosts share an interview with a guest or multiple guests. For example, David C. Bakers interviews Blair Enns on this episode of 2Bobs.
Yin & Yang: Co-hosts go back and forth to have a well-rounded conversation. For example, this episode of the Business of Architecture titled “Give Me My F*ing Money,” Enoch and Rion dig into the subject of what happens when architects don’t get paid.
Group interview: Co-hosts both act as interviewers for one or multiple guests. For example, Max & Zach of the Structural Engineering podcast do joint interviews with their guests. Recently, they interviewed Mark Wainwright about how engineers can contribute to business development at different points in their career in an episode titled, “Engineering Sales: Curiosity’s Role.”
Teardowns: A teardown is where co-hosts roast a topic. Mark and I like to do this on our podcast, Breaking BizDev. A good example of this is on an episode called “Disastrous BizDev Job Descriptions.”
Listicle: Another episode type that we like to use on Breaking BizDev is the Listacle. Mark and I have found a groove ping-ponging back and forth to balance airtime as we go through a list. For example, we recently published an episode titled, “10 Ways to Suck at Conferences/Events, and How to Do Better.” Here’s a clip to give you a sample:
How to Outline a Podcast Episode
Great podcast content rarely originates from podcast hosts “winging it.” That’s why episode outlines are a critical part of podcasting success. In this section, I offer perspective on selecting the right topics (or guests) and understanding the elements of a podcast episode.
Topic Identification and Guest Selection
Coming up with episode topic ideas is an art. I recommend approaching it in stages: first, brainstorm ideas. Don’t worry if the idea is good or bad, just list them down. Get ideas from your co-host, podcast team, and trusted listeners. Look at other podcasts in your niche. Use ChatGPT to generate ideas.
If you run a weekly podcast, shoot for 24 ideas. Then, review the list critically and whittle it down to 12 topics. Voila! You have a quarter’s worth of content that you can organize onto a content calendar. Personally, I use monday.com and it works really well.
Once you have your main topics identified, do various forms of research to construct your outlines:
Keyword research: You might not have the luxury of SEO tools like SEMRush or Ahrefs, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do keyword research. Google Trends is a free resource to monitor relative keyword volume and trends over time. Once you find a good keyword, type it into Google search and look at the pages that rank organically; what are the main points you need to cover? What’s missing that your audience would find valuable?
Podcast research: Listen to other podcast episodes about the same topic. How can you build on what was said? Is there additional perspective you can offer that would be of value to your listeners? Are there specific guests you think would be worth bringing onto your show?
Social media research: Who is starting and participating in conversations about the topic on platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter? This can help you understand who might be a good guest on your show and the relative interest of the topic based on social engagement metrics.
Elements of a Podcast Episode
I like to think about podcast episode elements like segments on a radio program. How those segments are organized in your episodes is a major lever in differentiating your show. Here are some examples of different elements I’ve used in the podcasts I’ve hosted:
Cold Open: A short, 20-30 second clip from a key moment in the podcast that starts at 0:00.
Intro: Music and either a pre-recorded intro or a live read introducing new and existing listeners to the podcast.
Episode overview: Explanation of what the listener should expect in this episode.
Live read / mid-roll: A plug for your business or a sponsor.
Main content: The main portion of your episode based on your outline or interview questions. You might have different main content segments.
Wrap up: End your podcast with authority. Ask guests where listeners can find them. Thank them for their time.
Outro: Final message to listeners. Could be pre-recorded. Recap a plug for your business or sponsor, or prompt listeners to rate, review, and subscribe.
Video vs Audio Podcast
Should your podcast have video or audio-only? If you haven’t launched your podcast yet, this could be a roadblock. Below is a simple pros and cons list of having an audio podcast vs a video podcast.
Ideal Podcast Episode Length
Ultimately, the ideal podcast episode length depends on your audience and how they consume podcast content. For example, do they consume podcast content mostly via short video clips on social media? If yes, then your podcast episode length doesn’t matter. You can chop up the long-form content into dozens of “snackable” videos.
Personally, I like episodes to be ~30 minutes long for a few reasons. First of all, the average commute in the United States is 26 minutes. At 10 minutes per mile, joggers run 3 miles on a 30 minute run. It’s estimated that one acre of land takes about 40 minutes to mow with a riding mower. These are some of the most common activities people do while listening to podcasts.
I’m not alone in this. Recently, I interviewed Angela Mazzi, host of the Architecting podcast, and she saw listeners tend to drop off after 20 minutes:
Examples of Podcasts with Differing Episode Lengths
Again, there are no rules in podcasting. I’ve grouped a few shows into general categories of short, medium, and long episodes. There are some podcasts that release short and long episodes.
Short (Under 20 minutes):
Medium (20-35 minutes):
Long (45+):
Let’s Improve Your Podcast Episodes Together
One common theme I’ve heard from interviewing successful business podcasters is they have a team and systems in place to run the show while they run their business. Let’s work together to build a system tailored to you. Check out our podcast marketing and business podcast production services, or simply reach out to start a conversation.
