Working on a project with complete creative freedom isn’t always the best way to create an amazing piece of art. I’m not just talking about podcasts but art in general.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
I think you should look at podcasts in the same way. The more boundaries you put on yourself the more creativity and entertaining show you’ll produce.
That’s why I’m a fan of Seasons. (which I talked about over here)
Here are a couple of other boundaries you can put on yourself to spark some new ways you can look at editing and producing your podcast.
PODCAST BOUNDARY #1 – Stick to a topic
If you could only talk about one topic for a month…
- What would you talk about?
- What kind of shows would you create?
- What kind of content upgrades would you create?
- How would you keep people engaged?
By coming up with a content schedule you create different entertaining shows to keep people listening and wanting to learn more on a topic.
For Example…
So if you had a podcast on let’s just say podcasting. Maybe you can only talk about show notes for a month. So you start off with some educational monologues or interviews talking about the topic. And then take some guest q&a and do a couple q&a shows.
For content upgrades try to create the ultimate show notes outline. And promote that throughout the month. By doing this you can focus on this one topic and really create some beneficial audio and content for your audience.
Then bring on a couple guests to talk about their experiences and preferences.
Not only have you created a variety of unique content but you’ve really created a specialized piece of content that you could easily add and turn into a course. So much more than just a months worth of “typical” podcasts.
PODCAST BOUNDARY #2 – Time
If the gap in your market is for a short show how would you get all your info out in 10 minutes. If the gap is for a really long show how would you fill 90 minutes.
For the short show you’d have to get really good at presenting content in a short amount of time. How can you condense your speech and learn to stick to the ideas that have driven you to record that show. Or if you’re going to break up an hour long conversation into 4 parts how would you divide it? Can you create breaks in your interviews that allow you to cut it up? This might even lead you to better production and focusing on how to create a show that keeps people listening.
If your show is 90 minutes how can you create segments and cuts that keep people listening while also giving them a break every once in awhile. Maybe you have section 1 be the main educational piece. Part 2 is a q&a from your audience. Part 3 is an actionable example you can share to get people thinking and Part 4 is leaves people with some stats they might not know about the topic.
Forcing your content into time can give you ideas on how to better craft and produce a better show
PODCAST BOUNDARY #3 – An Entire New Show
What if instead of refreshing your current show you started a whole new show. Not something that would last forever but that lasted one season (12-18 episodes) about a specific topic.
We’ve John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur on Fire do this over the past several months with new mini shows on how to podcast and webinars.
And I’ll have to say it looks like they’re doing really well.
So if you have a topic that you want to dive into why not launch a whole new show?