How long should your podcast introduction be?

The length of your podcast introduction should strike a balance between providing essential information and maintaining audience engagement. Aim for an introduction that is concise yet informative, typically lasting between 30 seconds to 1 minute. Clearly introduce the podcast's name, the host or hosts, and the purpose or theme of the episode. Include any relevant announcements or calls to action. Avoid lengthy monologues that may lose the audience's interest. Remember, the introduction sets the tone for the episode, so make it engaging and reflective of your podcast's style.

This is two-fold 1) your generic podcast intro - what it is, what people can expect, who it's for 2) your episode intro, what's coming up what people can expect, any trigger warnings, guest intros The above shouldn't be longer than 2 minutes!

Absolutely! Keep the intro short and to the point of the show. Introduce what it's about, who you are, and who you're talking to. 30 seconds to a minute is a great range for an introduction. For saas.unbound, I say what the podcast is about and mention saas.group as the brand it's bound to. I introduce myself with just a few words and then give another paragraph about the guest and their business. I think no matter how well you prepare the intro, your guests should have an opportunity to introduce themselves, so better to spend your time preparing great questions for the episode than perfecting the introduction.

The "purpose" of an intro is two fold: (1) - Grab someone's attention (Quickly!!) - If it's a new listener, they should be intrigued by the intro within the first 20 - 30 seconds. (2) State the listener promise of the podcast. What will be true every single episode?

Your next episode could be the first time someone listens to your show so don't assume they know you and everything. I find a good intro helps for every episode and I start mine with an insight clip to start it before jumping into the intro.

If you don't know your audience, you won't know what they like and don't like. When you know and understand your audience, you'll know exactly how to have your intro. But how do you actually get to know your audience? Testing. Test different formats, pacings, and types of intros, then get your feedback in retention rate of the podcast and of course polls on your social media or podcasts themselves too.

The main purpose of your podcast introduction is to let your audience know fast if they are in the right place. You don't want the wrong audience sticking around trying to figure out if it is a right fit. Your intro can be 30 seconds or 5 minutes, as long as it communicates value to your audience, let's them know they are in the right place, and gives them a reason to stick around for the whole episode.

Do we cater to first-time listeners or our regular subscribers? Ideally, both, but the introduction is going to do a different job. First-timers need encouragement to keep listening - to decide if it is for them. Returners already know it is for them and are going to decide if this is an episode they will give time to. I know this is something of a continuum but somehow we need to cover both types of listeners. What can we make clear from the start? How can we provide the same as always but have it still feel fresh? A useful test can be to think about what you do when you hear someone else's podcast. What keeps you listening? What makes you feel like it is for you? What job do you expect the introduction to do for you?

We usually have two different podcast intro formats. 1. Coming up clips - These are the clips from the episode that appear when the podcast episode starts so that people know what they can expect. 2. Straight into it - for our podcast clips, we get straight into the podcast, as it's a shorter episode (4-15 mins), there's no coming up section.

The format of your intro depends on your audience and what the best way to communicate value to them is. For a long time, this often looked like clips of the podcast episode to create intrigue. This can work well but we are seeing a more scripted intro from the host welcoming the audience back and telling them what value the episode holds for the listener, what stood out to them, and why they should listen work very well.

Usually podcasts are slower than Social Media, specially Tiktok or Instagram. So, you can introduce the episode and the general podcast purpose in a more complete way. Obviously, if your episodes last 3 hours each, there's no problem if you take 2 minutes for the introduction, but if your episodes last 8 minutes each you shouldn't takr more than a few seconds.

Keep it less than a minute, folks! An ingredient in the secret sauce of podcasting is retention. If you're intro is too long than you'll lose people before you break into the juicy part of the episode. Avoid that because we want to get into the juicy part!

As short as possible but as long as it needs to be. The important thing is not how long it is but that you are letting your audience know they are in the right place and communicating with them why the next 30-60 minutes (or however long your show is) will be worth their time.

Jump out of the gate with content overview. Quickly, in as few words as possible, give the cliffs notes of what’s going on and WHEN. That’s what they came for. After less than 90 secs, push to title card/branded intro theme/graphic. Then cold open with welcomes and introductions. Begin natural flowing conversations or dialogue on topics.

This will come through testing out different lengths of intro and getting inspiration from other creators in similar niches to see how long they run their intro for, and what types of elements they use in it.

I can normally tell when a host hasn't listened to their intro for the past 90 days, or in some cases- at all! Testing for audio levels is important, but almost no one tests for the segment of their current podcast audience. Most hosts create an intro that is optimize to help new listeners understand the premise of the show - when in fact most times that same intro is making their current audience MISERABLE. A 40+ second static intro with the hosts' laundry list of achievements is unlikely to create excitement to those who religiously tune in to every episode. I believe that intros should entice both new and current listeners, and the 2 best ways to do it is to look at episode performance and hold 1-1 chats with listeners!

Let me give you a solid tip: Undoubtedly, test and refine your podcast intro. If you are cutting some meaty portions and converting them into a podcast teaser to add in the beginning of the episode as an intro then heavily produce it with VFX, transitions, and SFX. Make it as cinematic as possible. Now apart from the intro use this teaser for promoting your episode on all social platforms. You can run meta campaigns too to gain popularity.

Iteration is key. We could give you all of the ways that successful podcasts have their intros, or in some cases don't even have one at all, but then we may miss the most important part if we don't pay attention, the most important part is testing and refinement. You must learn to iterate in order to create your own custom product that your audience likes and that fits you.

Last time I logged into this account I got seriously abused by mental health workers and convicted drug dealers. You're not my kind of people.

We have probably heard a lot of introductions to podcasts. The main business comes after the introduction, but a good start gives listeners a positive feel. Having established your usual start, you can experiment with the unusual. But you need a familiar baseline first. "Today, I want to do something different" only works if you have something to vary away from. Then there are many possibilities to keep it fresh and personal - both for the listener and you!

Our attention span is depleting every day. Our current Attention Span is 8.25 seconds on average. You know what that means: You don't have more than 10 seconds to grab the attention of your audience. So the first 30 seconds should be sharp and punchy. Ideally, your podcast intro should be of 90 Seconds. This should include: Name of the podcast Name of the podcast host Name and credentials of the guest And Most importantly, how has the conversation benefitted the ideal audience? After the episode recording, highlight the most valuable nuggets shared by the guest in your intro. This will ensure that your listeners stick for longer and improve the average consumption of your podcast episode. Newer listeners will discover and like too.

If it's a video podcast, make sure that your thumbnail matches the first 15 seconds of the podcast, if it does, your views will skyrocket. Why? With all of the "Click-bait" content out there, people are quite skeptical because there are so many making up stories and they promising the world but noot delivering, that people are judging super quickly whether or not they want to stick around for the whole video. Show your audience that you are to be trusted and the YT algo will bless you because of it

While the trend leans towards shorter introductions, there's a case to be made for longer intros under the right circumstances based on the podcast’s goals, audience expectations, and the unique value that a longer introduction can bring to the episode. For complex subjects or narrative-driven podcasts, a longer introduction might be necessary to set the stage, providing listeners with crucial background information or a story setup that enhances their understanding and engagement with the episode.

Consider not having an intro. We sometimes forget that most practices about intros, outros, bumpers, clipping, & recap were developed for television decades ago. One of my favorite shows (The Compound 7 Friends) has a 5-10 minute casual conversation before they do an intro, and I doubt they'd bother with one if there weren't guests to introduce. Also, if you have a mid-roll ad for your service/cause/company/etc. you're going to get a chance to re-state who you are and what you do.