How to use the PLOT framework to make better podcast episodes

Imagine if Netflix let every single one of their shows and episodes start with a 60 minute ramble about the weather or what the main star did with their dog the previous week.

You'd probably bail out, right?

Yet some podcasters do this every single episode.

And in this particular episode of Podcasting Insights, we're going to fix that with one simple word plot.

Welcome back to Podcasting Insights with the Podmaster.

I am the Podmaster Neil Velio, and it's my goal.

Whether you're an independent podcaster, a solopreneur that uses a podcast for your business, or a member of a corporate podcasting team, it's my goal to help you reach your podcasting goals.

So this episode is all about my framework that I use for structuring podcasts.

The acronym Plot Preview, Launch offer takeaways 4 keywords with infinite ways attached to them to stop people scrolling past your play button or hitting skip if they've already pressed play first of all preview, then your preview is kind of like a movie trailer.

It's not the full thing, and it's certainly not a documentary about making the full thing.

What you gotta do is make sure your audience understands exactly what they're gonna get without boring them and bogging them down with the details too early.

They need to be able to make the decision of whether or not they're interested in what you're going to bring to the table.

And do you know what?

It's a great thing if they decide do you know what?

This episode's not for me and hit skip and go and listen to another of your episodes because that helps your retention data.

If they skip before the first 60 seconds, it means they don't count as an IAB registered play, which means that Apple Podcasts and Spotify don't register them as a registered play, which means you've got fewer people getting to around about two minutes or three minutes at the point it is registered as a play from before bailing, which hurts your attention Data.

You don't want people coming in and experiencing a little bit of your episodes and then going.

You want people to either decide against listening at all or listening all the way through, and the P helps with that.

In my free download Podcasting Pet Peeves, which is available from my website at Podmastery co petpeves, I share the list of things that listeners have said they hate when listening to podcasts, and most listeners bail when you're taking 16 minutes to get to the point of your episode.

This is where getting access to your dashboards is really Useful Apple Podcast Connect Spotify for Creators Both of these, the two main channels, allow you to see your attention data with your own eyes.

The podcast downloads numbers you'll see from your podcast host can be quite useful for giving you an overall idea of how many people your show is reaching, but it won't tell you how long they stuck with your episodes for.

That's what the dashboards are for.

And as a rule of thumb, if your episodes are not getting past the 60% retention mark, the chances are you're missing the mark on something and you need to go back through your content and find out where listeners are dropping off.

It could be that your episodes are too long in duration, or it could be that the content you're putting into them is not resonating with your ideal audience.

This is all useful data.

Now let's talk about the L launch.

This is where you're delivering the goods.

The meat and potatoes, the interview, the story, whatever your core content in your episode is.

Here are three rules that I have when structuring any podcast episode.

First of all, make it clear.

Signpost the journey they're about to take.

Map your hook, then chop out all the dead wood.

Then make sure the content you're sticking in there is engaging.

It's entertaining.

Use sound design and transitions to keep people interested in what content you're putting in there.

Remember, nobody is hanging onto every word when they're listening to your podcast.

They could be doing something else.

They could be doing chores around the house.

They could be driving.

They could have passengers in the car with them that are distracting them with other conversations.

So you really need tools, as in sound design that drags them back into your content.

Reset that attention every three or four minutes, tops.

Use a question, a sound bed, or a listener.

Shout out so the dopamine drip stays dripping.

And respect the clock as well.

If you need 40 minutes to tell your story or get the crux of your point, own it.

Explain that this is going to be a slightly longer episode than usual, but start delivering on your promises by the end of minute three.

Most people will stick around for the 40 minutes if they know that they're going to get a little nugget every couple of minutes.

But if you're making them wait until minute 37 to get something from what you're putting out there, you're probably expecting too much from them.

Time is the most valuable asset any of us have.

I've turned off podcast episodes before that didn't deliver on their promise within the first five minutes, and I'D like to think I've got a quite good attention span.

Now onto the O from our plot Framework offer and here's where most podcasters really get it completely wrong.

They don't make an offer.

They bombard the listener with stuff, with content, with insight.

But they don't share how they can take the next step and fix the problem they're listening in to try and solve.

This is where things like blueprints and worksheets can come in handy.

Or if you offer one to one, help offer that you know.

For example, with me talking about this plot framework, you will be able to download a worksheet to ensure you're applying that framework in your episodes without even talking to me again.

That's the whole beauty of what we're doing here.

As podcasters, we're able to break those barriers that are put up with other content.

You know, YouTube wants to put adverts all the way through your content.

Your email newsletter depends on people actually seeing your emails in the first place.

Your podcast is getting into the playlist of every single follower or subscriber you've attracted to your feed.

Make sure that you're helping them take the next step with you.

And now onto the T takeaways.

Package that doggy bag for them, that audio doggy bag that they can go away and consume more of whenever they want.

Here's the thing.

The stats suggest our brains forget 90% of what we hear within 48 hours.

So summaries help fix that.

Try the 3:2,1 wrap up, which is another thing I help my podcasters to try and identify and put in place three rapid fire reminders as in in this episode we explored how X, Y and Z two reflective questions.

Like for example in this one I might say where is your preview rambling in your episodes 1.

A microchallenge use plot on your very next episode and then let me know how you get on.

You see, I've presented you with a micro challenge.

Now you might well go ahead and restructure your episodes to fit within the plot framework.

Then you'll be reminded when you see a difference in your download data or in your retention.

You might think, oh wow, that Velio does know a thing or two.

And then you might reach out to me, but only if I've set you the micro challenge in the first place.

Another really handy tool that I sometimes use, but I don't use it in overkill.

Close your episode with a tease for the next episode so that Netflix style binge reflex can sometimes kick in.

Now this is useful if you're bulk planning your episodes in advance and you know exactly what your next episode's gonna be for.

For example, in my previous episode where I talked mostly about the P from plot, as in your intro, I knew that I was going to expand on that with this episode.

Talking about plot in general, I could have used the tease.

The reason I didn't was because I've done that quite a lot in the past and it felt like overkill.

But now I'm saying it, it probably would have made sense so that by the time you heard this, you you had more of an idea of what you were getting into with the episode.

Look, I've been doing this for 20 years.

Even I get it wrong sometimes.

So here's your quick takeaways recap, the preview hooks, the launch teaches, the offer invites, and the takeaways cement.

They're kind of like your exam revision.

If this saved you from the next 60 minute weather update at the beginning of your next episode, leave me a rating and review.

Or better yet, share the episode with that one Podcasting Mate who still thinks Diary of a CEO invented podcasting?

Bless em.

Until next time when I show up next in your playlist library.

Good luck continuing your mission to attain pod mastery.

Podcasting Inside Podcasting Inside.