Originally published July 12, 2021 , updated on August 31, 2024

Over the last few years, podcasts have grown in popularity as people around the world adopt this new way of consuming content and media. This growth has caused content creators to spend lots of money on producing professional podcasts, podcast script writing and various distribution channels. 

Podcasts are not new. According to the Business Insider, this media format has been around for two decades already. But thanks to the accessibility of the internet, improved streaming services and more monetary investments in hosts and guests, podcasts have become more mainstream.

Interesting Podcast Stats 

Podcasts have grown significantly in the last few years, with approximately over 2 million podcast shows available to stream. The pandemic also contributed to the spike in listenership figures for podcasts and the number of podcasts available online. 

Podcast stats show that close to 90% of podcast listeners in the USA do so while at home. More data also indicates that in 2021, 41% of Americans over the age of 12 listen to some sort of podcast, up from 26% in 2018. Clearly, podcasting is only becoming more popular. 

As such, businesses and corporate organisations are jumping on this bandwagon. Many are developing their own podcasts and looking for ways to get the best out of this type of medium. Before you jump into it, you will need to familiarise yourself with what’s involved in creating a podcast, what you can do in-house and what you should consider outsourcing. 

Tips for Podcast Script Writing

No matter how you choose to allocate the writing tasks, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. Here is a guide to podcast script writing – whether you use a professional podcast writing service or not. 

Gather All Your Research

Before diving into the writing scripts for podcasts, arm yourself with all the information that you need through research. Even if your podcast is about a topic you’re pretty well-versed on, it’s always better to do additional research and make the relevant notes. This provides you with a solid jumping-off point to start writing.

Listen to Highly-Rated Podcasts

To figure out how you want to structure your podcast and your script, listen to some of the top-rated podcasts. Make notes on what you like about how they talk, how they deliver their information and the format being used. Are they doing interviews? Is there one or more hosts? Which one resonates most with you? What is your favourite format? Make notes on these and use them to decide the direction of your script. 

Write How You Speak

Script writing is very different from B2B content writing. While the latter is typically more professional, script writing takes a more conversational tone. A podcast script should be written as such. Write how you would speak and not for how it will be read. The words need to sound as natural as possible while remaining professional and informative. Have fun with your script, especially for more light-hearted topics. 

Set Up a Template for Podcast Script Writing

Create a template for your script for future use. This will help you quickly type up scripts for each episode rather than start from scratch. This also makes it easier to hand over the script writing duties to another team member or a professional writing service. There are a number of free podcast templates available online to use as a starting point. 

Leave Room for off-the-Cuff Comments

Scripting a podcast helps to stick to a specific topic while recording. It also helps with editing. However, some of the best podcasts allow room for ad-libbing. This is where jokes, comments, anecdotes and stories are added to the podcast on the fly. This natural and often humorous commentary adds fun and relatability to your podcast and keeps your audience interested and engaged.

Read Your Script Out Loud

Before you record, read your script out loud. This helps with preparation and highlights any gaps in the script. This allows you to make the necessary amendments ahead of time. If you’re making these changes on the day of or during the recording, you’re going to drag out the recording time and make editing difficult. 

Research Your Guests

If you plan to have guests on your show, be sure to do a deep dive on the internet to find out more about them. Add a “notes” section to your script and include any interesting details about them there. These can be details that you may want to refer to during the interview. By doing this on your script, you will have easy access to these details during the interview. 

Good Podcast Script Writing Always Has a Call-to-Action

No matter what format your show takes, don’t forget to add a call-to-action at the end of your script. You could ask listeners to review your show, suggest they visit your website or encourage them to listen to previous episodes. By adding this, you get them to engage with you in other ways and keep them within your community. 

Have Fun With It

Don’t overthink your script. While it should have structure to it, you can stay on track during recording, don’t get bogged down by the details. Ultimately, your podcast is supposed to be an interesting and fun way to reach your audience. If YOU are not having fun producing it, it will come across in your episodes. And your listeners will feel it, too. 

Use the Professionals

Podcast script writing involves a lot of work. Don’t be shy to ask for help. You could outsource this aspect of the job and make use of professional podcast writing services. A good content writing company should be able to do this for you. You can work together to establish the format before the writing begins. This means one less thing to do while you focus on running your business. 

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