Considering Hosting a Podcast? 4 Things to Know

by | Feb 3, 2022 | Author Marketing Tips, Author Services

We recently shared a blog on how to be a memorable podcast guest and thanks to the suggestion of some readers, we decided to write a companion piece for all of you aspiring podcasters out there. If you do want to host a podcast, there are some things to consider first. Read below and see if hosting a podcast is for you.  

1: Your Goals and Your WHY for Hosting a Podcast

It seems like everyone has a podcast these days, right? Everyone is listening to them as well. Did you know? 

  • According to Edison Research and Triton Digital, there are now 62 million Americans listening to podcasts each week, up from 19 million in 2013. 
  • There are over 900,000 podcasts with over 54 million podcast episodes currently available worldwide.
  • Listeners enjoy podcasts because they can listen to a podcast while they drive, commute, cook, or workout. Listening is possible anytime, which is valuable in a fast-paced world. 
  • Podcasts are easily shareable on social and available on multiple platforms.

At this point, the cost of admission to enter the podcasting arena is so low there’s no reason you shouldn’t be doing it. But, your first consideration before putting in the work of hosting a podcast needs to be what your goals are and your WHY! 

  • Ask yourself, WHY do I want to host a podcast? What do I have to say and what are my goals? 

We highly recommend you write these down on a piece of paper or in a document. 

This exercise allows you to see the big picture better. When you have a goal in mind and a reason for putting in the work it takes, you’ll have a roadmap to where your podcast is going. 

And just a quick note from Chad, Co-host of The Premise: If your reason is fame and your goal is money, you may want to reconsider. There’s a lot that goes into creating and producing a podcast and because there are nearly a literal million podcasts out there, you likely won’t be getting much money or fame. 

2: Your Message, Topics and Themes

After you’ve figured out WHY you’re thinking about hosting a podcast, it will likely be easier to come up with your message, topics and themes. Add all this to your outline too! 

Ask Yourself: 

  • What is your main topic and/or what are your themes?
  • Is there enough interest in this topic?
  • What is the scope? Can it be covered in a short series or will it be regularly scheduled? 
  • What type/style of podcast will you be hosting? Will it be scripted? An interview style? Serious, humorous, or quirky?
  • Who’s is your audience? Your ideal listener? 

3: Creating Engaging Content

So, now that you have the message, topic, or themes and have considered your style and your audience, you’ll need to create engaging content. Hosting a podcast (a good one anyway) requires having engaging content, a bit of finesse and some knowledge.

Make sure you:

  • Know your stuff. Make sure you have a passion for your subject. Learn all you can about it. Make yourself an expert in other words. 
  • Schedule good guests. If you’re interviewing people, make sure they know their stuff too. Find guests that are relevant to the themes or topics of the podcast you’re hosting. 
  • Learn how to interview. If you’re going to be interviewing people, you need to know how to do that well. Even great guests can end up not being an entertaining interviewee if you’re not a prepared and engaged (and engaging) interviewer. 

4: Time Length and Schedule

Last but not least, and related directly to all of the above, you’ll want to figure out the length of each episode (or series) and make sure you have the time and bandwidth.

There’s a plethora of options for the length and scheduling of your podcast. 

  • Will it be weekly, monthly, bimonthly? 
  • What day of the week will it air? 
  • Will it be on-going or seasonal?
  • What do you have the time and energy for? Remember, hosting a podcast is more than the recording. There’s editing, show notes, and scripts (if applicable), etc. to consider.

These tidbits may help when it comes to deciding your scheduling.

  • Average US commute times are around 26 minutes.
  • Most Top podcasts are weekly and post on Tuesday

And here’s some advice from an expert regarding the highly successful format of TED Talks. 

TED curator Chris Anderson explained the organizations thinking this way:

“It [18 minutes] is long enough to be serious and short enough to hold people’s attention. It turns out that this length also works incredibly well online. It’s the length of a coffee break. So, you watch a great talk, and forward the link to two or three people. It can go viral, very easily. The 18-minute length also works much like the way Twitter forces people to be disciplined in what they write. By forcing speakers who are used to going on for 45 minutes to bring it down to 18, you get them to really think about what they want to say. What is the key point they want to communicate? It has a clarifying effect. It brings discipline.”

Still Considering Hosting a Podcast?

Good! You’ve probably got a pretty solid sense of what it will take and are likely to be willing to follow through. And that’s why our next post will be covering the technical side of podcasting.

In Part Two of this little series, we’ll talk directly with Chad, The Premise co-host, and audio-visual expert for Monkey C Media. He’ll give you the lowdown on equipment, editing, sound quality, and more. So look for that in two weeks, future podcast hosts!