Influential Introvert: Communication Coaching for Professionals with Performance Anxiety - Podcast Descriptions: How to Write an Excellent Episode Summary that Gets You Discovered

Starting point is 00:00:00 When you upload your latest podcast episode, are you filling out the podcast description? If you are not, then you are driving listeners away. Let's talk about how you can keep them coming back by writing excellent episode summaries for your show. Welcome to podcasting step by step, where you will learn how to create a podcast that's irresistible. I'm Sarah Mike Aatel, a podcast launch consultant and an American who has been permanently based in Europe for more than 10 years. I especially love helping fellow expats and location independent entrepreneurs. I'm sorry, I especially love helping fellow expats and location independent entrepreneurs. I'm a podcast. I'm entrepreneurs, build their online brands and businesses through the magic of podcasting. Looking for one-on-one support, visit sarahmicotel.com to book a podcast launch BIP day with me or to check out one of my online courses. And while you're there, take the quiz to discover what kind of podcasts you should create based on your celebrity podcast persona. Go to sarah micotel.com slash quiz. How many podcasts are you subscribed to? I am subscribed to a lot.

Starting point is 00:01:00 I listen to a lot of podcasts and then I learn about new ones through these podcasts. So I'm always subscribing to a bunch. I must have like 100 to 200 in my podcast player. And so one of the first things I do when I open that app is I will delete the latest episodes that came through that don't interest me as much because there's just too much content flying my way. So I need to curate it a bit and I'll look at the headline, see if it interests me, and then I will look at the podcast description and see if it's something that I want to check out if I want to dedicate a whole hour of my time. And I am not the only person who does this. Last year, ABC Audio Studios in Australia came out with the study that said 71% of people are motivated to try a new podcast

Starting point is 00:01:57 based on the description and the title. So more than recommendations, more than attractive podcast, artwork, pretty much more than anything. It's the headline and the description that draw people in. And I've been seeing a trend lately of people who are having no show notes or no description at all. And then at least in the player that I listen to, it's if you leave nothing, if you write nothing, in the podcast description. It just says no notes. So there's nothing to go by. And then in the headline for the podcast, and we can talk about how to write good headlines another day, they'll just have the name of who the guest is. So if you have no idea who the guest is and there's no podcast description to offer any additional information, why would you listen to that show,

Starting point is 00:02:49 especially if you've got 200 other podcast episodes coming your way? And not to mention, we've talked about before, we're not only competing with other podcasts, we're competing with life in general. People only have so much time in the day, so why not make it really easy for them to choose us? So how do you create a good podcast episode description? Well, first step is what are the key takeaways that you want the listener to come away with after having listened to the episode? Now, if you outlined the episode beforehand and you wrote your intro in advance, then this should be already taken care of for you. Before you even do the podcast episode, you already want to know what the listener is going to come away with. And this is especially easy if you've got an interview show that you're promoting because you're teasing at the beginning the great stuff that they're going to listen to in the episode.

Starting point is 00:03:50 So you're going to tease the different things that you talked about. So if you've got a travel podcast, maybe you're featuring Barcelona. You're going to be talking about the very best restaurant that you have to try, the hidden speakeasy that you can't miss, really tease what your listener is going to want to hear about. And again, you've already done this intro. And hopefully you've front-loaded the beginning of your podcast teasing what's to come. So that works already done for you. You've already got that podcast description. So just put it in your podcast player when you're uploading your episode. And you can use that information in your show notes as well. So on your website, no need to reinvent the wheel. Your headline for the website can be the same as your podcast episode title. Your intro or end description can be body copy or at least like the framework for body copy for your website. And you want to want to make sure that you are using keywords on your website, but also in your podcast. So in your

Starting point is 00:04:56 episode headline, what is your ideal listener looking for? What are those words that they're searching for? Make sure you get that in your headline and use them toward the beginning of your podcast description. Different podcast players cut off the description at different levels. So if you have the keywords at the beginning, that can be helpful for people to, you know, decide whether this episode is for me. But also some podcast directories are including podcast descriptions for search. So, if you have keywords in the description, then that can come up in search. And things are in flux over who is doing what. So Apple podcast right now, what searchable is your episode title, your author title and then your overall podcast title that searchable. But Google is moving fast and

Starting point is 00:05:52 furious, no surprise on how search works for them. And so what we actually say in our podcast is going to be transcribed and can come up in search online, not just in apps. And so it makes sense to always be using keywords because things are changing and we might have them be discovered in different platforms and different directories, you know, all over the place in the future. And even the words that we say on our podcasts are going to be searchable. So make sure that if your podcast episode is on podcast descriptions or whatever you're talking about, you're using the word podcast descriptions actually in the episode because it's going to be searchable. I've seen some people include their entire transcript in their podcast description. And people aren't

Starting point is 00:06:42 reading all of that. Obviously, they're doing it for search reasons and sort of like future proofing themselves. So you don't have to go crazy with the podcast description. You just want to make sure that you're giving the listener enough information to go by whether this is for me. This should be an invitation. Like, I want you to listen to this show. I think you're going to get a ton out of it. And here's why, X, Y, Z. But definitely include some keywords. And you might also want to include a quote or pose a question like, are you filling on the podcast description when you're uploading your podcast? You can include that right in the player to sort of engage the listener. You can bullet out highlights. We want to make it as easy as possible for the listener to say

Starting point is 00:07:27 yes to us. And the podcast description is just such an easy way to do that. And as I mentioned from that stat from ABC Audio Studios, this is how people are deciding whether they're going to say yes or no. 71% of people in their survey said that's what they look for. The headline description, is this for me? If yes, I'm going to listen. If not, I'm going to go look for something else. And then finally, write the description in the tone that your ideal listener wants to hear about. So you have in your mind who your ideal listener is. What is the vibe that you want to be talking about? Is this a corporate podcast? Are you a fitness coach who wants to motivate people? Write in that tone as if you're writing directly to your ideal listener. To sum all of this up, your podcast is perfect for your niche. Your ideal listener is out there looking for your show. So let's make it really easy for them and add a podcast description that is going to help them discover you. That's all for now. To learn how you can sign up for a one-on-one podcast launch BAP day with me or to learn more about one of my online podcast courses, visit sarah micotel.com. And while you're there, take the quiz to discover

Starting point is 00:08:41 what kind of podcast you should create based on your celebrity podcast persona. Go to sarah megatel.com slash quiz. Do you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free conversation sheet sheet with simple formulas that you can use so you can respond with clarity, whether you're in a meeting or just talking with friends. Download it at sarahmicatel.com slash blank no more.

Influential Introvert: Communication Coaching for Professionals with Performance Anxiety - Podcast Descriptions: How to Write an Excellent Episode Summary that Gets You Discovered

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