This guide outlines how to identify the best podcast topics to engage your target audience.
If you are running a podcast on any social media or streaming platforms, you might constantly be thinking about the topic of your next episode. That’s a good thing! Choosing your topic ahead of time is a crucial step in planning your podcast topics.
Once you have the right podcast topics to start the production, the natural flow will take over, and you won’t have to worry about it. Starting is often the most critical and challenging part. Moreover, starting on the right foot is essential to make your guests feel comfortable, especially if you are interviewing them for the first time. Choosing podcast topics that your guest is also satisfied with will help you avoid awkwardness during the conversation.
Tactics to choose podcast topics
Keeping these factors in mind while choosing podcast topics is important. So, here are some tips on how to choose the best top-tanking podcast topics.
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Consider your Audience
There is no point in releasing a podcast that is irrelevant to your audience. Over time, you might have built an audience and a particular following. As a creator, you have to assess the demographics and choose the topics accordingly. You must select the podcast topics that will be more relatable for your audience. One of the best ways to assess the mindset of your audience is by reading their DMs, comments, emails, and other forms of communication.
For instance, if you know most of your followers are high school students, talking about career advice or college admission-related tips will fetch you more listens than talking about housekeeping.
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Consider The Theme of your Channel
The podcast topics you choose must be interesting, but they must also align with your previous podcast episodes. For instance, if you are running a movie-related podcast, talking about politics in your podcast might be irrelevant. On the other hand, talking about the influence of politics in movies, or vice versa, or about political films, will be more relevant.
Choosing podcast topics within the same genre will show consistency in the channel, and help you build a niche audience. You can also find interesting articles by Wired Clip to give you some ideas, for example.
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It Depends Upon The Guest
As a podcast host, your guest should always know the topic of discussion. Pitching them the topic is likely how you booked them to appear on your show. While you don’t need to give them every question in advance, do ask if there are any podcast topics they may be uncomfortable discussing so you can steer clear of those.
It is your job to determine who you invite on your show and what might pique their interest. Choosing a topic that’s interesting to you, your guest, and your audience will keep the conversation flowing organically and make the podcast engaging. Considering the interests and areas of expertise of your guests is one of the most critical factors in choosing good podcast topics.
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Determine your Personal Objective
Once you are close to deciding the main topic or theme for your podcast, you must think about your objectives or expectations from the podcast. You must think about your business objectives, interests, method of presentation, and areas of expertise.
So, whatever your goal might be, whether it is to promote a sponsor or to impart knowledge, the podcast topics must be around the objective only. For instance, if you promote a sponsor that sells multivitamins, keeping the conversation around health and wellness will prove beneficial.
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Verify The Popularity of The Topic
Sometimes, the best podcast topics might not fetch favorable results since they lack popularity amongst the listeners. After shortlisting various topics, you must research to establish their relevance and popularity by understanding their performance on other media.
Create a list of some of the best creators that are publishing content around the same topic, be it through social media, blog posts, videos, music, podcast, movies, or any other media.
Tips for getting the most from podcast topics
Listen to your audience
Through your social media networks, promote polls to find out which podcast topics interest your customers and who are the guests they would like to participate in the programs, for example. Another idea is to ask them to post questions about the topic of the next episode to help direct the content you’ll be covering.
In addition, for format and frequency definitions, it is essential that you do research and see how podcasts that are reference in your niche are doing , but also talk to your audience. Understand when they would like to hear your content, how much time they think is ideal to dedicate to your podcast, how often they expect to have new shows on the air and so on.
Refine the script
With the main subject defined and a list of starting podcast topics, it’s time to start production on each episode. For each one you are going to record, you must have a specific script. However, a good idea is to create a template of this document, which you can use to write the script for each episode.
Here, it is also important that you define an opening and closing pattern characteristic of your podcast where you explain the purpose of the program and link it to your brand.
Remember to also take into account the average time that the program should have and use the script to lead the guests and stipulate the number of questions to be answered, in cases of interview, right?
Focus on the audio quality and your voice
You don’t need to have a complete studio to record your podcast, but it’s important to have good audio capture equipment and choose a quiet environment to avoid noise and ensure the quality of your programs.
You can record the audio through your smartphone . Just remember to use a microphone connected to the device, as without it, the audio tends to be of very low quality for the podcast. There are several options, ranging from $30 to over $1,000. With a good search, it is possible to find the best value for your case.
When actually recording your podcast, pay attention to the way you are speaking . When they have little experience with this type of recording, most people are tempted to read everything they say. However, this reading tends to take away the naturalness of communication. Therefore, try to articulate the words well, but speak naturally , as if you were in a conversation . This will make the program more enjoyable for the listener.
Conclusion
As a creator who wishes to monetize their podcast, you must look out for gaps in your podcast topics content by determining what you are not addressing and where there’s room for you to contribute. It will give you a head start and a chance to fill in the void about that topic using your content.
Content creators who fill a gap in the industry provide more value to their audience and build a more loyal following. So, these are some factors that you must consider before choosing the topics for your next post. Ensure that you make the guest feel comfortable and try to create a flow in the conversation to make it more engaging for the audience.
