May 26, 2025 • 37 mins
Today, we are talking about keeping your audience listening after they press play. This starts with an opening hook. To have hooks that grab your audience and make them want to hear your episode, there are some common characteristics:
Relevance: A good hook connects directly to the theme or topic of your episode. It should hint at what’s to come without giving everything away.
Emotional Impact: Evoking curiosity, excitement, or even controversy can create an emotional connection with your audience, prompting them to stay tuned.
Clarity and Brevity: Your hook should be clear and to the point. Complexity can confuse listeners and cause them to lose interest.
Promises Value: Whether it’s information, entertainment, or inspiration, a strong hook promises something valuable to the listener.
All of this relies on you knowing who your target audience is. A hook that works on a business podcast may not work on your gaming show.
Ever wondered why some podcasts just suck you in while others make you want to run for the hills? Well, let’s break it down, shall we? The opening hook of your podcast can make or break your listener retention. You could have the most riveting content planned, but if your intro is as exciting as watching paint dry, good luck keeping anyone around.
We’re talking about how a killer hook can capture attention faster than a cat meme on social media. Dive into the psychology of why people stick around and learn five solid strategies to craft hooks that actually work. Spoiler alert: it’s not just about being clever. It’s about being relevant, emotional, and concise. So, grab your headphones, and let’s unravel the magical art of the podcast hook that’ll have your audience begging for more!
Takeaways:
- A killer hook can make or break your podcast's first impression, so choose wisely!
- To keep listeners glued to your podcast, start with something that sparks curiosity and relevance.
- Your opening should promise value; otherwise, listeners might just hit the dreaded 'stop' button.
- Whether it's a shocking fact or a relatable story, your hook needs to resonate with your audience.
5 Example Hook Types:
- Engaging Questions: Drawing listeners in by voicing their struggles or curiosities
- Personal Anecdotes: Using brief, vulnerable stories that are directly relevant
- Shocking Facts: Leveraging surprising statistics or statements (without clickbait)
- Intriguing Scenarios: Creating hypothetical situations that spark imagination
- Relatable Problems: Addressing common issues faced by the audience
Mentioned in This Episode
Podcast Hook Example Cheat Sheet
Audience Survey: schoolofpodcasting.com/survey25
Mentioned in this episode:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
The next 15 seconds of thisepisode could determine whether thousands
of listeners stick around foryour next podcast or click away forever.
That's the power of a wellcrafted hook. And today I'm pulling
back the curtain on exactlyhow to write one that keeps your
audience hanging on everysingle word. Yeah, you know what?
I don't like that one. Let'sdo this one instead. Did you know
(00:24):
that the average podcast loses20 to 35% of its listeners in the
first five minutes? Todaywe're diving into the psychology
behind what makes people stayor leave. And I'll share five proven
hooks that can transform yourpodcast's opening from good to unforgettable.
Yeah, that one works. Hit it, ladies.
(00:44):
The school of podcasting withDave Jackson.
Podcasting since 2005, I amyour award winning hall of fame podcast
coach, Dave Jackson. Thankingyou so much for tuning in. If you're
new to the show, this is whereI help you plan, launch and grow
your podcast. My website isschoolofpodcasting.com use the coupon
(01:09):
code listener when you sign upfor either a monthly, quarterly or
yearly subscription. And thatcomes with a 30 day money back guarantee.
And I may have just committedone of the bad hooks. We're going
to talk about those as we goalong today. And if you're wondering
what is a hook, it's theopening of the show that gets people
(01:32):
to want to continue listening.And so one of the things I want to
point out is this startsbefore we even get to somebody pushing
play. A good episode titlereally helps. And you've heard me
say this before, if you're newto the show, I do not recommend putting
(01:53):
episode numbers at thebeginning of your episode title.
I actually did some researchon this for podpage where I'm the
head of podcasting there. Andyeah, it's. You have a better chance
of ranking higher in theGoogle if your keywords are closer
to the beginning of yourtitle. So if you needed another reason,
(02:15):
that would be one. And then ifwe're talking YouTube, which, you
know, 98% of this, we're not.But with YouTube, you have to have
a great thumbnail. So greattitle. And great thumbnail now in
audio podcasting, great title.And I would think a thumbnail, you
know, the little square imagewould help. But here is, I did a
(02:38):
ton of research on this andrealized that I have not been doing
this very well. So here aresome things and this is my, like,
new favorite word. The firstthing, like what makes a good hook
is relevance. I think that'sMy new favorite word. So what I mean
by relevance is, hey, you justhave this eye catching title that
(03:00):
made someone click is whatyou're talking about getting to what
they want to as quickly aspossible. Picture it this way. You
got a dog. The dog loves thetreats. You grab the treat box and
you shake it in front of yourdog. And your dog is like, oh, yeah,
I am ready for a treat rightnow. And you open up the treat box
(03:22):
and you go, first, let me readthis LinkedIn bio to you in a really
boring way, proving that maybeI shouldn't even be reading into
a microphone. And the dog islike, what? Give me the treat, buddy.
I want the milk bone. So youwant to have whatever it is, because
that LinkedIn bio is notrelevant to the dog treat. And there
(03:43):
are many times when we come upwith this great AI catching, you
know, just super title. Andthen people click on it and they're
like, so, how was your week? Idon't know. Well, wait till you hear
what Mr. Whiskers did to thecouch. And you're like, what? So
a good hook connects directlyto the theme or topic of your episode.
It should hint. It shouldhint. And one of the things that
(04:07):
kept coming up in my researchis a curiosity gap. Your brain can't
take that. Like, if you go,you know what? Yeah, people like,
what? What's. You know, itshould hint at what's coming without
giving everything away. Sothat's one thing, it's relevant.
(04:28):
The other one is emotionalimpact. So it's evoking curiosity
or excitement or evencontroversy that can create an emotional
connection with your audience.And that prompts them to like, ooh,
I want to see what happens.And then clarity and brevity. So
(04:48):
as I said, I was doing allthat podcasting sense to him. Maybe
we need to lose that. I'lltalk about that maybe a little later.
But your hook should be clearand to the point. If you make it
complex, it can confuse. Andwe don't want that. We don't want
them to be confused. We wantthem to just keep listening. And
if they're like, I have noidea what I'm listening to, they
(05:11):
may hit the old, nah, not thisweek. And then it promises value.
You always want your episodesto deliver value. So whether it's
information, whether it'sentertainment or inspiration, a strong
hook promises somethingvaluable to the listener. And then
(05:31):
the thing you want to makesure of by the time you get ready
to hit publish. Did youdeliver the promise? Because there
are some times when peoplewill Throw out this amazing hook
just to get you to listen. Iremember once. This is true. I was
watching the news, and theywere like, is the school system feeding
(05:54):
things that are poisoning yourchildren at school? And I was like,
dang, what do they do underthe peanut butter cookies? Because
that's all I ate in juniorhigh. And it turned out the answer
was no. Yeah, they weren't.And I was like, well, wait, you made
me watch the news for you togo, oh, no, but they. They might
have, but they're not. And Iwas like, well, that's the last time
(06:17):
I watched the news. So we'regonna talk about some examples of
good hooks and why they'regood. But one of the things that
makes a good hook isunderstanding your target audience.
