Yes, the technology for podcasting has never been easier. Microphones, editing equipment, mixers, the equipment keeps getting cheaper AND higher in quality. But the most important part of any podcast is the human quality. Namely, are the people talking saying anything interesting, and is their style tolerable?
More major corporations are starting to use podcasting technology to communicate with their most important customers and prospects around the globe. But once you start a podcast, there are a lot of tough questions to answer.
1. Do we try to write out an entire script for our executives to follow?
2. What is the best structure to use?
3. Do we have one person talking? Two? A group?
4. What is the best format?
5. Do we edit the show to make it sound more professional?
6. What is the best length of time for a podcast?
Here is how I advise my clients on these questions:
1.Never use a full-text script. Reading into a microphone is impossible to do well for the non-professional. If you give business execs a script to read they will be monotone and boring.
2.A simple one or ½ page piece of paper with an outline is the best thing for your executives to use as guidance through out the show.
3.It’s extremely difficult to have one person do a podcast effectively. Likewise, a group of people can be confusing and unwieldy. I recommend 2 people having a conversation.
4.The best format is to have two people talking together in a real conversation. Don’t have one person talk for five minutes going through a laundry list of topics and then switching to the other person talking for five minutes—that’s boring and sounds like a dry college lecture. Instead, have one person talk about one point for under a minute. Then, have the other person ask a follow up question on that subject. Then, the second person introduces his or her first point. The first person asks a follow up question and then the back and forth pattern can continue for the whole podcast, with no one person ever talking for more than a 40-50 second period without being interrupted by the other.
5.I don’t recommend editing the podcasts. If you let executives know the show will be edited, they will be less focused and prepared and will slip into bad habits. It will take less time for everyone if you record it live-to-tape (now digital).
The best length of time is whatever length it takes to cover your topics. It could be 90 seconds or it could be 25 minutes. Since you aren’t doing commercial radio with hard time breaks, your topics and content should dictate the length, not some artificial, pre-determined limit. Talk as long or short as you need to in order to communicate your messages.
