Summary: Podcast Intros Your intro to your podcast is very important, much like we talked about cover art last week, the first ten seconds of your podcast tell your listener a lot about your production. If you don't have a catchy intro, you've gotten off on the wrong foot with your listeners. The most important thing I've found with podcast intros and what makes the most effective is the music selection. Keys to Music Selection If you're doing a podcast on rock bands, obviously you're going to want to consider using music that's closely aligned to this genre. Consider your audience when choosing your music selection. Also, be sure to use Royalty Free music in your podcast. Too many times I've downloaded podcasts and I've heard music that I know these producers did NOT get permission to use the music or could afford to pay the license fee associated with it. There are plenty of royalty free music and sound effect sites on the web you can check out. A couple that I recommend are MusicBakery.com, MusicAlley.com and neosounds.com. If you have questions about what music you can and can't use in your podcasts, feel free to get in touch with me and I'd be glad to assist. Not all podcasts have a musical intro at the beginning and sometimes that too can be just as effective. For instance, I listen to a podcast called the Manchester United Redcast and the host of this show Eddie usually brings the show in just with his voice. In fact there is no music played at all on this podcast. Its effective because he doesn't waste time bringing the show in. He usually comes in with a quick joke and then introduces himself and his guests and they get right into talking about Manchester United. Keep it Simple Silly or another word If your podcast intro is more than a minute, there's a problem. People are downloading your show for your content. If your show is sponsored and they're paying you for their ad then that is an exception. Each ad though shouldn't be longer than 30 seconds. Another effective intro style is the cold open. This is where the host starts off talking and gives you a hint as to what the show will be about and then leads into the podcast intro. It doesn't hurt to experiment either, what style do you use for your intro? Email me at feedback@spnt.tv or leave me a voicemail at 404-946-3397. I'd love to share with the audience different examples of podcast intros and what most podcast producers and consumers prefer. You Sound Like You're From London Mike Russell is the man. If you haven't heard of Music Radio Creative by now, you MUST check out this website today. Mike and his wife Izabela do great work with podcasters. Mike discovered his love for radio at a young age and audio editing/production has been his lifelong passion and it really shows. Mike has traveled across his native England and worked at different radio stations. He even worked at an Australian radio station as well. Mike gives us a few tips on what makes a podcast intro effective and also sits in the hot seat this week for Rapid Fire! He was really sweating bullets too! Check out his podcast today at musicradiocreative.com/podcast. Do you have a podcast that you'd like to promote? Come sit in the hot seat! It's always great telling the story of other podcasters and how they got their start in podcasting. If you're interested email me at feedback@spnt.tv, get in touch with me on Twitter, or hit me up on Google+ as well. Rapid Fire is a great way to promote your show and website, plus its fun to learn more about fellow podcasters. Click here to view my previous Rapid Fire guests. Review the Show in iTunes Please rate and review the show in iTunes! If you're listening to us on an iOS device or you have an iTunes account, please leave a review today at startpodcastingnow.com/itunes. We'd love to hear your feedback good or bad! This week I CHALLENGE YOU to go and leave 5 reviews on the podcasts you listen to. Or try 5 new ones and leave reviews.