This is now crucial becausewhat works for a business podcast
(06:39):
may not work for a true crimeor an entertainment or whatever.
So you have to really tailoryour approach to match your audience
expectations. In the end, thegoal of a hook is to create a strong
first impression that not onlycaptures the attention, but also
(07:00):
sets appropriate expectationsfor the episode content that is going
to be following after theypress play. I mean, that's what we're
looking to do, is to providejust enough information to establish
relevance and value whileleaving the listeners wanting to
know more about the episodecontent. And one of the things I
(07:22):
see a lot of that I don'tthink does that is when somebody
takes a clip from theinterview and you hit play and you
go, yeah, my dad used to sendme out to the barn. It was red, and
I just remember it smelledlike horse poop. And you're like,
okay, that's. Does that makeme want. Is there some sort of curiosity
(07:45):
gap in there? If he had said,I remember once my dad made me go
out to the barn alone, and Icouldn't believe what I saw when
I opened up the door, Right?That's a brain gap. But the whole
pull an episode clip to me,and again, I know you're like, but
AI can pull out a clip. Yeah,but is it a good clip? You know,
(08:09):
because think about it. Aninterview probably has kind of a
beginning, middle, and an end.And that's kind of like going to
your favorite book. Now, look,I know it's your favorite book, but
it had a beginning, middle,and an end. It was meant to be read
in a certain way. And when yougo and just rip out page 22 and go,
here, read this, it may not bea great introduction to the book.
(08:32):
And what could save you a lotof time because you were there in
the interview is just toexplain who's on the show, what value
they're going to get. Andyou're not going to believe it, but
we talk about blank, createthat curiosity. That's what we're
going to get to here in termsof examples of good hooks. But I,
(08:53):
for me, I don't think I seethe. Let's pull a clip from the interview.
I don't see that being usedeffectively. I don't usually. Kind
of. Usually it leaves meconfused. It does not leave me wanting
more. It leaves me going, whatthe heck am I getting into? So here
are some strategies, and we'regoing to talk about what they were,
(09:16):
why they work. And the firstone is questions. Now, remember how
I said it is crucial that youunderstand who your audience is,
because a listener feels kindof personally addressed and understood
when you ask the question thatthey are facing. It's specific to
them. So for me, if I said,are you struggling to take your total
(09:39):
episode downloads to 10,000downloads? Right. That approach works
well, both in a monologue andif you're doing an interview, but
creating a conversationaltone, you know, because it's just
a question, hey, let's talkabout it. That draws listeners in,
and it's a question that theyask. Now, if you ask a question like,
(10:03):
hey, are you struggling tofind a pen that has green ink? There
might be a few people in theaudience, but most of you, like,
wait, what? I tuned into,like, what? Yeah, so engaging questions.
That's what we're looking for.So ever wonder what your life would
look like if you couldeliminate all your distractions?
(10:23):
Stay with us as we uncoversecrets to mastering focus in today's
digital age. And I'll try notto do an obnoxious radio guy all
the time. But why does thatwork? Well, this hook, it asks an
intriguing question. Have youever wondered what life would look
like if you could eliminateall your distractions? You go, ooh,
(10:45):
that'd be interesting. And itpromises valuable insights, enticing
the listener to want to findout more. So engaging questions can
be a way to hook people in.Another one is a personal antidote.
Now, I've used this one quitea bit in the past, and it's usually
(11:08):
just a short story. And we'lltalk about that maybe a little later,
because there are times whenmy intros are a little on the long
side. But here's one. Byopening with a personal experience
or some sort of relatableantidote, podcasters can create immediate
emotional engagement thatdraws the listener into the narrative.
(11:30):
And the story should directlyrelate to the episode theme, or as
I like to call it, the episodetitle. Because again, if you start
in a story about Mr. Whiskersripping up the couch and the episode
is how to turn $10 into 10,000downloads, people are not going to
be happy. Right? So tie itinto the title while highlighting
(11:54):
the challenges or situationsthat audience members can recognize
from their own lives. So somesort of personal story that has people
wondering, how is this goingto end? And also like, yeah, I'm
in the same boat. How are wegoing to do that? So some sort of
personal antidote. So here'san example. Three years ago, and
(12:17):
for the record, these are madeup, these are not me. This is not
a personal antidote for me.This is an example. But three years
ago, I hit rock bottom. Littledid I know that moment would redefine
my path to happiness. Andhere's what happened. So why does
that work? Well, it's apersonal story. It taps into emotions,
(12:37):
taps into curiosity, and thatthen makes it relatable and engaging.
As soon as you hear RockBottom, you're either going to think
about Kiss Alive 1. It's agreat song, or, you know, you're
like, wait, this is. This isgoing to be a story. And also rock
bottom. When somebody revealsrock bottom, that is vulnerability.
(13:01):
They are peeling back thecurtain. That is not information
that most people like. Hi,nice to meet you. I'm Dave. Let me
tell you about the worst partof my life ever, right? So it's information
you don't normally get. Sothat's one. A personal antidote.
So engaging questions,personal antidotes. A shocking fact.
(13:21):
Shocking, I say. So. Now, keepin mind, the controversy should be
genuine, and it should be,again, relative to the content. It's
not manufactured solely toshock people. You know, bold statements
work because they create thatcuriosity gap, right? It's. It's
(13:44):
tension in the brain. It'slike, wait, what? So keep that in
mind. But it forces thelistener to reconcile the challenging
information with theirexisting beliefs. So if somebody
starts off, Sammy Hagar wasway better as a frontman in Van Halen,
I'll be like, what? Blasphemy?Right. Might have been a better singer,
(14:06):
better front man. Not sure.But anyway, incorporating surprising
statistics or resonant quotes,this provides immediate credibility
and context for the episodecontent. So people know exactly what
they're getting into. Right.It's not a surprise. So here's one.
(14:26):
Did you know the averageperson checks their phone 96 times
a day? Here's how that'srewiring our brains and what you
can do about it. Right? Soyou're like, wait, do it. And then
immediately you're like, wait,how many times do I. Well, let's
see. I check it the first timeI get out of bed. And then there's,
you know, sometimes I check itwhile I'm in the shower. Right, There's.
Right. So that's a shockingfact. So why does this work? It's
(14:50):
a surprising statistic. Itgrabs your attention. It sets the
stage for the insightfulcontent. Here's another one. 93%
of communication is a. Is.Isn't. Oh, see, it'd be nice if I
said it right. Let's try thatagain. 93% of communication isn't
about your words at all. Infact, you're probably making three
(15:11):
critical communicationmistakes right now that are sabotaging
your relationships. Stay tunedas we unpack the hidden signals you're
sending and how to fix them.Come on. You don't want to hear more
of that? So why does thatwork? It opens with a surprising
fact. 93% of communicationisn't about your words at all. It
(15:33):
suggests personal relevance.I'm going to get a T shirt. I think
with that. Just be relevant.It promises practical solutions and
it creates an urgency to learnmore. Because it's like, look, you
might be making these mistakesright now. You're making mistakes.
