The 'Secret' of New Media: The Perfect Podcast

Finding the right length and format for your audio content is key to getting anyone to bother listening to it.

As introduced, I am doing a series about how editorial Web sites can employ new media, and decided to start with audio content. Audio has gotten lost in the video craze, and that is understandable. Video will probably always have more attraction, especially as more people receive video on portable devices. But there is still a market for audio content. Some people enjoy not watching every once in a while, whether they are doing the laundry or taking a jog, or so jammed on the subway that they can't even watch a video.

Audio can be streaming and/or put into a podcast form, so that listeners can subscribe to it via an RSS feed (usually through iTunes). To stream audio on your Web site or to make a podcast, you first need an audio player on your site. I'm not a Web programmer, so those are not the areas where I can provide a how-to. Creating and editing your own podcast is pretty simple. I'll talk about the equipment and software you need to do that in an upcoming post.

Editorially, there are many ways to create audio, and you don't have to be a professional sound editor, although it can't hurt! The length of time you make your audio content has to be determined by your judgment -- but oftentimes it depends on what type of editorial format you choose for your content (listed below). Every type of podcast has a "sweet spot" that listeners will tune in for. I'm a podcast junky, so let me offer a few examples of successful ways news outlets are using sound content:

1. Interviews: The good old-fashioned interview is always golden. NPR's Terry Gross is the best at long-form interviews, but other podcasts use short interviews. The New York Times does Backstory, featuring 5- to 10- minute interviews with their reporters. Sweet spot: If you are Terry, 45 minutes, but for everyone else, about 7 minutes. (Really it depends on the show.)

2. Chatter: Sometimes audio just takes getting together a bunch of minds and a loose outline of topics. Slate's Gabfest is probably the most popular of those type of podcasts. The editors are smart and informed enough that you actually care about their opinions and reflections on the week's political news. Sweet spot: 30 minutes

3. Round-up: Sometimes audio is an effective way to tease a print or online product, while offering a useful round-up for busy people on the go. It doesn't take the place of the product, but can solidify the relationship with the reader. I offer a podcast that rounds up the top news of the week for the readers of PLANSPONSOR.com. I try to add some context and reflection, which I think warrants a little bit longer than a straight reading of the week's news. I don't think a lot of people want to hear a straight summary taken from the written word (more on that later). A bare minimum round-up does seem to work for the New York Times, which offers a preview of its front page/top news every day. Sweet spot: 5-7 minutes

4. Summary: These might be my favorite kind of show. They combine news round-ups with chatter and interviews. BusinessWeek does an excellent job with its The BusinessWeek podcast (now offered in video as well). The host Jim Ellis delivers news in a conversational style, then includes interviews with reporters, as well as journalistic stories. Another good one is the NYT's Tech Talk and CBC Radio's Search Engine. (Leave it to the tech geeks to do good podcasts.) Tech Talk combines interviews, chatter, news and regular features such as a technology term explanation. Search Engine is a sweet radio-show-turned-podcast that employs a variety of methods to speak to those fascinated by the sociology of the Web (a.k.a. computer nerds). Sweet spot: 20 minutes

5. Narrative: There is, of course, the opportunity to put together a narrative through audio, like the radio shows that have still remained popular in in podcast form, such as This American Life (bow down). Maybe some others should be in this category that I've already mentioned, but these categories definitely overlap. The average person isn't going to throw together a huge narrative show -- let's leave that to NPR. Sweet spot: 55 minutes

6. Rehash: I'm not sure about this one. Despite what many respected news outlets have done with audio content, they still continue to simply read aloud the written word. And I'm not sure why; no podcast is really going to be stellar by doing this. I can give a nod to a few columns that are slightly entertaining in four-minute vignettes, but normally I don't think it works.

The reason why is that regular written word does not translate well to multimedia. Audio "columns" should not be the same as their printed sister. If a columnist wants to put their column in the audio form, he or she should adjust it for the audio form. Even though I'm not a fan of simply the spoken form, someone must be listening to it, because these book-on-tape-type podcast are still made. Maybe it's OK when offered in conjunction with other types of podcasts. I guess I'd be willing to listen to David Sedaris or Miss Manners read aloud snippets of their stuff. Except the latter doesn't offer any podcasts. Sweet spot: 4 minutes

7. How to: Sometimes simple tips can be an easy and short podcast to offer, if it fits with your content. If I were a well-being magazine, I'd offer a weekly meditation. A personal finance magazine can easily offer some tips about personal finance (maybe also in the chatter format with two people sharing the tips). I don't listen to many of these, but I think they are a fun idea. (Note to self: Seriously, write to Miss Manners to see if she will please do a podcast.) Sweet spot: Totally depends, but I'd say generally 5 minutes.

There are some podcasts that I never stuck with because, while I thought they were interesting, they didn't hit the sweet spot -- such as NEWSWEEK On Air and The Wall Street Journal This Morning. Some podcasts might be well-suited for radio, but are too long to want to download and listen on your own time. So that's another important point: Successful Web audio content and successful radio aren't always one in the same, unless you are Ira Glass.

If you can, offering a variety of podcasts might be ideal. But if you aren't trying to do anything serious, perhaps doing a combination that includes a little round-up, a little chatter, and one interview is a start. I know I geared this toward news outlets, but the general formulas are still pretty transferable to any company thinking of doing a podcast. The interview, how-to and chatter topics are particularly good for non-news sites.

Am I forgetting any editorial format for audio content/podcasts?