3 Winning Podcast Formats
We wanna create an environment with our shows where there's so much value, there's so much I'm gaining from this that I want to lean in and hear the next episode. Welcome to the Message Connection, a podcast dedicated to exploring all the angles that it takes to get your message to the masses. I'm your host, Azurae Phelps. And with over twenty years of experience in the world of production, I've seen behind the scenes of everything from recording studios to the Super Bowl halftime show, and everything in between. Week after week, we will dig in to the medium of podcasting, as well as host conversations with entrepreneurs, business owners, coaches, artists, creatives, educators, and more to see how they got to the heart of their message and what it took to get them to the place where they were ready to share it.
Azurae:Let's get into it. Welcome back to the Message Connection. I'm Azurae. So happy to have you here. Today, I wanna dig into the different styles of podcasts and hopefully help you hear yourself in these different shows and encourage you on your path as a content creator and communicator to best connect with your community.
Azurae:Wow. A content creator and communicator to best connect with your community. Say that 12 times fast. Okay. So let's start at the top.
Azurae:I mean, when we think about the shows that we share with our friends and family, they often are something that kinda like comes into the vortex. Everyone listens to it at the same time, and then it kinda goes by. Right? These are like the murder podcasts where you're like remember 24, or at the end of every episode, it was like, boop, boop boop. We had a really good friend who one time he said, listen.
Azurae:The way that you don't watch 12 episodes of 24 back to back is you pause it in the middle of the show so that when that boop boop boop comes up, you're not tempted to just let it roll. You've you've tricked yourself. You have to stop halfway through. Do you know what I'm talking about? Like, how many of you have listened to those types of podcasts where you're just like, oh my gosh.
Azurae:Next. Next. Next. I mean, Serial was the the king of this. Right?
Azurae:Like that very first Serial series years ago, there was a wild podcast called Scamanda that was about a woman who pretended to have cancer. I I personally like to discover it, actually, when it's when all the episodes are already out. This is why Netflix now releases seasons all at once, because none of us have the patience to wait for next week. I was trying to explain to my children the phenomenon of TGIF. Do you remember this?
Azurae:If you grew up in the eighties and nineties, TGIF was, like, every Friday night, there were these sitcoms we looked forward to. It's Full House, Family Matters, Perfect Strangers, and oh, man. Maybe Perfect Strangers came out at 09:30. What was the 09:00 slot? Oh, oh, it's going to come to me.
Azurae:Step oh my gosh. I'm embarrassed. I should have thought of this ahead of time. My son has recently taken a deep dive on home improvement, and he can just sit there and, like, next, next, next. We had to wait for every Tuesday night I think it was Tuesday nights for that twenty two minutes of joy.
Azurae:Okay. We don't have to do that anymore. These shows are also highly edited because they often contain lots of elements. There's interviews with different people. There's sound.
Azurae:There's music. There's conversation. There's details, and it just creates this environment where you're like, oh my gosh. I have to hear the next thing. It builds so much anticipation week after week.
Azurae:They're usually a really heavy lift. They require a lot of time, sometimes years of investigative journalism to get to the bottom of the story. There are even times where a show might start, and then, like, additional information comes to light. So these shows aren't getting released until they have the whole thing pretty dialed. It's like when you find a book series and you're like, oh my gosh, this has seven books.
Azurae:I'm gonna be entertained for a month, right, when you love it so much. Okay. So those bingeables murder podcast investigative journalism shows, that's one style of show. Another style of show is news. A lot of folks love to listen to podcasts because they like hearing the top stories of the day, and maybe this is global news.
Azurae:Maybe this is economic news. Under the banner of the news, you can certainly hone in on what your particular interests are. Hearing the highlights of the news in the show each day, maybe it's a ten to twenty minute episode that just informs you of what's going on. I know I have a lot of friends and colleagues who like to listen to those kinds of shows so that they just know what's up in the world, and if they find themselves engaging in a conversation, whether a personal or business conversation, they're essentially prepared, know what's up, and know what to talk about, which I think is kind of an interesting strategy if that's something that you enjoy. Okay.
Azurae:Another very popular type of show these days are shows hosted by comedians. I don't know what it is. It's not just comedians. It's also famous people who have transitioned into the podcast space. I love Heather McMahon.
Azurae:I think she's so stinking hilarious. When she does a solo episode just talking about her life, it feels like she's working out material and bits, potentially, that will end up on the stage, but she's also just riffing on her life, and it's hilarious. And when she chooses to interview guests, there's a level of you just know if you're committed to a comedian and their view on the world, you're just excited to see how they're going to interact with people who you're also interested in. So many people love Theo Vonn for this similar reason. Honestly, Joe Rogan kind of started this way.
