Before you begin recording podcast episodes, you’ll need to start with a great idea. This can be the key to establishing your niche and finding your target audience. However, it can be difficult to think of unique ideas when there are so many different podcasts out there.
Never fear, you can easily find podcast topics to talk about with your listeners. Whether you simply take your show outside or give listeners personal advice, you can choose a format that makes your episodes stand out.
In this post, we’ll discuss how to find topics for a podcast. Then, we’ll share some ideas for your future episodes. Let’s get started!
How to Find Topics For Your Podcast
If you want to start a podcast, you’ll need to create some engaging content. This way, listeners will want to tune in to every episode. However, you might not know where to start.
When you’re brainstorming for good podcast topics, it’s important to consider what you’re passionate about. You could research the most popular types of content, but chances are, your audience will prefer to hear about your interests.
Here are some additional factors to consider:
- Your niche
- Interest from your audience
- What makes you stand apart from others in your field
- Possibility of monetization
In general, a good idea should generate enough content to fill a few episodes. You should also make sure that your audience is interested in this topic.
If you’re struggling to find new topics, try listening to other podcasts. While you shouldn’t copy ideas, you can add your own unique spin on a common talking point.
Creating a website can be an effective way to engage your audience and ask for content ideas. By setting up contact forms, you can allow listeners to send suggestions for future episodes.
5 Podcast topics to try for your own show
To help you launch an engaging podcast, we’ve listed five topic ideas to talk about in your episodes. By tweaking each one with your personal flair, you can build a loyal following in no time.
1. Interview a Celebrity or Influencer
One effective way to grow your audience is by bringing a well-known figure onto your platform. When you interview a popular celebrity or influencer, their fans will likely tune in to hear what they have to say.
Plus, podcast interviews can challenge common perceptions of celebrities. By discussing their personal lives, interests, and opinions, your audience can gain insight into who they really are as people.
Although many podcasts feature celebrities, you can steer your conversation to meet your content niche. For example, Song Exploder allows popular musicians to do a deep dive into their songs:
This podcast format is also beneficial for celebrities because they can promote their current projects. You can even record episodes remotely so that they don’t have to travel to your location.
However, you might not be able to feature popular celebrities right away. You’ll have to reach out to publicists, and they may decline if your audience is too small.
2. Tell a Story
Many people enjoy listening to a good story. On your podcast, you can narrate short stories, audience write-ins, or original content. With a narrative format, your episodes can become more engaging for your listeners.
Short stories are often easy to find and ideal for shorter episodes. One of the most popular short story podcasts is Levar Burton Reads, where Levar Burton handpicks his favorite pieces of fiction:
You can also find real stories on Reddit, where users often post shocking and dramatic personal experiences. By creating a subreddit for your podcast, you can allow your listeners to post their own stories. Then, you can read them in your episodes.
If you’re a talented writer, you can even write original content. This can be a great way to avoid copyright infringement, but developing a well-written story can take time.
3. Give Your Listeners Advice
In some of your episodes, you can give your listeners advice about personal issues. If you’ve established yourself as an expert in a certain area, your audience may want solutions to their problems.
For example, Dear Sugars provides informative, empathic advice about different topics. It answers questions about relationships, body issues, and more:
By giving advice, you can improve the connection between you and your audience. Plus, this podcast format is very easy to plan, since it simply involves selecting specific questions to answer.
However, it may take time to establish your credibility. For this topic to be effective, you’ll need an active following that trusts your ideas.
4. Watch Media With Your Audience
If you’ve never seen a popular TV show or movie, consider experiencing it for the first time with your audience. This can be engaging for your listeners since they can watch along with you.
The Gilmore Guys podcast is a good example of this. When the two hosts realized they had both never watched Gilmore Girls, they decided to record their reactions to each episode:
One advantage to this topic is that you can feature any kind of media in your episodes. You can make commentary on new serial TV shows or old movies that you’ve never seen before.
If you decide to focus on a specific show, like the Gilmore Guys podcast, you may eventually run out of material. You can avoid this by creating a more general topic, such as movies from a certain decade.
5. Go on the Street
One way to enliven your podcast is by changing your recording location. By taking your episodes outside, you can make your podcast stand out.
Podcast But Outside is an example of this simple idea. The two hosts set up a table in various locations and interview different people who walk by:
Unlike celebrity interviews, on-the-go episodes enable you to feature anyone on your show. You’ll just have to convince strangers to record with you. Plus, it can be more relatable to hear the personal experiences of normal people.
To record a podcast outdoors, you’ll need special recording equipment. Since there will be much more background noise, it’s necessary to purchase tools that are specially designed for this environment.
Conclusion
The right idea can jumpstart your podcast and make it distinctive from your competitors. Although this might seem difficult, you can even refresh a common topic by adding your unique perspective. As long as you provide an engaging experience for your listeners, you can develop a successful podcast.
To review, here are some of the best podcast topics to help plan your next episode:
- Interview a celebrity or influencer.
- Tell a story.
- Give your listeners advice.
- Watch media with your audience.
- Go on the street.
After you find the right topic and start releasing episodes, consider building an online platform for your podcast. At Podcastpage.io, we provide a website builder that is built for podcasting. Using this tool, you can import episodes and create custom blog posts without any coding!
