Remember the six “P”s: Prior Planning and Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.
Planning can cover a multitude of sins. From the minute by minute to the it’s all in my head variations the best system sits, probably, somewhere in the middle.
There are different plans for different stages of the podcast journey.
In the pre-launch you need to plan to find your show name, a website with that show name (maybe), your host, your gear, the point of your show and so on. Now that’s a plan you will only need once. Well, you’ll only need once per show. You are likely to feel the urge to start innumerable shows. Hang onto the plan, you can update it and make it better with each show you start.
As discussed in another post, planning makes a Seasonal show so much easier to produce. It also gives the show a powerful direction and purpose. Planning though can go even deeper.
You could plan out the first three month’s worth of shows or even twelve months. This would depend upon the sort of show you’re going to produce but it would work for most that aren’t current affairs shows. Depending upon your level of experience and skill you may want to record the first three month’s episodes. I have cautioned against this elsewhere but only for the beginner. Your workflow may well be to stay three months ahead in your recording, editing and scheduled publishing.
If you know what you’re doing this is fine. The only drawback would be responding to listener feedback. Not the best practice to wait thirteen weeks to respond. Of course you could add on a little audio to some of the prerecorded episodes in response to feedback or you could just wait. Your feed, your show, your choice, as ever.
Even if you are going to bring a show to the end of its life, planning is important. Letting your listeners know you’re getting ready to wind up your show is a matter of both common decency and preparation for any new show you’re getting ready to start. Explaining what’s going on and letting your listeners know your trailer episode will appear in the current feed they are listening to will bring some of them across to the new show.
Takeaways
- Planning gives you direction
- Planning gets your show off the ground more easily
- Planning the end of your show helps your listeners move to your new one