Over the past few years, podcasts have undeniably risen in popularity. In fact, almost a quarter of all Americans be interested to hear a podcast each week — for cite, that’s roughly four times the amount of people who watched the Game of Thrones final season premiere.

But, eventually, what makes a good podcast occurrence?

Why do some chapters leave a previous impact on us, while others fall flat?

There’s no science to creating the perfect podcast occurrence, but we can still dissect government decisions producers obligate that result in a memorable podcast.

As HubSpot’s Senior Marketing Manager of Podcasts, as well as host of HubSpot’s podcast Weird Work, I’m undeniably familiar with the trials and tribulations of creating a good episode, and a good series.

Here, I’m going to share with you what I’ve learned about the dissection of a perfect podcast escapade, so you can create a successful, impactful podcast for your own brand.

To Edit … or Not to Revise

Many improbably successful podcasters have mastered the artistry of unscripted and unedited interrogations — but far more people have tried and flunked miserably.

While unedited podcasts can seem genuine and personal, they can also sound like long-winded freewheeling speeches that go nowhere.

A good, unedited podcast understates dead air by seamlessly moving from one topic to another and impeding the conversation lively over an extended period of time.

It’s important to note — if you’re not going to edit your podcast occurrences, the host are needed in order to do an enormous amount of research on each patron or topic to ensure they aren’t scrambling for what to say next.

During genuinely successful unedited interviews, the emcee will often reference essays the patrons “ve written”, critical responses to guest contemplates, or personal stories.

For a masterclass in interview-prep, check out this interview with actor Shia LaBeouf on the YouTube seriesHot Ones. The host has clearly done an enormous amount of research, which enables him to attract all the most interesting goodies out of LaBeouf.

A good, unscripted podcast is rarely a multitude simply asking a client to explain something to them.

However, now at HubSpot, we lean towards revising. Editing allows us to determine the conversations is becoming more impactful without significantly adjusting the content of the conversation. Editing is being kind to your listener.

As Roman Mars, creator of 99% Invisible, says, “If you have 100,000 listeners and you edit out one useless minute, you are saving 100,000 wasted times in the nations of the world. You’re practically a hero.”

Hook ‘Em

The first few minutes of a podcast is the most important part of an incident. It makes listeners is common knowledge that the occurrence is going to be about, and arouses their interest.

There are many people who use the introduction to do there is nothing helpful for the listener. Listing what chapter quantity it is or doing general housework exclusively detracts from your goal of getting the listener interested in the rest of the episode.

One of the strongest prologues I’ve heard recently is from 1619: How The Bad Blood Started. The escapade is the beginning with a heart-wrenching story of how one woman’s uncle got sick and refused to get treatment. He resolved up coming medication, but eventually received it a little too late. The escapade is more broadly about healthcare for African Americans after the Civil War, and how it impacts healthcare today.

Ultimately, your prologue doesn’t need to have anything to do with your incident, as long as it hits the listener.

For example, one of my favorite podcasts, Heavyweight, starts each chapter with its emcee Jonathan Goldstein calling his best friend Jackie and unavoidably getting hung up on because of something he says. It’s a very light, amusing style to open each incident and it’s something I looked forward to receiving as a listener.

A Good Podcast Episode is Focused!

When you’re thinking about creating an episode, you want to be able to easily express what the chapter is about. This sounds simple, but it’s easier said than done.

Many episodes are about “lots of things” and touch on “many different themes”. This is all well and good, but creators still need to succinctly excuse what the legend is about.

The book Out on the Wire: Story Mystery From the New Masters of Radio offers an excellent explanation of “focus sentences”. These are Mad Libs style fill-in-the-blanks that you should filter your occurrence material through to see if you have a good story.

Here are three example focus sentences 😛 TAGEND

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Once you have a focus for your chapters, the next step is ensuring you have the right segments in place.

Let’s explore those fragments , now.

The Parts of a Good Episode

Hats off to Alli Torban, a podcaster and data analyst who assessed the top two podcasts for every category in iTunes to identify the patterns of a successful episode.

One of Torban’s discovers was this: good podcast occurrences are a mix of educational, entertaining, and inspirational material that is arranged in a different way for each episode.

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On my establish Weird Work, an interview podcast in which we talk with people who have bizarre professions, all escapades contain three fragments 😛 TAGEND

Nuts& Bolts( school) where we explain the in’s and out’s of someone’s uncommon position.

Personal story( charming) where we talk about how person got into the bizarre field they are in.

Big idea( muse ), this is where we discuss an overarching perception behind the performance of their duties( like discussing the appeal of knighthood in the modern era with the head knight of Medieval Times ).

The order of these pieces varies from episode to episode. Some occurrences open with the big idea hooking the listener, or an interesting concept to consider. Other occurrences may follow a more linear footpath by talking about the guest’s personal narration, the piece they find themselves in now, and the implications of that work on a larger scale.

There is no award-winning pattern for how to arrange your content. How you organize your bout is going to depend on the fib you want to tell. Laura Walker, onetime head of WNYC studios, said it best at the Podcast Movement gathering in Orlando when she said — “Podcasts need to motivate you to think differently.”

If your occurrence is arranged in a way that motivates a shift in the way your listener meets the world, it will be a success.

All the Garnish, Please

If making a podcast episode is like cooking a meal, then chime intend and music are the tops and garnish that makes all the difference.

Let’s start with the basics — like, What is sound design? Sound design is anything you are doing to manipulate the way your content reverberates. Sound design in podcasting can be any sort of music that dallies while someone is talking.

Sound design can also be an alteration to the way beings are speaking to help defined the scene.

Just think how dull a repugnance movie would be without those ominous tones.

If you’re interested in exploring the importance of sound design, take a listen to the podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz. The show is all about the world’s most iconic rackets, produced by sound design studio Defacto Sounds. It’s rightfully incredible insight into the world of chime and the impact it has on our lives.

How Long Should Your Episode Be?

There is no ideal length for a podcast bout. It all depends on the content you’re creating and the type of show you’re producing.

In this incredibly in-depth analysis by Dan Mier of Pacific Content, he analyzed the average length of episodes over hour 😛 TAGEND

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This analysis provides some interesting insights — for instance, it expresses the average podcast is actually quite long, compared to other forms of media. Business podcasts tend to be shorter than various other podcasts, but there is nothing to indicate that shorter podcasts are destined to be more successful.

However, it’s still important to note — listeners can get bored easily. While there is no set number that is ideal for the length of a specific episode, try to establish something that does not drag or waste listeners’ time.

At HubSpot, we try to keep ourselves within a general stray of 20 to 40 minutes per escapade for The Expansion Show and Weird Work. Additionally, in our brand-new season of Skill Up, we are going to be experimenting with much more significant bouts, around 10 minutes.

Ultimately, podcasts are still deriving. What worked yesterday may not work as well today, and what never caught on a few years ago may be the next big-hearted thing.

At the end of the day, you shouldn’t feel caught by a format or set of guidelines. Instead, you should think about the unique story you want to tell and your peculiar inclination on that narration. The material should entertain, educate, and arouse in a rational sum of time.

Just remember — the excellent podcast chapter will attain your listener judge differently about a topic. However that happens is up to you.

Read more: blog.hubspot.com