Stop it. What's wrong with youpeople? All right, so that's again,
(15:56):
shocking fact. But don't makeit so shocking. I hate. Because what
do we call it when there aretimes, and I'm still not quite sure
why, I think I go there justto hate it. But I will go to Yahoo
and it will say, you know,watch Jennifer Aniston get eaten
by a shark. And I'm like,what? And I click on it and there's
(16:18):
no video. There's no JenniferAniston. It's like, what? And what
do we call that? Clickbait. Dowe like it? No, because we feel lied
to. So, yeah, make your titlesomething that entices people to
click on it, but you want itto be relevant. All right, moving
(16:38):
on to the intriguing scenario.Ooh, it's so intriguing. The scenario
based hook. It works byplacing the listener directly into
challenging situations theymight encounter. So an example might
be, imagine waking up tomorrowto find that your biggest competitor
slash their prices in half.How would you respond? Right. The
(17:03):
approach creates immediateengagement by forcing the listener
to consider their own responsewhile positioning the upcoming content
as providing the expertguidance for these exact situations.
So in a world. No, I'm justkidding. Imagine waking up tomorrow
with a billion dollars. Howwould that change your life? Today
(17:27):
we're exploring the realimpact of sudden wealth and the hidden
challenges it brings. So whydoes that work? The scenario, it
sparks the imagination. Whatif I did wake up with a bazillion
dollars? You know, it kind ofsparks creativity and curiosity,
making listeners eager toexplore the topic further. Here's
(17:50):
another one. What ifeverything you knew about productivity
was wrong? Today's guest spent10 years studying the world's most
successful people anddiscovered that they all share one
surprising habit. And that'sthe opposite of what most experts
recommend. You're like, wait,what? I want to be more productive.
Right. So it challenges yourexisting beliefs, and it promises
(18:13):
exclusive insights that youcan't get anyplace else. And it teases
expert knowledge. I actuallymight use this in the future. I'm
working on an episode aboutadvertising and downloads, and I
was thinking that one of thequestions might be, what would it
be like if you Woke up with5,000 more downloads? What would
(18:36):
that do for you? So that mightbe if you hear that in the future,
that was inspired by me doingall this research. So that one. Again,
the intriguing scenario. Allright, next up, we have the relatable
problem. So it might besomething like, ever feel like your
work life balance is just amyth? Discover practical steps to
(19:00):
reclaim your time and findtrue balance in today's episode.
So why does that work? Well,it addresses a common issue, which
is work life balance. Itpromises actionable solutions that
resonate with many of youraudience. So the relatable problem.
And again, how is itrelatable? Because you know who your
(19:22):
audience is. Another one is ateaser of an expert insight. And
really, any kind of teaserbuilds that kind of curiosity gap.
So if we said, hey, join us aswe chat with Dr. Emily Carter, who
reveals the three surprisinghabits of highly successful people
(19:43):
you've never heard before.Because at first we're like, all
right, Dr. Emily Carter, who.Right. And then it's three. Of course
it's three. And habits ofhighly successful people. Yeah, we've
heard that. It wasn't there awhole. I think it was seven and then.
But you've never heard thesebefore. Ooh, something new. So it's
an expert. It's teasing, theunique insights, all that fun stuff.
(20:09):
Now another one is the highstakes hook. That's what they call
it. And so an example, thismight be in the next 45 minutes.
You'll discover the fiveminute morning routine that's helping
entrepreneurs double theirincome. This isn't theory. It's the
exact process that transformedmy business. And today I'm sharing
(20:32):
every detail. So why does thatwork? Well, it promises specific,
valuable information. And ifyou don't deliver that, they're gonna
not be happy about that. Sorealize that sometimes we kind of
get a grandiose with some ofthese, and if you don't deliver,
they're gonna be like, yeah,that guy's just a bunch of clickbait.
(20:53):
All right. It also sets cleartime frame. Right. In the next 45
minutes. Right. So you kind ofknow what you're getting into. It
offers proven results, and itsuggests that this is exclusive content
that you can't get anyplaceelse that makes it sound special.
So that is the high stakeshook. The next one is the personal
(21:17):
challenge hook. And it goes alittle something like this. I used
to think meditation wascompletely nonsense until a crisis
forced me to try it. Afterwhat happened next, I had to completely
rethink everything I believedabout mental strength. And today
we're exploring the sciencethat changed my mind. So this was
(21:39):
again, the personal challengehook. This is where I used to think
the blue yeti was the worstmicrophone on the planet. And then,
you know, I bought a micstand. I bought a mic stand and a
windscreen and learned how touse it. And now I think it's great.
Yeah. So why does thispersonal challenge, if we go back
to the person who didn'tbelieve in meditation, it shows vulnerability.
(22:04):
Right. It's like, hey, Ithought I was right, but I wasn't.
Vulnerability, when not usedas a crutch, can be very powerful.
When it's authenticvulnerability, it also kind of creates
this connection because it'srelatable. It promises evidence based
(22:24):
insights, not just opinions.Maybe. Right. Is a study of one.
I do that a lot here. And itbuilds that curiosity about, well,
what happened, that they'venow transformed their complete thought
about this. So that, again, isthe personal challenge hook. Which
leads us now to the compellingstory hook. Now, this is the one
(22:46):
I've used on occasion. Buthere's an example. Last Tuesday,
Sarah confidently walked intoher dream job interview, and 20 minutes
later, she ran out in tears.But what happened next transformed
not just her career, but anentire industry. Today, we're diving
into the revolutionaryapproach that's changing how we think
(23:09):
about job interviews. So whydoes that work? Well, it creates
immediate tension. There's ahuge curiosity gap there. It promises
transformation. It hints atvaluable insights. And it uses a
narrative structure to buildthat curiosity. So as we've heard
(23:30):
a few now, we can kind of seesome of those common characteristics.
It's relevant, the emotionalimpact. It's clear, it's brief, and
it promises value. When wecome back, is the way you're opening
your show horrible and nothooking your audience at all? We're
going to talk about badexamples of trying to hook an audience.
(24:52):
The school of podcasting.Yeah, yeah, yeah. The school of podcasting.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
All right, so we've talkedabout good introductions. Here's
some things to avoid. One,just being vague when you don't really
explain what's on the show orin the episode. My buddy Eric K.
(25:14):
Johnson, and my co host of thepodcast review show, you might know
him as the podcast talentcoach, says, nobody gets on a bus
without knowing where it'sgoing. And so it's like, hey, welcome
to another episode. Todaywe're gonna talk about some stuff.
Stuff. Shut up, Susan. Allright, so, yeah, I don't know what's
going on, Right. Welcome tothe three Daves and a Susan Show.
(25:37):
All right. You know, and thenthey just go into it, where are you
going? What's the show about?Or. And this is the one I was wondering
about. I'm like, maybe I'm.But when I was researching this one,
they said, is the informationoverload. Welcome to episode number
243, where we'll be discussingthe 15 essential components of strategic
(25:58):
planning frameworks, includingSWOT analysis, Porter's five forces,
pestle analysis, and 12 othercrucial mythologies that every business
professional should understandin detail. So it's too complex. Remember,
we're supposed to keep thesebrief and clear. And depending on
your audience, that could be alot of jargon, Right? It's an overwhelming
(26:20):
amount of information. So whenI'm like, hey, podcasting since 2005,
I'm your award winning hall offame podcast coach. Do we need all
that? I'm like, well, I'mtrying to establish my street cred
because apparently a lot ofyou are not impressed that I'm in
the hall of fame. I'm lookingat my survey results and they're
like, yeah, like, why shouldwe listen to you? And I'm like, oh,
(26:42):
all right. Well, I'll have tofix that going forward. I'll be talking.
