How to Write a Good Script for your Podcast

When you know how to write a good script for your podcast, you can stay on topic and pace your episode better… a few tricks that can increase the quality of your podcast episodes! 

Why should you write a script for your podcast? 🤔

When you write a podcast script you are also giving yourself peace of mind during your recording, to know that you’re not babbling on and on and on…

Think of all the time you could save if you knew what you were going to say during your podcast episode and didn’t have to edit out any awkward pauses. 

Also when you write a script you have the outline already set-up for your blog post that you can write for your audience to read… work smarter, not harder as they say. 🤓

Basically you can input your script directly to your blog post, and edit it to be read as opposed to listened to. 

What I mean by this is:

If you write a script for your podcast, you can take the script and slightly adjust it to become a blog post. 

That way you’re saving time and can start on the script for your next podcast episode. 😉  

And one more bonus of writing a script for your podcast: if you decide to write your own transcription, it can be helpful to speed up the process!

If you want to know more about generating the transcription for your podcast read this blog post: How to Generate the Transcription for my Podcast?

How should you write the script for your podcast?

Basically, there are 5 tricks to use to help you write a good podcast script:

First, you need to establish the structure of the script you’re going to write.

For example, you can write down word for word what you’re going to say, or you can simply write down a few words to use as a guide in case you get a bit lost. 🧭

But either way, you need a plan, or else your episode could get messy and unorganized… then you risk losing the listeners’ attention, and that’s never good.

Here is an example of an episode’s podcast structure that you can follow when you write your script:

• Start with a jingle
• Do a small introduction of the host(s) and the subject of your podcast and episode
• Next is the body of your podcast, which will have the main content of your episode
• Summarize a bit at the end to conclude but…
  • Only do this if your episode was long and a bit complex
  • If your episode was short and to the point, leave out a summary at the end because it will be redundant
• To finish up your episode, thank your listeners and tell them the subject of your next episode so they can look forward to it!
• Then again add another jingle to close

Second, you need to be concise with what you say in your script.

There is nothing worse than a podcast that is heavy on the words, but that lacks real substance. 

You want to make sure your listeners feel like they’re learning, or at least gaining something from listening to your podcast as opposed to someone else’s. 

So, be precise with what you’re saying and try to stay on topic… something that a script can help with. 😀

Now of course everyone loves a little off the cuff comedy or fun fact to change up the rhythm of a podcast, but you can include these in your script too, to stay more organized! 

A long bla bla bla can cause your listeners to lose interest, and if you write a script you can stay on topic more easily, helping your audience remain concentrated and interested. 🧐

The third trick is to read your script out loud.

Before recording your new podcast episode, read your script out loud, to yourself or to someone else. 📣

A classic mistake that appears when you read a script is that you sound like you’re reading something. 📖

This is normal, because well let’s face it, you are reading…

But take the time to read it a few times out loud for practice, and see where you can add some inflection to your voice to make it sound more natural. 

Try to make it sound like you’re talking to your friends, so that it sounds relaxed, which your audience will prefer. 

This is why if you know you will sound very literary when you’re reading your script it may be better for you to have a more simple script with just a few key words and phrases to guide you along. 

That way you can have the script in front of you for a quick glance to stay on track, but you won’t need to read it the whole time.

The fourth trick is to make sure you choose good background music in your podcast. 🎶

The background music that you choose for your podcast should compliment your show and what you’re saying. 

Music can help reinforce the structure of your script, and guide you through it, making your episode more interesting to listen to. 

It can also be beneficial to have short silences in between your thoughts to give your audience a second to take in what you’ve just said. 🤫

Don’t take too much time though, we don’t want them to think your episode is over…

The fifth and final trick is to personalize your script. 🖊️

When you write the script for your podcast make sure to be yourself! 

Bring out your personality to try and let your listeners see who you are and develop a connection with you. 🔁

This could help turn them from a one-time listener into a loyal listener. 😍

In your script, don’t be afraid to tell a story or an anecdote to try and get your audience to relate.

Just so it’s clear…

Writing a script will take some time, but the payoff will be huge.

You can really take advantage of the work you put into writing your script by using it when recording your podcast, and for writing a blog post.

There are many steps to follow when you want to create a successful podcast, and the script is an important one, so don’t forget to write it! 😊