Podcasting

Just like outlining an essay, creating an outline for a podcast can help you develop your ideas and it gives you something to turn in for feedback before you devote a lot of time to research and production. It helps “keep you focused on the bigger picture before you tackle the more minor details” (Lower Street). Lower Street’s guide on “How to Write a Podcast Outline & Why You Should Use One” is a really great resource if you get stuck or don’t know where to start. 

An outline can be a Google Doc, post-its on a wall, handwritten, or whatever is the best way for you to capture your thoughts. But an outline should include:

• Your main topic and key points: topics, talking points, examples, and questions you KNOW you want to include
• The order of all of the elements: What order makes the most sense for what you want to cover?

If it helps, most podcasts follow a three-act structure, so feel free to use this to help build your outline:

• Act 1: the introduction
• Act 2: the main content
• Act 3: the outro 

But you can also modify this basic structure to better fit your needs, for example:

• Act 1: the introduction
• Act 2: topic A
• Act 3: topic B
• Act 4: the outro

Misty Berlin and Tommy Skaggs have made a Podcast Outline Template, which can be useful as an example of a way to structure your outline. 

Once you have written your outline it is important to note that an outline isn’t a contract. Outlines document your thoughts at the beginning of a project, but it is expected that once you start the work and research things will change. It can be helpful to know when to be flexible and when to stick to your structure. Maybe the format of the podcast will change, or when you interview people you realize your main points should change - that is ok.