You'll hear in futureepisodes, I'm going to be bringing
in my survey results if youhaven't filled it out yet. Schoolofpodcasting.com
survey25, here's another badopening. The self centered opening.
This is always great. Hey.Hey, guys. Sorry I haven't posted
(27:05):
in a while. I've been superbusy, you know, with life and work
and grandma died again, and.Anyway, I thought I'd record something
today about whatever's on mymind. Okay, so why does this not
work? It focuses on the hostinstead of the listener. It shows
a lack of preparation, itoffers no value proposition, and
(27:26):
it kind of soundsunprofessional. Then there's the
over promise. Goes a littlesomething like this. In this episode,
we're going to completelychange your entire life forever and
make you a millionaireovernight. I guarantee you've never
heard anything like thisbefore, so. And join now for three
(27:46):
easy payments. Right? Well,number one, it makes unrealistic
claims. It sounds likeclickbait because it is. And it lacks
credibility, you know, andit's gonna create somebody going,
really? Yeah, there's gonna bea little skepticism there. The rambling
start. And it goes a littlesomething like this. So I was thinking
(28:07):
the other day about making, ormaybe talking about success or maybe
productivity or I don't know,perhaps we could discuss leadership.
Actually, let's just see wherethis goes. Yeah, that's not a good
intro. It shows a lack ofdirection. It creates uncertainty,
it demonstrates poor planningand wastes the listener's time. The
(28:29):
best hooks, again, arespecific and focused. They promise
a clear value, they createemotional connections, they spark
curiosity, and they're conciseand they're well structured. Now,
what's one of the biggesthurdles of coming up with a good
(28:49):
intro is often the way I do myshow. My intro is one of the last
things I record because atthis point I figured out what's coming,
what's staying, and what'sleaving. So I know what's in the
show. And then I go and makethe intro. And because it's one of
the last things I do, I'm alittle tired. I just want to go to
(29:10):
bed. It's almost over. Andthen I got to still do show notes.
Oh, this will do. And then Ijust blew. I just vomit one up. And
here's my intro. And again,I'm talking primarily here about
audio podcasts, but if you'redoing YouTube. I saw one video. It
was kind of hard because Ikept getting information from YouTube
(29:32):
and that's just a differentbeast because it is much more visual
and things like that. But theysaid you should spend as much time
on your title and yourthumbnail and your. Your hook as
you do the rest of yourcontent. So if you spend an hour
and a half recording yourshow, spend an hour half coming up
(29:57):
with a title and a hook andyour artwork. And I was like, that's
an interesting strategy, butit just shows you how that's so important
on YouTube. But I know thishas made me think about it because
I do a live show everySaturday and it's welcome to ask
(30:17):
the podcast coach where youget your podcast questions answered
live. And then I introducemyself, my co host, Jim Collison.
But we honestly don't knowwhere we're going. I have an idea,
but I always go where the chatroom wants to go. That's the whole
point. It's kind of a call inshow except we do it without a phone
and we take questions viachat. If you want to ever join, it's
(30:39):
every Saturday at 10:30Eastern, 10:30am and just go to AskThePodcastCoach.com
live. I might either a remindthe audience that that show along
with this show uses chaptersand so you can jump to whatever topic
you want to or put whateverthe title is, put that topic at the
(31:04):
beginning of the show. BecauseI know my last episode we were talking
and this is probably somethingwe're going to have for the question
of the month, but we weretalking about what is advanced podcasting?
And we answered two questionsbefore we got to that one. So here
if you see the episode titleis what is advanced podcasting? And
(31:27):
then you got to sit throughtwo other questions that again can
be frustrating. So maybe Ineed to remind people at the beginning
of the show when you're like,hey, we're here, here's Jim Collison,
blah, blah, blah. Don'tforget, if you're listening to this
later, you can always jump tothe different chapters to go to the
different topics. So thatmight be something I do in the future
(31:48):
or just edit the show so thatwhatever topic that I felt because
that's a hard thing to do whenyou have multiple topics. If you
kind of have a show that hasmultiple segments, how do you come
up with a title that coversthe five things you covered? For
me, this is how I handle it.What's the one thing that's going
(32:09):
to. Here's my magic wordagain, resonate with my audience
the most. And in this case,the chat room lit up as did myself
and my co host when we startedtalking about what is advanced podcasting.
And so I was like, that's thetitle of the episode and I should
have just edited it. Put thatat the Front and then move the other
(32:30):
questions not out, but justmove them to later in the episode.
So this has got me thinking.The other thing I thought was weird
and I said I would talk aboutthis is on YouTube. People now don't
do any kind of intro like Iused to go, hey, I'm Dave Jackson
from the school of podcasting.We help you plan, launch, and grow
your podcast. And then today,I don't do that anymore. Why? Because
(32:54):
all the gurus say thateverybody on YouTube wants you to
get to that content quickly,and you can see how far they drop
off. So if you do some sort ofobnoxious. All these visual things,
it's like, yeah, they're gone.They want that content quickly. Now,
what's weird about it is weall know that the algorithm. Wait,
(33:15):
we need reverb for that. Thealgorithm. You know, that whole discoverability
thing that the algorithm willhelp you get found. Okay, so you
have a whole bunch of newpeople finding you. Shouldn't you
then kind of give your streetcred? Shouldn't you say who you are
and why you should listen tome? Again, keeping it brief. But
(33:37):
it's weird that in the placethat you have all sorts of new people
finding you, the advice isdon't tell them who you are. And
yet on a podcast where you'rediscovered via word of mouth most
of the time, and then theyfollow the show so that you know
who I am. I'm spending 38seconds explaining who I am, which
is why most of you skipped thefirst minute and a half of my show.
(33:59):
I just find that odd. But ifyou're sitting there thinking, hey,
you can go out to the shownotes, of course, and check out the
extensive show notes that I'llbe doing for this show. But if you
want this list of hooks that'salso available as a PDF, you can
just go toschoolofpodcasting.com hooks that's
(34:22):
schoolofpodcasting.com hooks.And to quote the one of my favorites,
I miss him. The one and onlyRobin Williams asked a really good
question, and that was, whatwas Captain Hook's hand before the
accident? Captain Hand.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
(34:44):
And just to remind you that ifyou decide to put some of these strategies
into place, you're going tofeel a little weird. You're going
to be like, I'm not sure ifI'm comfortable with this. And that's
kind of good. That meansyou're trying something new, means
you're learning something new.And the bottom line is, does it make
(35:05):
you want to keep listening?That's really like, how do you know
if you have a good hook? Doyou want to keep listening? Yes.
Then you have a good hook. Howdo I know if I have a good title?
