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To define your podcast audience, begin with the end in mind: describe your ideal listener's age, interests and profession, name the problems they have, and say how your show helps. Then write a one-sentence mission statement and three to five adjectives for your show's vibe. Start narrow and go wider over time.
Defining your podcast audience means deciding, before you record, exactly who you are serving and what you want the show to do for them. As Stephen Covey likes to say, begin with the end in mind. For a podcast, the end is the listener.
Who will you serve with your podcast?
The plan might change over time, but you have to have a sense of who the show is for. Put it on paper. It does not have to be perfect, but you have to write something down. Describe your ideal listener or viewer for now:
- Their age, their interests and their professions. Who are they? Just write through it and let it flow.
- The problems or needs this audience has.
- How your podcast will help or entertain them.
I really think a lot of podcast hosts skip this. What they think is, it would be fun to be out there, and I will interview my friend. Then they spend the first five minutes talking about what happened last week before they get into the real material. That is a great conversation for the two of you and not very interesting for a stranger. When you know who you are serving, you do a much better job of reaching them.
Should you start narrow or wide?
Narrow. As you start out, niche things down and focus on a very specific group. If you go too wide in the beginning, you are competing with everybody. When you focus in just a little more, you reach some of the right people, and you can go wide over time. I make the same case in how to grow a podcast, where the shows that scale are almost always the ones that began by knowing exactly who they were for.
This is audience thinking, not just podcast thinking. Every strong communicator starts from the listener's point of view. If you want to practice that skill outside the studio, read your audience's point of view.
How do you write a podcast mission statement?
Companies have mission statements. People and podcasts should too. You do not want to spend hours and hours on this. You want something on paper. What is the idea? What is the purpose of your podcast? In one sentence, describe what your podcast aims to achieve.
Get that down and you are good to start. The point is not to slow you down with endless planning. It is to plan just enough that you can say, okay, I know where I am going. You can let it evolve, but at least you have a sense of who you are serving and what the mission actually is.
Once it is written down and you play with it over time, the mission statement becomes your North Star. It is where you always point your focus, and if you drift off track, you will know that you are off track.
That is its real value. When you are deciding on a guest, a topic or a format, you can hold it up against the sentence. Does it serve the mission? If not, it is probably a distraction, however interesting it sounds.
What is the vibe or personality of your podcast?
Is it super high energy, or thoughtful and provoking? Is it casual and humorous, or very professional where you would never tell a joke? Whatever you choose, write something down so you have a sense of what you are going for and what matches you and your style. Probably you have an idea already.
A practical way to do it: list three to five adjectives that describe the personality of the show. Here are a few quick examples:
- A news podcast: serious, fact-driven and concise.
- A personal development podcast: inspiring, energetic and motivational.
- A comedy podcast: laid back, fun and unpredictable.
Why does consistency matter?
Whatever you choose, be consistent over time. It may evolve, but you want enough consistency that the audience knows what it is getting. Think of walking into a fast food restaurant: you know the hamburger tastes the same every time, because they go for consistency. A listener who opens your show should have that same confidence about the tone.
A word on originality. After you have worked through this, go and look at what other people are doing. Do not copy them, because then you will be a copy, and a copy is never as great as the original. It is always the best version of you. If you are unsure how to carry that tone on camera, the way you sound matters too, which I cover in how to control your voice on camera.
What should you have on paper before you move on?
- A description of your ideal listener, their needs, and how your show helps.
- A one-sentence mission statement.
- Three to five adjectives for the vibe.
That is enough to name your show, brief a designer and choose your equipment. The next piece is the name, which I cover in how to name a podcast and design its logo. Do not let planning drag on for months. Plan just enough to know where you are going, then keep moving.