There are many ways you can present a radio show, and it’s the same with podcasting! This episode, we talked about the different styles and formats that you can use in making a podcast.
Monologue Podcast
One of the hardest formats to carry off is the monologue podcast, where you basically just talk to the microphone and record yourself! It’s a hard format to use because you will have to rely on yourself to do all the talking, and it could be daunting especially for a beginner.
A podcaster who does this format very well is Cliff Ravenscraft, and the reason why he’s successful with it is because he has a great personality and he is very passionate about what he does.
Two (or more) Hosts
If you have someone else you gel with very well, you can do a duo or even a panel podcast! It’s good because you have someone else to bounce off, so you’ll never run out of something to say.
- Michael Hyatt, a popular speaker from the United States, started off as a monologue podcaster. But when he started season 2 of This Is Your Life, his podcast got even better.
- Another good example of this type of podcast – while maintaining audio quality, despite recording in different locations – is Internet Business Mastery. It’s run by Jason Van Orden who currently records in Paris, France, and Jeremy Frandsen from Utah in the US. They haven’t recorded an episode in the same room, but you wouldn’t be able to tell!
You have to pay attention to the quality of your audio when doing a two-host podcast, because you may have to record in different environments.
Interview Style Podcast
This style of podcast, where you interview different guests every episode, may be one of the easier podcast formats for beginners. You have a host, a set of questions and a guest who will be providing your content. John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur on Fire has a daily podcast, where he interviews entrepreneurs, and his podcast is a great example of this style.
Informational Podcast
This is a podcast where we give out information and tell you about a certain topic – just like answering a question. A good example is the Ask Pat Podcast. An informational podcast can be one of two styles: the Current Events and News, and the Evergreen Content.
Current News and Events
This style – like the TWiT podcast of Leo Laporte, which reviews the latest technology gadgets – is great because of its relevance, as it is current and new!
Evergreen Content
The evergreen content, like this podcast, is about providing content that you can listen to even in 2020! Its content is basically timeless and usually remains relevant for years.
Repurposed Content
If you’re a blogger, a YouTuber, or you think what you do will also make good audio content, you can adopt the repurposed content style. Basically, an example would be using the audio of your video by repurposing your content and turning it into a podcast.
Magazine Style
This style brings in many different ideas (such as local happenings) to a podcast, while having high production values just like radio.
What podcast format do you feel works the best? Share your ideas in the comments below!
ea, Mike, Izabela, you’re right..Monologue Podcasts are kinda hard to pull through, same thing with a Programme Moderation by one person. No one to fall on if you get stuck. But it is also the same thing with having a ‘boring’ co-presenter. Thanks for the great tips.
Thank you for listening Becca and I couldn’t agree more with your comment. Make sure you have a great co-host that will help to energise your podcast 🙂