I don't know. Do you want toclick on it? Yeah. Then that's. That's
a good title. What aboutartwork? I don't know. Does it stop
the scroll? Does it make youstop and look? Well, then that's
(35:27):
good artwork. Because that'sreally what we're trying to do in
many cases is stop the scroll.If you need help with this, I love
to help people, simply go outto schoolofpodcasting.com click on
the join now button. Use thecoupon code listnr when you sign
up for either a monthly,quarterly or yearly subscription.
(35:47):
And that comes with a 30 daymoney back guarantee. I'm Dave Jackson.
I help podcasters. It's what Ido as it's Memorial Day weekend.
To all the people that haveserved in the armed forces, thank
you for your service. Takecare. God bless. Class is dismissed.
(36:07):
This podcast is part of thepower of podcasting network. Find
it@powerofpodcasting.com 20minutes later, she ran out in tears.
But what happened nexttransformed. Why can I not talk today?
Transfer and cognitive. Whatis this? Cognitive dissonance. Wait,
(36:31):
how about mental conflict or.Or good old fashioned like I've been
talking about, you know, thebrain, the curiosity gap, cognitive
dissidents. I would never saythat in a million years.
The next 15 seconds of thisepisode could determine whether thousands
of listeners stick around foryour next podcast or click away forever.
That's the power of a wellcrafted hook. And today I'm pulling
back the curtain on exactlyhow to write one that keeps your
audience hanging on everysingle word. Yeah, you know what?
I don't like that one. Let'sdo this one instead. Did you know
(00:24):
that the average podcast loses20 to 35% of its listeners in the
first five minutes? Todaywe're diving into the psychology
behind what makes people stayor leave. And I'll share five proven
hooks that can transform yourpodcast's opening from good to unforgettable.
Yeah, that one works. Hit it, ladies.
(00:44):
The school of podcasting withDave Jackson.
Podcasting since 2005, I amyour award winning hall of fame podcast
coach, Dave Jackson. Thankingyou so much for tuning in. If you're
new to the show, this is whereI help you plan, launch and grow
your podcast. My website isschoolofpodcasting.com use the coupon
(01:09):
code listener when you sign upfor either a monthly, quarterly or
yearly subscription. And thatcomes with a 30 day money back guarantee.
And I may have just committedone of the bad hooks. We're going
to talk about those as we goalong today. And if you're wondering
what is a hook, it's theopening of the show that gets people
(01:32):
to want to continue listening.And so one of the things I want to
point out is this startsbefore we even get to somebody pushing
play. A good episode titlereally helps. And you've heard me
say this before, if you're newto the show, I do not recommend putting
(01:53):
episode numbers at thebeginning of your episode title.
I actually did some researchon this for podpage where I'm the
head of podcasting there. Andyeah, it's. You have a better chance
of ranking higher in theGoogle if your keywords are closer
to the beginning of yourtitle. So if you needed another reason,
(02:15):
that would be one. And then ifwe're talking YouTube, which, you
know, 98% of this, we're not.But with YouTube, you have to have
a great thumbnail. So greattitle. And great thumbnail now in
audio podcasting, great title.And I would think a thumbnail, you
know, the little square imagewould help. But here is, I did a
(02:38):
ton of research on this andrealized that I have not been doing
this very well. So here aresome things and this is my, like,
new favorite word. The firstthing, like what makes a good hook
is relevance. I think that'sMy new favorite word. So what I mean
by relevance is, hey, you justhave this eye catching title that
(03:00):
made someone click is whatyou're talking about getting to what
they want to as quickly aspossible. Picture it this way. You
got a dog. The dog loves thetreats. You grab the treat box and
you shake it in front of yourdog. And your dog is like, oh, yeah,
I am ready for a treat rightnow. And you open up the treat box
(03:22):
and you go, first, let me readthis LinkedIn bio to you in a really
boring way, proving that maybeI shouldn't even be reading into
a microphone. And the dog islike, what? Give me the treat, buddy.
I want the milk bone. So youwant to have whatever it is, because
that LinkedIn bio is notrelevant to the dog treat. And there
(03:43):
are many times when we come upwith this great AI catching, you
know, just super title. Andthen people click on it and they're
like, so, how was your week? Idon't know. Well, wait till you hear
what Mr. Whiskers did to thecouch. And you're like, what? So
a good hook connects directlyto the theme or topic of your episode.
It should hint. It shouldhint. And one of the things that
(04:07):
kept coming up in my researchis a curiosity gap. Your brain can't
take that. Like, if you go,you know what? Yeah, people like,
what? What's. You know, itshould hint at what's coming without
giving everything away. Sothat's one thing, it's relevant.
(04:28):
The other one is emotionalimpact. So it's evoking curiosity
or excitement or evencontroversy that can create an emotional
connection with your audience.And that prompts them to like, ooh,
I want to see what happens.And then clarity and brevity. So
(04:48):
as I said, I was doing allthat podcasting sense to him. Maybe
we need to lose that. I'lltalk about that maybe a little later.
But your hook should be clearand to the point. If you make it
complex, it can confuse. Andwe don't want that. We don't want
them to be confused. We wantthem to just keep listening. And
if they're like, I have noidea what I'm listening to, they
(05:11):
may hit the old, nah, not thisweek. And then it promises value.
You always want your episodesto deliver value. So whether it's
information, whether it'sentertainment or inspiration, a strong
hook promises somethingvaluable to the listener. And then
(05:31):
the thing you want to makesure of by the time you get ready
to hit publish. Did youdeliver the promise? Because there
are some times when peoplewill Throw out this amazing hook
just to get you to listen. Iremember once. This is true. I was
watching the news, and theywere like, is the school system feeding
(05:54):
things that are poisoning yourchildren at school? And I was like,
dang, what do they do underthe peanut butter cookies? Because
that's all I ate in juniorhigh. And it turned out the answer
was no. Yeah, they weren't.And I was like, well, wait, you made
me watch the news for you togo, oh, no, but they. They might
have, but they're not. And Iwas like, well, that's the last time
(06:17):
I watched the news. So we'regonna talk about some examples of
good hooks and why they'regood. But one of the things that
makes a good hook isunderstanding your target audience.
This is now crucial becausewhat works for a business podcast
(06:39):
may not work for a true crimeor an entertainment or whatever.
So you have to really tailoryour approach to match your audience
expectations. In the end, thegoal of a hook is to create a strong
first impression that not onlycaptures the attention, but also
(07:00):
sets appropriate expectationsfor the episode content that is going
to be following after theypress play. I mean, that's what we're
looking to do, is to providejust enough information to establish
relevance and value whileleaving the listeners wanting to
know more about the episodecontent. And one of the things I
(07:22):
see a lot of that I don'tthink does that is when somebody
takes a clip from theinterview and you hit play and you
go, yeah, my dad used to sendme out to the barn. It was red, and
I just remember it smelledlike horse poop. And you're like,
okay, that's. Does that makeme want. Is there some sort of curiosity
(07:45):
gap in there? If he had said,I remember once my dad made me go
out to the barn alone, and Icouldn't believe what I saw when
I opened up the door, Right?That's a brain gap. But the whole
pull an episode clip to me,and again, I know you're like, but
AI can pull out a clip. Yeah,but is it a good clip? You know,
(08:09):
because think about it. Aninterview probably has kind of a
beginning, middle, and an end.And that's kind of like going to
your favorite book. Now, look,I know it's your favorite book, but
it had a beginning, middle,and an end. It was meant to be read
in a certain way. And when yougo and just rip out page 22 and go,
here, read this, it may not bea great introduction to the book.
