Six Structural Components of A Podcast Episode

Your podcast is the place for you to express your ideas, expertise, and really whatever you want. When planning your content you’ll want to structure your episodes in a way most comfortable for you and fitting to your show. 

There are a few common ways in which to structure your content, but the structure of your podcast is totally up to you. When choosing your structure, take a few things into consideration:

• What kind of genre, theme, or ‘feel’ will your show have? 
• Will your content be totally scripted, conversation-based, or loosely improvised?
• Do you want divided segments within each episode? Will each have its own intro?
• How long do you want each episode to be? 

Each of these decisions can affect how you structure the episodes overall. In each episode layout, there are 6 components many structures feature.

Six Structural Components of A Podcast Episode

Podcast Intro

This intro is a consistent intro across every episode, which covers an introduction of yourself and your show! To make things a little easier for you, we’ve created a free podcast scripting worksheet to help you write your podcast intro outro and trailer! You can grab that free download here. 

Podcast Episode Intro 

In some cases, you may want to provide a hook for your show before your official “Podcast Intro” by creating custom episode intros. In this intro, you’ll introduce the specific conversation for the episode and mention any guests you’re featuring or key elements of the topic. 

Podcast Advertisement

While not every podcast will have advertisements, you’ll need to consider this if you decide to have a sponsor for your show. In most cases with a sponsor, they will provide details on how they want their brand represented and together you’ll determine who will record the content. You can place this as a pre-roll (in the beginning), mid-roll (in the middle), or post-roll (at the end) based on your agreement. 

Podcast Episode Content

Now, you’ll carry on with your topic. The content of your show can be scripted or conversational, but we recommend at least an outline of your desired topic. How you deliver your content can vary based upon the topic. If you’re struggling to come up with topics for your business podcast, we have a free guide with 10 topic ideas just for you—grab it here!

Episode Outro 

Similar to the podcast intro, your podcast outro is usually consistent across each episode. You should consider thanking your audience for listening, call them to action, and say goodbye. I like to point them directly to the show notes to grab all of the information for that episode!

Next Episode Teaser 

Now, one additional way to keep listeners excited and engaged is to tease them with content for the next episode. This could be an introduction of the next episode’s topic or an audio clip from the next episode. Consider dropping this either right before your outro or right after it!

Download My Free Podcast Scripting Worksheet

If you’re ready to get started on scripting your podcast intro and outro and need additional support, make sure you download my FREE SCRIPTING WORKSHEET! Inside this worksheet, you’ll find a template to not only help your script your trailer, but your podcast intro and outro as well!

Structuring Your Podcast Episodes

Your Podcast’s genre will play a major role in deciding on how to plan your structure. Let’s look at what these potential structures could look like based on the genre or type of episode you’re creating.

Educational Episode or Solo Episode

An educational/solo show functions well with a fully scripted format, as follows:
[episode intro] [podcast intro] [content] [optional ad] [content] [outro]

Conversational or Interview Podcast Episode

If you’re hosting an interview or working with a cohost, it will do well with a similar structure, but consider adding in an introduction to your guest, as follows:
[episode intro] [podcast intro] [guest/s intro] [content] [optional ad] [content] [outro]

However you decide to structure your podcasts, be sure to stay consistent. Consistency is key in building a growing audience. If you’re still in the planning phases of your podcast and are taking the DIY approach, make sure you check out Podcast Launch Kit, my DIY course for launching your own podcast!