The podcast intro, as the start of all speeches, is a short but essential moment to capture the attention of your audience. Work with care because these few seconds will be the basis of the success of your podcast. How to make the listener want to listen to your entire episode?
Here are LiLiCAST‘s 6 tips for a successful podcast intro! You will conquer your audience by successfully introducing your podcast.
#1 Be creative and unique in your catchphrase
The first seconds of your catchphrase are decisive for the success of your podcast. You have to challenge and arouse the interest of the audience in a short period of time. Fine-tune your catchphrase carefully by setting up an effect of fluidity in your words. You can start by telling an anecdote that leads to the subject, storytelling is a very good way to captivate listeners. It corresponds to the fact of including our words in a story, in a narrative context. If the content of the podcast is an interview: tell how you met the person or your motivations for inviting them to this episode. Following your emotions that led you to make this podcast will create a sense of belonging among listeners. Stay true to your words: the audience appreciates sincerity and sensitivity.
#2 Present the subject at the beginning of the introduction
It is important not to neglect certain points to communicate at the beginning of your introduction:
- The name of your podcast and/or your episode number.
- The people who speak during this podcast and briefly describe their status.
- The general theme and/or subjects covered during this podcast.
- The supports of your program (interview, news, debate …).
Presenting the content of your podcast at the beginning will allow listeners to understand the theme of the episode and make them want to discover more. Do not forget to be creative and attractive when describing these different points! Include this information in a flowing speech that incorporates tip #1, that is, a storytelling strategy.
#3 The more concise you are, the more impactful your words
The fatal risk of a too long introduction is to lose the listener who will get impatient. The main rule for a successful podcast intro is to always keep in mind that the introduction should never exceed 30 seconds. Ideally, the perfect timing for a podcast intro is less than 15 seconds. I understand your concern: how to provide so much information in a few seconds smoothly? You will need to work actively on your introduction beforehand to select the most impactful and precise words in relation to your subject. Don’t take your introduction lightly, this is when your audience will decide whether or not to continue listening to your podcast.
#4 Give the best of your personality
Listeners like to feel emotion and realism in podcasts. Your challenge is to seduce your audience with your personality and your character traits. For this, bring out the best in you by telling anecdotes, the reasoning that drives you, your feelings… The goal is that a bond of sympathy will be established between you and the audience from the start of the podcast. Highlighting your character and opinions is a great way to gain audience loyalty. Your podcasts will become a real meeting awaited by the audience!
#5 Animate your introduction
Bring your introduction to life with music or clips from your podcast. It is therefore important to choose music that accompanies your voice without masking it and that corresponds to the theme of your podcast. The choice of the music for the introduction is not easy: it must be constant without being boring with a pleasant tone to the ear. Before positioning yourself on a specific music, check that it is royalty-free and that it is not used by other podcasters.
To make your introduction interactive, you can also insert an extract from one or more striking moments from your program. Be careful that this teaser does not remove the suspense from your program and is not too long.
#6 Make your introduction your trademark
The difficulty and interest of podcasts is that you only have your voice to captivate the audience. It is important to create links with your audience as much as possible. The ultimate goal is that listeners recognize the identity of your podcast from the very first seconds, which will further encourage them to listen. Creating a hearing impression involves a catchphrase, introductory music, or a tag line specific to your podcast. Do a lot of monitoring to make sure that you are unique in your introduction and that you stand out from your competitors.
Now that you have all the keys to a successful podcast introduction, all you have to do is create a compelling introduction that will match the soul of your podcast. Remember that a quality podcast is a podcast prepared beforehand. Whether it’s by choosing the name of the podcast until your program is referenced: nothing should be left to chance!