(08:32):
And what could save you a lotof time because you were there in
the interview is just toexplain who's on the show, what value
they're going to get. Andyou're not going to believe it, but
we talk about blank, createthat curiosity. That's what we're
going to get to here in termsof examples of good hooks. But I,
(08:53):
for me, I don't think I seethe. Let's pull a clip from the interview.
I don't see that being usedeffectively. I don't usually. Kind
of. Usually it leaves meconfused. It does not leave me wanting
more. It leaves me going, whatthe heck am I getting into? So here
are some strategies, and we'regoing to talk about what they were,
(09:16):
why they work. And the firstone is questions. Now, remember how
I said it is crucial that youunderstand who your audience is,
because a listener feels kindof personally addressed and understood
when you ask the question thatthey are facing. It's specific to
them. So for me, if I said,are you struggling to take your total
(09:39):
episode downloads to 10,000downloads? Right. That approach works
well, both in a monologue andif you're doing an interview, but
creating a conversationaltone, you know, because it's just
a question, hey, let's talkabout it. That draws listeners in,
and it's a question that theyask. Now, if you ask a question like,
(10:03):
hey, are you struggling tofind a pen that has green ink? There
might be a few people in theaudience, but most of you, like,
wait, what? I tuned into,like, what? Yeah, so engaging questions.
That's what we're looking for.So ever wonder what your life would
look like if you couldeliminate all your distractions?
(10:23):
Stay with us as we uncoversecrets to mastering focus in today's
digital age. And I'll try notto do an obnoxious radio guy all
the time. But why does thatwork? Well, this hook, it asks an
intriguing question. Have youever wondered what life would look
like if you could eliminateall your distractions? You go, ooh,
(10:45):
that'd be interesting. And itpromises valuable insights, enticing
the listener to want to findout more. So engaging questions can
be a way to hook people in.Another one is a personal antidote.
Now, I've used this one quitea bit in the past, and it's usually
(11:08):
just a short story. And we'lltalk about that maybe a little later,
because there are times whenmy intros are a little on the long
side. But here's one. Byopening with a personal experience
or some sort of relatableantidote, podcasters can create immediate
emotional engagement thatdraws the listener into the narrative.
(11:30):
And the story should directlyrelate to the episode theme, or as
I like to call it, the episodetitle. Because again, if you start
in a story about Mr. Whiskersripping up the couch and the episode
is how to turn $10 into 10,000downloads, people are not going to
be happy. Right? So tie itinto the title while highlighting
(11:54):
the challenges or situationsthat audience members can recognize
from their own lives. So somesort of personal story that has people
wondering, how is this goingto end? And also like, yeah, I'm
in the same boat. How are wegoing to do that? So some sort of
personal antidote. So here'san example. Three years ago, and
(12:17):
for the record, these are madeup, these are not me. This is not
a personal antidote for me.This is an example. But three years
ago, I hit rock bottom. Littledid I know that moment would redefine
my path to happiness. Andhere's what happened. So why does
that work? Well, it's apersonal story. It taps into emotions,
(12:37):
taps into curiosity, and thatthen makes it relatable and engaging.
As soon as you hear RockBottom, you're either going to think
about Kiss Alive 1. It's agreat song, or, you know, you're
like, wait, this is. This isgoing to be a story. And also rock
bottom. When somebody revealsrock bottom, that is vulnerability.
(13:01):
They are peeling back thecurtain. That is not information
that most people like. Hi,nice to meet you. I'm Dave. Let me
tell you about the worst partof my life ever, right? So it's information
you don't normally get. Sothat's one. A personal antidote.
So engaging questions,personal antidotes. A shocking fact.
(13:21):
Shocking, I say. So. Now, keepin mind, the controversy should be
genuine, and it should be,again, relative to the content. It's
not manufactured solely toshock people. You know, bold statements
work because they create thatcuriosity gap, right? It's. It's
(13:44):
tension in the brain. It'slike, wait, what? So keep that in
mind. But it forces thelistener to reconcile the challenging
information with theirexisting beliefs. So if somebody
starts off, Sammy Hagar wasway better as a frontman in Van Halen,
I'll be like, what? Blasphemy?Right. Might have been a better singer,
(14:06):
better front man. Not sure.But anyway, incorporating surprising
statistics or resonant quotes,this provides immediate credibility
and context for the episodecontent. So people know exactly what
they're getting into. Right.It's not a surprise. So here's one.
(14:26):
Did you know the averageperson checks their phone 96 times
a day? Here's how that'srewiring our brains and what you
can do about it. Right? Soyou're like, wait, do it. And then
immediately you're like, wait,how many times do I. Well, let's
see. I check it the first timeI get out of bed. And then there's,
you know, sometimes I check itwhile I'm in the shower. Right, There's.
Right. So that's a shockingfact. So why does this work? It's
(14:50):
a surprising statistic. Itgrabs your attention. It sets the
stage for the insightfulcontent. Here's another one. 93%
of communication is a. Is.Isn't. Oh, see, it'd be nice if I
said it right. Let's try thatagain. 93% of communication isn't
about your words at all. Infact, you're probably making three
(15:11):
critical communicationmistakes right now that are sabotaging
your relationships. Stay tunedas we unpack the hidden signals you're
sending and how to fix them.Come on. You don't want to hear more
of that? So why does thatwork? It opens with a surprising
fact. 93% of communicationisn't about your words at all. It
(15:33):
suggests personal relevance.I'm going to get a T shirt. I think
with that. Just be relevant.It promises practical solutions and
it creates an urgency to learnmore. Because it's like, look, you
might be making these mistakesright now. You're making mistakes.
Stop it. What's wrong with youpeople? All right, so that's again,
(15:56):
shocking fact. But don't makeit so shocking. I hate. Because what
do we call it when there aretimes, and I'm still not quite sure
why, I think I go there justto hate it. But I will go to Yahoo
and it will say, you know,watch Jennifer Aniston get eaten
by a shark. And I'm like,what? And I click on it and there's
(16:18):
no video. There's no JenniferAniston. It's like, what? And what
do we call that? Clickbait. Dowe like it? No, because we feel lied
to. So, yeah, make your titlesomething that entices people to
click on it, but you want itto be relevant. All right, moving
(16:38):
on to the intriguing scenario.Ooh, it's so intriguing. The scenario
based hook. It works byplacing the listener directly into
challenging situations theymight encounter. So an example might
be, imagine waking up tomorrowto find that your biggest competitor
slash their prices in half.How would you respond? Right. The
(17:03):
approach creates immediateengagement by forcing the listener
to consider their own responsewhile positioning the upcoming content
as providing the expertguidance for these exact situations.
