The other day my wife told me she checked out my podcast. Actually, she watched it as this was the first episode I also released as a video.
She gets enough of me at home so why would she want to spend time watching me on YouTube? Whatever the reason, I was excited to hear what she thought!
Did she find the topic enthralling?
Was the content complete?
Did she laugh at my jokes?
Her response was “I had to shut it off after 4 minutes. You kept telling me to go to all these links”.
#EpicFail
OUCH! She was right!
I talked about how listeners can contact me, about a giveaway I was holding, and how this was the first episode that was also being released as a video. I did this for over 4 minutes!
Want to see what she was talking about? Experience the pain for yourself
To a new listener, or in this case a first-time viewer, four minutes seems like an eternity. This is not good when trying to grow an audience.
My introduction was like a loaded DVD
You know when you rent a DVD and it's loaded up with a ton of previews? That's what I mean by “a loaded DVD”.
Here is where I went wrong: I put all the little nuances and bonuses at the front of the show like a DVD loaded with previews and other distractions.
- It started with the music and branding
- I shared a bunch of previews and other non-essential information
- The listener/viewer had to wait through it all to get to what they wanted: The Feature Presentation
Thank goodness I didn’t make them sit through an FBI Anti-Piracy Warning!
How to make a better podcast introduction
My new goal is to get into the content in under 2 minutes.
- Keep the show introduction (music and welcome) to less than 30 seconds
- Save the previews and giveaway information for the end of the episode
- Briefly announce at the beginning that there will be content at the end
It’s been difficult, I’ve been doing this for over 3 years now, but with the right mindset and a little practice it will get better over time.
Do you have any other suggestions that will help me with my podcast introduction? Please leave your ideas in the comment section below.
