How to Write a Podcast Description and Episode Notes
A podcast description is the first sentence of your listener’s first date with your podcast. More than 40% of your listeners will discover your podcast in their favorite podcast platform. They’ll be browsing along in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts and there you will be. They’ll see your icon image, take in your title, your show description, and maybe a trailer as well. They will take eight seconds at the most to decide whether to click to hear your trailer or promo. That’s not much time to capture their interest. Your title will help them decide whether to notice you at all, but your description will help them decide if they want to listen.
Episode Titles
It’s non-linear, but I often put a title to my episode after I’ve written the episode description. I use the process of working through the description to arrive at what the episode is really about, and I try to distill that into a sentence. For example, “How meditating every day will make you better at your job.” If yours is an interview style podcast, and the person interviewed is well known, then it makes sense to lead with their name. (“Barack Obama opens up about leadership.”) When scanning the podcast listings, the well-known name will pop out for your potential listener.
Capture Attention
In an episode description, you have about 250 words to describe your show for Apple Podcasts and many other platforms. After that word count, some platforms cut off your well-crafted show description. The key to brevity is to think about your listener, and then write something for them, not for you. To accomplish that, you need some research first to understand what other podcasts they might listen to, what they are looking for in a podcast, and what is unique about yours that may inspire them to click play.
Breaking that down into steps:
1. Check out what I call affinity podcasts. These are other shows that cover topics like yours or with hosts like yours or a mood like your podcast. How do they describe themselves so they win audiences?
2. What do these affinity podcasts deliver to their listeners? Do they promise that listening will make them more money? Make them smarter? Make them more datable? Help them a new job? Make them laugh? Everyone listens to a podcast for a reason. What is your listener looking for?
3. Why is your podcast different from the rest? Every podcast has a genre, there is no escaping that, even when creators merge or bend genres. You might have a comedy podcast about crime or a business podcast about failures, or a news podcast that interprets the events of the day with attitude. Successful podcasts have a unique approach that attracts a specific sort of listener. What is your unique approach? Who is your specific sort of listener? All that knowledge helps you craft a good show description.
Episode Descriptions
Once you have a show description, it’s time to move on to writing a description of each episode. For audio dramas and fiction, you usually want a teaser (short) description of what is happening in the current episode to catch up your audience. For all podcasts, fiction and nonfiction, I like to think about writing something that will make the reader want to click on the play button. Jump back to #2 in my list above: What will the podcast deliver? This works for episodes, too. Is there a nugget of knowledge you impart, a unique experience, or a wonderful story that will help me become a better human, be smarter, be better at work, be a …. you get the idea. Listeners are often looking for instruction or advice. That’s the reason so many episode descriptions begin with the words How or Why. Be sure to include searchable keywords in your podcast title and description.
Show Notes
Your show notes are longer, a list of all the things discussed in the podcast, including the links your listeners are looking for after the show if they want to learn more. Many producers include “key takeaways” or lists of where to find certain topics in the conversation. Notes are a great way to give listeners a deeper idea of what the episode is about. Some services, like Spotify, will grab your show notes to send out in your feed, while others, like Apple Podcasts, will use your episode description.
Blogs and Socials
You’ll use your title, description, and notes in your podcast listing, and they’ll be beamed out over RSS or your subscription service. You will also use them as the basis for blog posts and social media clips. Every so often I’m in a hurry and only lightly rework the description and notes and bam, I have myself a blog post about the episode.
A podcast description is important because it explains what the show is about and why people should tune in. In your notes, you have more space to explain what your podcast is about, why it is worth your listener's time, and what each show is all about. If you get stuck, turn on an audio recorder and talk out to yourself what the episode is about. There will be a lot to use there, and it will smooth the way to writing a description that carries a bit of your personality.