So in a world. No, I'm justkidding. Imagine waking up tomorrow
with a billion dollars. Howwould that change your life? Today
(17:27):
we're exploring the realimpact of sudden wealth and the hidden
challenges it brings. So whydoes that work? The scenario, it
sparks the imagination. Whatif I did wake up with a bazillion
dollars? You know, it kind ofsparks creativity and curiosity,
making listeners eager toexplore the topic further. Here's
(17:50):
another one. What ifeverything you knew about productivity
was wrong? Today's guest spent10 years studying the world's most
successful people anddiscovered that they all share one
surprising habit. And that'sthe opposite of what most experts
recommend. You're like, wait,what? I want to be more productive.
Right. So it challenges yourexisting beliefs, and it promises
(18:13):
exclusive insights that youcan't get anyplace else. And it teases
expert knowledge. I actuallymight use this in the future. I'm
working on an episode aboutadvertising and downloads, and I
was thinking that one of thequestions might be, what would it
be like if you Woke up with5,000 more downloads? What would
(18:36):
that do for you? So that mightbe if you hear that in the future,
that was inspired by me doingall this research. So that one. Again,
the intriguing scenario. Allright, next up, we have the relatable
problem. So it might besomething like, ever feel like your
work life balance is just amyth? Discover practical steps to
(19:00):
reclaim your time and findtrue balance in today's episode.
So why does that work? Well,it addresses a common issue, which
is work life balance. Itpromises actionable solutions that
resonate with many of youraudience. So the relatable problem.
And again, how is itrelatable? Because you know who your
(19:22):
audience is. Another one is ateaser of an expert insight. And
really, any kind of teaserbuilds that kind of curiosity gap.
So if we said, hey, join us aswe chat with Dr. Emily Carter, who
reveals the three surprisinghabits of highly successful people
(19:43):
you've never heard before.Because at first we're like, all
right, Dr. Emily Carter, who.Right. And then it's three. Of course
it's three. And habits ofhighly successful people. Yeah, we've
heard that. It wasn't there awhole. I think it was seven and then.
But you've never heard thesebefore. Ooh, something new. So it's
an expert. It's teasing, theunique insights, all that fun stuff.
(20:09):
Now another one is the highstakes hook. That's what they call
it. And so an example, thismight be in the next 45 minutes.
You'll discover the fiveminute morning routine that's helping
entrepreneurs double theirincome. This isn't theory. It's the
exact process that transformedmy business. And today I'm sharing
(20:32):
every detail. So why does thatwork? Well, it promises specific,
valuable information. And ifyou don't deliver that, they're gonna
not be happy about that. Sorealize that sometimes we kind of
get a grandiose with some ofthese, and if you don't deliver,
they're gonna be like, yeah,that guy's just a bunch of clickbait.
(20:53):
All right. It also sets cleartime frame. Right. In the next 45
minutes. Right. So you kind ofknow what you're getting into. It
offers proven results, and itsuggests that this is exclusive content
that you can't get anyplaceelse that makes it sound special.
So that is the high stakeshook. The next one is the personal
(21:17):
challenge hook. And it goes alittle something like this. I used
to think meditation wascompletely nonsense until a crisis
forced me to try it. Afterwhat happened next, I had to completely
rethink everything I believedabout mental strength. And today
we're exploring the sciencethat changed my mind. So this was
(21:39):
again, the personal challengehook. This is where I used to think
the blue yeti was the worstmicrophone on the planet. And then,
you know, I bought a micstand. I bought a mic stand and a
windscreen and learned how touse it. And now I think it's great.
Yeah. So why does thispersonal challenge, if we go back
to the person who didn'tbelieve in meditation, it shows vulnerability.
(22:04):
Right. It's like, hey, Ithought I was right, but I wasn't.
Vulnerability, when not usedas a crutch, can be very powerful.
When it's authenticvulnerability, it also kind of creates
this connection because it'srelatable. It promises evidence based
(22:24):
insights, not just opinions.Maybe. Right. Is a study of one.
I do that a lot here. And itbuilds that curiosity about, well,
what happened, that they'venow transformed their complete thought
about this. So that, again, isthe personal challenge hook. Which
leads us now to the compellingstory hook. Now, this is the one
(22:46):
I've used on occasion. Buthere's an example. Last Tuesday,
Sarah confidently walked intoher dream job interview, and 20 minutes
later, she ran out in tears.But what happened next transformed
not just her career, but anentire industry. Today, we're diving
into the revolutionaryapproach that's changing how we think
(23:09):
about job interviews. So whydoes that work? Well, it creates
immediate tension. There's ahuge curiosity gap there. It promises
transformation. It hints atvaluable insights. And it uses a
narrative structure to buildthat curiosity. So as we've heard
(23:30):
a few now, we can kind of seesome of those common characteristics.
It's relevant, the emotionalimpact. It's clear, it's brief, and
it promises value. When wecome back, is the way you're opening
your show horrible and nothooking your audience at all? We're
going to talk about badexamples of trying to hook an audience.
(24:52):
The school of podcasting.Yeah, yeah, yeah. The school of podcasting.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
All right, so we've talkedabout good introductions. Here's
some things to avoid. One,just being vague when you don't really
explain what's on the show orin the episode. My buddy Eric K.
(25:14):
Johnson, and my co host of thepodcast review show, you might know
him as the podcast talentcoach, says, nobody gets on a bus
without knowing where it'sgoing. And so it's like, hey, welcome
to another episode. Todaywe're gonna talk about some stuff.
Stuff. Shut up, Susan. Allright, so, yeah, I don't know what's
going on, Right. Welcome tothe three Daves and a Susan Show.
(25:37):
All right. You know, and thenthey just go into it, where are you
going? What's the show about?Or. And this is the one I was wondering
about. I'm like, maybe I'm.But when I was researching this one,
they said, is the informationoverload. Welcome to episode number
243, where we'll be discussingthe 15 essential components of strategic
(25:58):
planning frameworks, includingSWOT analysis, Porter's five forces,
pestle analysis, and 12 othercrucial mythologies that every business
professional should understandin detail. So it's too complex. Remember,
we're supposed to keep thesebrief and clear. And depending on
your audience, that could be alot of jargon, Right? It's an overwhelming
(26:20):
amount of information. So whenI'm like, hey, podcasting since 2005,
I'm your award winning hall offame podcast coach. Do we need all
that? I'm like, well, I'mtrying to establish my street cred
because apparently a lot ofyou are not impressed that I'm in
the hall of fame. I'm lookingat my survey results and they're
like, yeah, like, why shouldwe listen to you? And I'm like, oh,
(26:42):
all right. Well, I'll have tofix that going forward. I'll be talking.
You'll hear in futureepisodes, I'm going to be bringing
in my survey results if youhaven't filled it out yet. Schoolofpodcasting.com
survey25, here's another badopening. The self centered opening.
