What's the ideal length for a podcast? - podcast episode cover

What's the ideal length for a podcast?

Jun 08, 20258 minEp. 127
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Episode description

One of the most common questions I get asked is “What’s the ideal length for a podcast?”

And the answer is…there’s no perfect length.

In this episode, I explain what you need to consider when deciding how long your episodes should be, including your audience’s attention span and lifestyle, the quality of your content as well as your own time and energy.

Whether you’re doing solo episodes, interviews, or highly produced content, the key is finding a length you can stick to consistently, without burning out.

What you’ll learn:

  • Why there’s no “right” podcast length
  • How your audience influences your decision 
  • The risk of trying to stretch content to fit a time target
  • How to find a format and length you can commit to
  • Why consistency matters more than length

EPISODE CREDITS:

Host: Rachel Corbett

Editing Assistance: Josh Newth

LINKS & OTHER IMPORTANT STUFF:

Download my free podcasting guide

Check out my online podcasting course, PodSchool

Click here to submit a question to the show

Email me: [email protected]

Follow me: Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok or check out my blog or the PodSchool website.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Wangal people, of the Eora Nation.

I pay my respects to Elders past and present.

Transcript

Got dreams of being a professional podcaster, but have no idea what you're doing. This is impossible. That's about to change. A new kind of school. Welcome to the Pod School Podcast. Hello, welcome to the show. Today's question is from Angelique, and she asks: What is the ideal length of time for a podcast? welcometotheshow.Today's questionisfromAngelique and sheasks,whatisthe ideallengthoftimefor apodcast?Greatquestion. And onethat justdon'thaveaclearanswer.You know,howlong isapieceof

string,Angelique?That'smyanswer.The ideallengthforapodcast.There is notime.It'snotlikeIcantellyou.Look, 10minutes isthebestforapodcastbecausetheideallengthforyourpodcastwill dependonwhoyouraudienceisandwhatyourcontent is. Interms ofyouraudience,youneedtothinkabout whoyouaretalkingto andthatwill informyourdecisionsaroundthelengthofyourcontent.WhatImeanbythatisifyou aredoingashowforbusy

moms,you'renotgoingtobedoingfivehourepisodesthatthey'reexpectedtogetthrough.Youknow,youhavetoreallythinklike,whattimedoes myideal audiencehaveavailable?What aretheygoingto find most useful? Andthenin termsofyourcontent,youwantto dotheideallength. Thatmeansthatthecontentthatyou'reshippingoutisreallythebestversionofthatcontent. Soyouhavefullyfleshedout whateveryouneedtofleshout,but there'snomess,nofaff,nofluff,no craparoundthe

edges.Youhaven'twasted 20minutesof the introjustchatting and shootingthebreezewithyourco hostbeforeyouactuallygetnewcontent.You'veedited thatsoitsounds really,really strongfromstarttofinish.And editing is amustineverysinglepodcast episode. Soyou haveto utilizethatif youwant aprofessionalsounding show.Butideallyyou'rethinking,well,howlongdoI need toactuallyputtogether thebest version ofthiscontent?Nowthatreallydiffers showtoshow.Ihave apodcast thatIdid inthepastwhereIwould

sitdownwithmediapersonalitiesandIwouldtalktothemabouthowtheygotintomedia.Iwasgettingasked alot ofquestionsofhowdidyougetontv?Howdidyou,youknow,getintoradio? AndIrealized,oh,there's alot ofpeoplethat are reallyinterestedinthis,buttheythinkthattheanswer isgoingtobe,oh,I just applied.Itwaslike,actuallyI workedfor15yearsbeforeI gotontelevision,soIwantedtositdownwithsome ofthe wellknownpeopleinAustralianmedia.Theshowiscalledyou'vegottostartsomewhere.Youcancheckitoutifyou'dlike,and

Iwouldsitdownandtalkaboutthecareers.Someofthosechatswentforoveranhour becauseyoucan't reallygo throughwhatyouneedtogothroughin20minutes.Ifyouarelookingatwhatis thepathtogetyoutowhereyouarenow,like,howdidyoudothestepsto getthere?Weneededsometimeto getthrough that.Thisshow,however,someoftheepisodescan bethreeminutesbecause thequestionI

getaskedorthetipIneedtosharecanactuallybecoveredinthattime.SoI'm notgonna fillanother20 minuteswithjust mefaffing aboutand filling thespaceandlisteningtomyself,becauseIcan actually just giveyouthecontentthatyou'vecometolistentoandjustgetouttheothersidein threeminutes.And sofrommyperspective, I'mlike, great.Yougettime backinyour day, you'vecomeforwhatyouneed.Youhaven'thad towait throughameanderingintroductionandwhatevertogettoit. You've justgotthecontentandyoucanmoveon

yourway.So theideallengthforyourshowsisreallygoingtobedependent onwhatyourshowisandwhoyou're doingthat show for. Andsoyoureallyneedtothinkaboutthosethingswhenyou'reputtingittogether.Thereisnorulebookinpodcasting,whichmeansyou couldpodcastforfivehoursifyouwant,butitdoesn'tmeanyoushould. Youreallyneed tothinkaboutwhatsuits you, notwhat thepersonover Thanks for listening. I’ll see you next week! That's all for today.

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