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Our podcast doctors are here to help your podcast limber up and get into great shape 

Summer is well and truly here and, by now, the healthy eating and hours in the gym should have paid off for that beach body! But is your podcast in equally good shape? Our podcast doctors are here to help you shape up your show and achieve that enviable summer “pod”! 

Just like you might visit a fitness coach to improve your physique, our podcast health check service can help you refine and enhance your podcast. After all, you want your podcast to shine just as brightly as you do in the summer sun! Here are five essential tips that our doctors recommend to improve your podcast and ensure it’s fit and healthy this season.

1. Identify Your Podcast Target Audience 

Who’s your dream listener? Podcasts are great tools to reach specific communities from adoptive parents to university students, but there are so many podcasts out there that knowing your target audience is really important. Once you’ve nailed who your ideal listener is, this will help you with what your podcast sounds like, and how you’re going to promote it. Delving into your target audience should also raise questions about the purpose of your podcast, what makes yours unique and what success looks like. 

2. Copywriting: Having A Way With Words 

We know podcasts are all about audio but the words surrounding them are so important and help people find your podcast on podcast apps and search engines. Do your show description, titles and episode descriptions match what you’re delivering? Are they showing your listener what they’ll get from listening? Do they include the names of high-profile guests and themes that will help when people are googling? 

3. Give Your Podcast Intros and Outros Purpose 

In this world of distractions, the start of your podcast is crucial to grab your listener’s attention, so show your listeners why they should listen!!! Are you explaining what your podcast is about, why they should listen to YOU and your guest, and hooking them in with what’s coming up? This doesn’t need to be long, but should be clear, powerful and engaging! 

The outro is just as important. You’ve successfully got people to listen to the whole episode, but you’ve got a whole series they can listen to, make sure they know how to find it! As well as directing people to subscribe to your feed, you could include a few takeaways from the episode and even include a teaser to the next one! 

4. Having a Solid Podcast Structure 

You might think a lot of podcast creators just sit down, open a mic and chat, but there’s a lot more to it! We’ve already thought about the beginning and end, but have you thought about the listener’s journey through the podcast? Is your first question the killer one? Are there different sections that need signposting? Can you come up with a creative way to interview? 

5. Getting Your Podcast Sound Right 

This is what makes a podcast stand out from recording a voice-note on your phone… good audio quality. If your podcast’s volume is up and down, the microphone is popping all over the place and you can hear sirens going off in the background… then people are going to switch off. You don’t need a podcast studio to record your podcast in but a quiet room with lots of soft furnishings (an excuse to get fancy pillows, a rug and curtains!) is vital, and a good microphone will instantly make you sound better. Then there’s the editing. This involves cutting out any bits you don’t want, fine-tuning the audio and making it sound polished. 

Are you ready to get your pod summer-ready? 

If you need help to improve your podcast,  book an appointment with our podcast doctors at podcasthealthcheck.com. Or talk to us about our training packages.