This is always great. Hey.Hey, guys. Sorry I haven't posted
(27:05):
in a while. I've been superbusy, you know, with life and work
and grandma died again, and.Anyway, I thought I'd record something
today about whatever's on mymind. Okay, so why does this not
work? It focuses on the hostinstead of the listener. It shows
a lack of preparation, itoffers no value proposition, and
(27:26):
it kind of soundsunprofessional. Then there's the
over promise. Goes a littlesomething like this. In this episode,
we're going to completelychange your entire life forever and
make you a millionaireovernight. I guarantee you've never
heard anything like thisbefore, so. And join now for three
(27:46):
easy payments. Right? Well,number one, it makes unrealistic
claims. It sounds likeclickbait because it is. And it lacks
credibility, you know, andit's gonna create somebody going,
really? Yeah, there's gonna bea little skepticism there. The rambling
start. And it goes a littlesomething like this. So I was thinking
(28:07):
the other day about making, ormaybe talking about success or maybe
productivity or I don't know,perhaps we could discuss leadership.
Actually, let's just see wherethis goes. Yeah, that's not a good
intro. It shows a lack ofdirection. It creates uncertainty,
it demonstrates poor planningand wastes the listener's time. The
(28:29):
best hooks, again, arespecific and focused. They promise
a clear value, they createemotional connections, they spark
curiosity, and they're conciseand they're well structured. Now,
what's one of the biggesthurdles of coming up with a good
(28:49):
intro is often the way I do myshow. My intro is one of the last
things I record because atthis point I figured out what's coming,
what's staying, and what'sleaving. So I know what's in the
show. And then I go and makethe intro. And because it's one of
the last things I do, I'm alittle tired. I just want to go to
(29:10):
bed. It's almost over. Andthen I got to still do show notes.
Oh, this will do. And then Ijust blew. I just vomit one up. And
here's my intro. And again,I'm talking primarily here about
audio podcasts, but if you'redoing YouTube. I saw one video. It
was kind of hard because Ikept getting information from YouTube
(29:32):
and that's just a differentbeast because it is much more visual
and things like that. But theysaid you should spend as much time
on your title and yourthumbnail and your. Your hook as
you do the rest of yourcontent. So if you spend an hour
and a half recording yourshow, spend an hour half coming up
(29:57):
with a title and a hook andyour artwork. And I was like, that's
an interesting strategy, butit just shows you how that's so important
on YouTube. But I know thishas made me think about it because
I do a live show everySaturday and it's welcome to ask
(30:17):
the podcast coach where youget your podcast questions answered
live. And then I introducemyself, my co host, Jim Collison.
But we honestly don't knowwhere we're going. I have an idea,
but I always go where the chatroom wants to go. That's the whole
point. It's kind of a call inshow except we do it without a phone
and we take questions viachat. If you want to ever join, it's
(30:39):
every Saturday at 10:30Eastern, 10:30am and just go to AskThePodcastCoach.com
live. I might either a remindthe audience that that show along
with this show uses chaptersand so you can jump to whatever topic
you want to or put whateverthe title is, put that topic at the
(31:04):
beginning of the show. BecauseI know my last episode we were talking
and this is probably somethingwe're going to have for the question
of the month, but we weretalking about what is advanced podcasting?
And we answered two questionsbefore we got to that one. So here
if you see the episode titleis what is advanced podcasting? And
(31:27):
then you got to sit throughtwo other questions that again can
be frustrating. So maybe Ineed to remind people at the beginning
of the show when you're like,hey, we're here, here's Jim Collison,
blah, blah, blah. Don'tforget, if you're listening to this
later, you can always jump tothe different chapters to go to the
different topics. So thatmight be something I do in the future
(31:48):
or just edit the show so thatwhatever topic that I felt because
that's a hard thing to do whenyou have multiple topics. If you
kind of have a show that hasmultiple segments, how do you come
up with a title that coversthe five things you covered? For
me, this is how I handle it.What's the one thing that's going
(32:09):
to. Here's my magic wordagain, resonate with my audience
the most. And in this case,the chat room lit up as did myself
and my co host when we startedtalking about what is advanced podcasting.
And so I was like, that's thetitle of the episode and I should
have just edited it. Put thatat the Front and then move the other
(32:30):
questions not out, but justmove them to later in the episode.
So this has got me thinking.The other thing I thought was weird
and I said I would talk aboutthis is on YouTube. People now don't
do any kind of intro like Iused to go, hey, I'm Dave Jackson
from the school of podcasting.We help you plan, launch, and grow
your podcast. And then today,I don't do that anymore. Why? Because
(32:54):
all the gurus say thateverybody on YouTube wants you to
get to that content quickly,and you can see how far they drop
off. So if you do some sort ofobnoxious. All these visual things,
it's like, yeah, they're gone.They want that content quickly. Now,
what's weird about it is weall know that the algorithm. Wait,
(33:15):
we need reverb for that. Thealgorithm. You know, that whole discoverability
thing that the algorithm willhelp you get found. Okay, so you
have a whole bunch of newpeople finding you. Shouldn't you
then kind of give your streetcred? Shouldn't you say who you are
and why you should listen tome? Again, keeping it brief. But
(33:37):
it's weird that in the placethat you have all sorts of new people
finding you, the advice isdon't tell them who you are. And
yet on a podcast where you'rediscovered via word of mouth most
of the time, and then theyfollow the show so that you know
who I am. I'm spending 38seconds explaining who I am, which
is why most of you skipped thefirst minute and a half of my show.
(33:59):
I just find that odd. But ifyou're sitting there thinking, hey,
you can go out to the shownotes, of course, and check out the
extensive show notes that I'llbe doing for this show. But if you
want this list of hooks that'salso available as a PDF, you can
just go toschoolofpodcasting.com hooks that's
(34:22):
schoolofpodcasting.com hooks.And to quote the one of my favorites,
I miss him. The one and onlyRobin Williams asked a really good
question, and that was, whatwas Captain Hook's hand before the
accident? Captain Hand.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
(34:44):
And just to remind you that ifyou decide to put some of these strategies
into place, you're going tofeel a little weird. You're going
to be like, I'm not sure ifI'm comfortable with this. And that's
kind of good. That meansyou're trying something new, means
you're learning something new.And the bottom line is, does it make
(35:05):
you want to keep listening?That's really like, how do you know
if you have a good hook? Doyou want to keep listening? Yes.
Then you have a good hook. Howdo I know if I have a good title?
I don't know. Do you want toclick on it? Yeah. Then that's. That's
a good title. What aboutartwork? I don't know. Does it stop
the scroll? Does it make youstop and look? Well, then that's
(35:27):
good artwork. Because that'sreally what we're trying to do in
many cases is stop the scroll.If you need help with this, I love
to help people, simply go outto schoolofpodcasting.com click on
the join now button. Use thecoupon code listnr when you sign
up for either a monthly,quarterly or yearly subscription.
(35:47):
And that comes with a 30 daymoney back guarantee. I'm Dave Jackson.
I help podcasters. It's what Ido as it's Memorial Day weekend.
To all the people that haveserved in the armed forces, thank
you for your service. Takecare. God bless. Class is dismissed.
(36:07):
This podcast is part of thepower of podcasting network. Find
it@powerofpodcasting.com 20minutes later, she ran out in tears.
But what happened nexttransformed. Why can I not talk today?
Transfer and cognitive. Whatis this? Cognitive dissonance. Wait,
(36:31):
how about mental conflict or.Or good old fashioned like I've been
talking about, you know, thebrain, the curiosity gap, cognitive
dissidents. I would never saythat in a million years.
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