After you’ve decided what your podcast is going to be about, you might think the hard part is over – but really, the fun is just getting started!
In addition to determining your podcast’s topic and your audience, you’ll also need to decide what the best format is for your message. To help you choose, we’ve outlined the five most common podcasting styles as well as some pros and cons for each.
Interview Style
This is probably the most common style of podcast, and the traditional format when podcasting first began to gain traction in the mainstream. You can find awesome examples of interview style podcasts in our network of shows, and you probably recognize this format in very well-known podcasts such as “WTF with Marc Maron, or “The TED Interview with Chris Anderson.”
In the interview style, a host invites one or more guests onto the show to discuss a niche topic that falls under the umbrella of the show’s overall subject matter. Usually the guest has education, experience, and / or other accolades that are meaningful to the show and its audience, and they’re someone equally passionate about the subject who has established some sort of leadership, authority, or reputation in the field. The host will ask questions to the guest or guests directly, and the guest will answer, and the conversation unfolds in this back-and-forth manner.
The benefits of an interview style podcast are many – that’s why it’s so popular! This style requires a very straight-forward setup, which creates a straightforward and simplified post-production editing experience as well. This drives production cost, equipment needs, and time investment down. The host is able to research their guest thoroughly ahead of time, and prepare questions so that the conversation flows in a predetermined direction. These questions can even be shared with the guest(s) ahead of time, so that they are prepared as well. This amount of preparation afforded by the interview style means that it’s a good option for people who are generally more camera shy. You can also exercise control over the overall narrative arc of your podcast’s season by selecting guests and using questions to guide conversations according to your narrative goal posts.
With the right chemistry between the host and the guest(s), the conversation can be guided in an authentic, organic way, which creates an intimate and enjoyable experience for the audience members listening. This style is flexible and can create a casual or professional tone, so this type of podcast is touted for its versatility as well.
The drawbacks of the interview style are that it relies heavily on a well-prepared, dynamic, creative host. If the host is not energetic and passionate, does not conduct sufficient research on their guests, or even just has an “off day” that is obvious on camera, the entire episode can be jeopardized. And while the questions are prepared ahead of time and guests are verified in advance, there is still ample opportunity for a guest to do something unexpected or say something that takes the host off guard, and if the host is not able to recover the conversation, the episode might take a negative turn. You must rely on the guest to be engaging, competent, and professional. Lastly, interview style podcasts can become repetitive for your audience unless there is enough differentiation between the conversations and guests invited to the show.
Narrative Style, AKA Non-Fiction Storytelling
This style is also very common, often used on news networks such as NPR and in shows that feature investigative journalism (for example, “Serial” or “How I Built This”). Similar to a documentary, a narrative non-fiction podcast uses various interviews, found media, and narration to construct an overall story about its subject.
A major benefit of this style is that it is incredibly engaging for your audience. Many narrative style podcasts have an 80-90% episode completion rate for each episode, which reflects the entertainment value of this style of podcasting. Featuring many different voices and perspectives to contribute to your message corroborates your perspective and lends depth and intrigue to your story. In addition to giving you full control over what’s said on your podcast – no crossing your fingers that your guest will be engaging! – you also have complete, explicit control over the narrative of your podcast show, as well as much more creative opportunities as well.
But the price for all of that control is time and resources. The production value of a narrative style podcast is elevated, but this also means that the production cost is elevated as well. Development, research, pre-production, production, and post-production are all going to take a lot more time than an interview style podcast, as you have to construct a narrative perspective, find multiple guests to interview who will bolster that perspective, discover other media to support your narrative, and put it all together in a compelling final product. The end result is incredible, but of course that requires an incredible amount of work on the front of the project.
Conversational Style
Similar to an interview style, a conversational style podcast features a panel of multiple people who are neither host nor guest – simply there to converse with each other. Rather than having questions prepared, the people on the podcast will discuss a general topic, emulating an organic, unrecorded conversation. These are common in comedy, sports, and other more casual genres of podcasting.
The pros of this style is that it puts your listeners at ease and creates a feeling of intimacy between them and the people on the podcast. Because the conversation feels familiar, the listener feels included in the podcast’s world. It is a great option for podcasts that want to react to online content, TV shows, or other things that have a cult following. Communities can easily be created from this feeling of intimacy and shared experiences, and the guests on the podcast can engage with the listeners by answering their questions or soliciting their feedback on social media, for example. This style also requires a light to moderate amount of preparation and editing, so the time investment is not massive when it comes to pre- or post-production.
The cons of this style are similar to those of the interview style – it requires chemistry between the people conversing, which is not always easy to find and develop. It also requires a willingness to let the conversation have a life of its own – which can sometimes take the podcast to tense or boring places.
Solo / Monologue Style
Just as it sounds, this style of podcast features a single person, the host of the podcast, delivering a monologue. There are some really successful monologue podcasts out there, such as Bill Burr’s “Monday Morning Podcast” and the Dan Carlin’s “Hardcore History”.
The pros of this version is that it affords the host complete and absolute control over the podcast. Everything is in their control, since they are the only one saying anything. The editing is arguably the easiest out of all the styles as well.
The cons of this style of podcasting are that it requires a very skilled host who can address a very open-ended subject matter in a way that is able to generate endless content while also remaining engaging. That’s a lot of happy mediums to strike for one podcast show!
Fictional Storytelling
This style of podcasting is just as it sounds – a style of podcast for telling fictional stories. However, rather than mimicking an audiobook and having a voice actor simply read a manuscript, this style includes multiple voice actors and audio tracks to contribute to the dramatic or comedic telling of the story. In this way, fictional storytelling podcasts are similar to old-school radio plays.
The pros of this style of podcasting is that it’s a completely unique medium that can be used to great effect to tell specific types of stories, especially stories with a significant auditory element. Unlike books, these podcasts can use music and other sound effects to assist the telling of the story. This makes fictional storytelling podcasts an incredibly creative option for storytellers. The cons of this style of podcasting are similar to narrative storytelling productions. They’re very time and work-intensive, and require an immense amount of planning, development, and pre-production as well as much more production involvement and post-production editing.
Picking the Right Medium for your Message
We’ve listed all the pros and cons for these common podcasting styles, but the most important question of them all is – which format is best for your podcast, and your audience, message, and goals?
There’s a lot that goes into podcast development, production, and distribution, and we’re here to help you every step of the way. Email us at [email protected] to learn more about how we’ve helped Austin individuals and Austin businesses share their messages through the power of podcasting. From exploring these stylistic options to discovering how to make your podcast the best it can be, we’re excited to hear your podcasting dreams and help make them a reality.