Azurae:I mean, he was doing stand up, and then he's pivoted into these insanely long conversations that he has. And so many people are fans of Joe Rogan. Even if you don't agree with his politics, I think you're just fascinated by how he has conversations with people, even if you don't agree with his viewpoint on the world. Part of the reason why I love this is because if you're a huge fan of these people, then it's another lens on their perspective in the world. BH one Behind the Music was one of my favorite shows growing up.
Azurae:A large part of that was because I just wanted to know the details of behind the scenes, and when actors or comedians take us into a little bit more of their world, then you just you're, like, so endeared to them. K. So we have investigative journalism, serial style podcasts that you're just like, oh my gosh. Yes. Next, next, next.
Azurae:We have news style podcasts. Then we have personality driven podcasts is what I'll call them. They're already a personality you're familiar with, and then they've decided to take that to this new environment of podcasting or YouTube, and you begin to get to know another part of who they are. None of us are necessarily out here trying to recreate any of those, but we can certainly learn from them. So in the context of the the shows where you're just like next, next, next, you know, the investigative journalism, if you're an entrepreneur, if you're a real estate agent, if you're a coach, what you can take from that is the recognition that people like the open loop.
Azurae:They want to know that you've got more to tell them, that you're not just putting it all out there and then that's the end of that, because why would they keep listening? So we want to create an environment with our shows where there's so much value, there's so much I'm gaining from this, that I want to lean in and hear the next episode. Now you could also decide that in your specific industry, in the world in which you are an expert, you wanna do a series of episodes that investigate a certain aspect of something. There is a pretty well known leader in the health and fitness space, her name is Chalene Johnson, and she does this kind of amazingly. She's not an an an investigative journalist necessarily, but she has followed her interests.
Azurae:And on her Patreon page, she's examined a few different things that have happened in the world in which she overlaps and taken some deep dives on it because her listeners and followers are super interested in her opinion on and perspective on those topics. That is a really cool way to engage more deeply with your community. This also begins with really listening to your community and paying attention to the things that they care about. How could a news style show apply to what it is that you want to create? We are going to have listeners and people who want some brass tacks.
Azurae:They want real numbers. They want to know that you can actually really help them, and many times this could be client case studies. This could be your personal results. This could be information about what you suggest to help them along in their process. Think about maybe doing an episode that is driven by data and details, not every episode.
Azurae:And again, maybe it's only a part of the episode. Maybe it's just something to give them that feels like a tactile, practical nugget of a way that they can just make the next move they need to make in their business. Who knows? That could be the thing that breaks it wide open for them. So as you listen to news podcasts or economic podcasts, things that inspire you, pay attention to what it creates in you, the type of response that it creates in you, and recognize that you may be able to replicate some of that with the knowledge and information that you have to share.
Azurae:And then the third style that we talked about today was the personality driven, comedian, inside scoop kind of show. Now I am not necessarily telling you that you have to tell us everything about your personal life. In fact, we're really here to serve. We're not necessarily here to share all the intimate details of our lives, but there are certainly a few ways that you could think about how to connect more deeply with your listeners. Maybe you find that you all love the same matcha or you love to camp.
Azurae:That's that's kind of a random one. Your RV campers. Maybe it's bougie camping. Maybe you love to do Sunday dinner, and that's something that folks look forward to hearing about. What did you cook?
Azurae:What did you make? What's important to you? These kinds of things, they're the inside scoop on you, and it could also just be focused on your business, for sure. But if you are on a fitness journey, if you're doing 75 hard, if you are putting yourself through the paces of transformation and you want to bring your audience alongside, I think there's a little bit of just that deeper getting to know you that helps the listener break through and connect with you more deeply. None of us can go back and be the star of a nineties sitcom or necessarily go on the road on a stand up comedy tour, although I would kinda love to do that.
Azurae:I'm not gonna lie. But in the meantime, I'm here hanging out with you, and I'm so happy to be, and I wanna encourage you to find your own version of each of these different styles of show and see which one really lands and resonates for you. You'll find as well that the more you do it, the more that you'll flex your muscle, as it were, and you will show up with new fresh ideas, and you'll get feedback from your listeners about what they love and what they want to hear more of. No matter what the case, remember that your message is important, and the world needs to hear what you have to say. They want to be invited into a relationship with you.
Azurae:They want to be invited into a collaboration with you. And you're not for everyone, and that's all right, but as you continue to find your voice through this process, you will call to the people who are meant to work with you. And that's why we're out here doing this thing. That's why you're listening today, and I'm so grateful. See you next week.
Azurae:Bye. Thanks so much for listening to the message connection with Azurie Phelps. If you found this episode valuable, I'd love to hear from you. Check out the show notes for details on how to stay in touch, and please leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. These reviews help us reach more people who will enjoy and benefit from the show.
Azurae:Don't forget to subscribe to The Message Connection wherever you get your podcasts, so you never miss an episode.
