The first 5 seconds of a podcast
The most crucial 5 seconds of a podcast episode are the opening words said in the intro. It’s the equivalent of meeting someone for the first time, how you smile and shake their hand while addressing them by name.
You don’t need to be a media expert to understand why this is important, of course.
We all know that a quick-thinking review of a podcast will be formed by that first impression so getting it right is essential.
In fact, it’s so essential that recording the intro after the main recording has happened is the best thing to do.
Here are some essential ingredients for the opening 5 seconds.
- Tone of voice
- Summary of what the listener will gain
- Curiosity
- Getting to the point fast
- Emotional response assurance
- Uniqueness
If you come across as boring in the first 5 seconds then no-one will stick around for 20 minutes. Keep in light, fun, filled with joy and sunshine! You want people to want to continue listening to you.
Sharing with the audience what’s coming up in this podcast is a great hook to draw people into the podcast and to keep them there for the whole duration. “In this episode we’re speaking to xyz and we’re going to find out this, and this and THIS.
After the summary it’s great to include a small element of curiosity. “…but at the end of this podcast we also discover how John managed to play lead guitar a Wembley Stadium in front of 80,000 people so stick around to hear how that happened!”
We all have shorter attention spans. If people click to play your episode and there’s you rattling on about why you started this podcast, thank you for listening, please Follow or Subscribe to this podcast, these are the kinds of people we speak to… Gosh, yawn, get me to the point of this as fast as possible please.
As well as taking something of practical value away from the podcast people was to feel something too. Towards the end of the intro see if you can add this in. “You’re going to love hearing what John has to say about being a Dad, if you’re a parent too I think it’s going to speak right to your heart.”
Essential for regular listeners. Sure, it’s good to have a ‘Fixed Intro’ (where a voiceover explains who this podcast is for and the kind of guests you usually have on it) but absolutely make that after the unique intro for that episode. Your regular listeners won’t want to hear that same intro every-single-time so just start each in their own way.
It looks like there’s much to think about with the intro. And kind of that’s true. But still keep it all short, see if you can get the whole thing into about 10-15 seconds.
The Bonjour Agency Ltd