I have a pet hate about the openings of some podcasts. And it is the issue of overly-long intros that go on and on.
You know the ones where listeners can literally wait one or two minutes while intro music and jingle after jingle is played telling us the name of the show and its presenter bundled with hackneyed phrases, tired clichés, imaging elements and sound effects we have all heard a million times before.
Now I am not going to embarrass anyone by playing these awful intros here; but if your podcast intro runs for longer than 10 seconds then it’s time to think about cutting it down.
Why?
Because your listeners simply do not have the stomach for it, nor the time to listen to your overly embellished intro (there I said it). Your listeners just want the content of the podcast to start ASAP. Keep your intro short, sweet, and to the point.
Too many people are time poor and want the information now. They have already downloaded your podcast; there’s no point in continuing to sell it to them.
Oh and one more thing, keep your intro in the style of your podcast’s content. Set the scene from the first second of the show.