How to Write a Podcast Episode Script

Hello there and welcome back to another episode of The Lazy Girl's Guide to podcasting. And today we are going to be talking about how to write a podcast script from start to finish.

Now when it comes to creating podcast scripts there really are no hard and fast rules as to how to create a script or even if you need to use a script. Some podcasters are diehard fans of having a script whilst others prefer to completely negate the script. And then others like me on The Confident CEO Podcast like to kind of have a halfway house of having bulleted notes and topics to add points to follow to go through on the episode. I have to say that with this particular podcast, The Lazy Girl's Guide to Podcasting, I do tend to have a very scripted approach, but that's purely because I've got so much information that I want to get over to you guys within the 10 minute slot that I give myself for these episodes because I want them to be short and catchy, that I want to make sure that I'm not rambling off point too much and that I'm not missing out key information particularly for the Tech Thursday episodes which can get a little bit more in detail.

So, bearing that in mind, I'm gonna go through some top tips for creating your own podcast scripts here. Before you start writing your podcast script though it is really important to understand who your target audience is.

Knowing your target audience will help you tailor your script to their wants and needs making it more engaging and interesting for them. To really think about who your ideal listener is, what their interests are, and what they hope to gain from listening to your podcast. You might also want to consider their age, gender and occupation as well. As any other relevant demographic information because this information will help you create a script that speaks directly to your audience and keeps them engaged.

Once you've got that clear understanding of your target audience, you can start brainstorming ideas for your podcast episode. So determining the purpose of your podcast episode, you want to be thinking to yourself the key three questions here:

- So are you trying to educate your audience on a particular topic?

- Are you trying to entertain them with funny stories or interviews?

- Are you trying to inspire them with motivational speeches?

It doesn't matter what the purpose of your episode is, is important that you know what your purpose is, as in keep that in mind as you write your script, because this will help you stay focused and on topic throughout the episode.

If you feel yourself starting to go off on too much of a tangent you might want to consider whether or not you've got the right idea for that episode. Or if you want to park that tangent and completely and create content using it for another episode. It's also important to keep in mind the length of your podcast.

So most podcast episodes range from 20 to 60 minutes, so you'll need to plan your script accordingly. And I'm gonna give you some stats for this is a little bit later in the episode.

But first of all when it comes to researching and outlining your episode, start off by brainstorming what topics it is that you want to cover. What questions do you want to answer and what stories do you want to tell the answers that you come up with for these three questions will help you start researching your episode topics and gather more information that you might need for your script.

And once you have your research, then it's time to really start outlining your episode. And this involves organizing your ideas into a logical sequence that will keep your listeners engaged from beginning to end. Your rough outline will want to look something like this. You want to start off with an introduction which was really going to grab your audience's attention and give them the reason to keep listening.

You're then going to have the body which will have your main ideas, stories. Or an interview. And then you're going to conclude by summarizing your main points and leave your audience with something to think about or a call to action something that you want them to do at the end of the episode.

So when I talk about writing an introduction, ideally you're going to want some kind of hook here that grabs your audience's attention and really gives them a reason to keep listening. You could start with a story a joke, a quote a question. Whatever you choose, just make sure it's relevant to your topic and sets the tone for the rest of the episode for the body.

As I said, this is your main ideas, your stories your interviews. So you're gonna make sure that you organize your ideas here in a really logical sequence that keeps your audience engaged and use transitions and signposts to guide your listeners from one idea to the next.

And finally, your conclusion. As I said, this is where you're going to summarize any main points. Give your listeners something to think about and include a call to action, but not too many calls to action because we know the more calls to action you give people the less they're actually likely to do. You might even want to include a teaser for your next episode, if that is relevant.

Now that you've got that structure, it is time to move on to writing your podcast script. And you're going to want to use your outline and to guide your structure here but don't be afraid to deviate from it if necessary.

When writing your scripts, remember to use language that is conversational and engaging. Just imagine my way of doing it is just imagine that you're having a conversation with your audience rather than reading directly from a script.

Also, remember to keep your target audience in mind use language and examples that will resonate with them and keep them engaged.

Once you've written your script, it's time to edit and refine it. Read through that script several times make sure it flows well and make sense. Look out for grammatical errors and fix them because even though you might not be publishing your script that might trip you up when you are reading it yourself.

You should also practice reading a script out loud particularly if you do not feel very confident with public speaking. And this will help you identify any areas that are awkward or difficult to read. Also, some make edits as needed before you start recording. And as I said, you could easily trip yourself up there and that will just lead to more editing.

Now that you've got your final script, it's time to record your podcast episode. Make sure you've got a quiet space to record in and use a high quality microphone to ensure that your audio is clear. As you record remember to speak slowly and clearly. Don't rush through the script and pause for emphasis when needed. If you make a mistake, don't worry about it. Just pause take a deep breath and start again. You can always edit out mistakes.

So, here are four quick tips for delivering your podcast script. First of all, be confident speak with competence and authority even if you're nervous.

Use inflections; this means varying your tone, your pitch and intonation to really keep your audience engaged. Pause for emphasis, pausing briefly before and after important points to really get them impact but don't pause for too long because you don't want your audience to think that your audio is suddenly dropped out or their player has stopped working. Keep it controversial. Keep it conversational.

Remember to speak to audiences if you're having a conversation with them. You want to build that rapport.

So finally I've just got some quick some quick stats for you that might interest you when you are creating your podcast scripts. So a 30 minute episode on average will have a script of around four and a half 1000 words and that is based on a person speaking at a rate of 125 to 150 words per minute.

If you were creating a script for a five minute episode podcast, you're probably going to be looking at around 625 words.

The average podcast episode is between 20 to 40 minutes in length. However, what I would always say when you are considering shows off how long does my script need to be? I would say you need your script to be as long as it needs to be to cover the content but not too long that it bores your audience.

Basically, if you can cover your episode content in 15 minutes, then go with that timeframe. If you however, need an hour to cover the content, that's also fine. You might want to play around with different episodes and script lengths but fundamentally don't drag something out if it doesn't need to. be dragged out and don't cut things short if your audience are going to feel a little bit short change there.

So in conclusion, writing a podcast episode script can be a daunting task, but it really doesn't have to be. In fact, what you will find is the more that you write scripts the more you will fall into your own prep your own process which will gradually become quicker for you to complete.

And by following these steps you can create a compelling and engaging script that will captivate your audience from start to finish.

Remember to understand your target audience determine the purpose of your podcast, research and outline your episode structure and your script. Structure your script, write your scripts, edit and refine it record and then and deliver your script effectively.

So happy script writing.

I hope you found that useful. And I would love to know reach out to me on social media. Let me know how you get on with recording your own scripts for your podcast. Remember you can support the show by hitting the buy me a coffee link in the show notes below. This is a great way to support the running costs of the show and making sure that I keep things ad free and that I am able to continue producing this awesome content for you. Otherwise,I will see you next episode.