In order to have a successful podcast, you’re going to need a podcast show flow or “run of show.” This is basically the structure or plan for your episodes. If you’re newer to podcasting, you’re likely wondering what elements you need in your show flow? And what about repurposing?
Don’t worry! We’ve got you covered. In this article, we’re answering these questions:
- What is a show flow or “run of show”?
- Elements to include in your show’s structure
- What about repurposing?
Download Doc’s show flow planner
Watch the video podcast episode
Catch The Flow by Ecamm live every Tuesday at 12pm Eastern on YouTube. Audio-only episodes drop on Tuesdays on your favorite podcast platform.
Shownotes and episodes available at flow.ecamm.com
What is a show flow?
A show flow or “run of show” is the general structure of your podcast episodes. Even if the topic changes each week, the structure of your show should remain the same in order to keep things consistent. The best way to plan out your flow is to really think through what kind of content you want to create.
Is your podcast an interview show? Do you have a co-host? Will you be sharing pro tips? How long is your podcast?
The answers to all of these questions are going to help you develop the structure of your show flow and the elements you’ll include within it. Remember, that this document is just for you. It can be something you write down on a whiteboard, note cards, or in an app like Pages or Google Docs. The main thing is to actually document it somewhere so that you can keep organized and not miss anything important.
Your show flow will end up being a living document, and that’s OK. As your podcast matures, you may decide an element needs to be changed or removed to best suit your content or the needs of your listeners/viewers. Change is fine (and expected).
What should you include in your show flow?
There are many ways to approach what goes into a podcast show flow, but here are some typical elements you can include:
- Intro
- Welcome
- Main point #1
- Point #2
- Point #3
- Conclusion/wrap up
- Outro
- Q+A
You don’t necessarily need to have all of these elements in your show flow, but you should have an idea of what you want to share and the basic structure of how you want to share it. On The Flow podcast, we really like the three main points structure because it makes repurposing content really easy for us. We can easily trim our video and audio down to share each point separately as well as the longer episode content.
We also are a video-first podcast that we record in front of a “live studio audience” on YouTube, so we have a live welcome and a Q+A that is only for our live viewers and gets trimmed off during editing. These elements, however, are included in our show flow so we don’t forget any main points.
Don’t forget about repurposing!
One of the best parts about having a show flow document is that it makes it easy to repurpose your content. If you follow the same structure each week, you’ll know where to trim down your audio and make appropriate clips that you can use to promote your show on social media. You can also use your transcript to add closed captioning, build show notes, and even write blog posts with. Pro tip: Descript makes this process so incredibly easy!
Get Into The Flow with Ecamm
Want to catch The Flow live? Join us every Tuesday at 12pm Eastern on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.
If you have any questions for us, please send them to flow@ecamm.com or join us live.
