4 Ways To Create A Video Podcast (And Why You Should Try It)

03/06/20 • 14 min

1 Listener

Why do all the top podcasts publish videos to YouTube? Because YouTube has 2 billion logged-in users (and growing), which makes it a powerful place to grow your audience.

In fact, 43% of monthly podcast listener say they’ve enjoyed podcast content on YouTube in the last year, which means you probably have potential fans browsing YouTube for content like yours right now. All you have to do is turn your regular podcast into a video podcast.

Fortunately, you are already doing most of the work. With a few small additions to your workflow, you can create engaging video podcast episodes that appeal to people who prefer video content.

What Is A Video Podcast?

A video podcast is simply a podcast with a video element. The video element could be as simple or as complex as you like, but it often consists of a single static image or a video recording of the podcast hosts and guests.

Why You Should Start A Video Podcast

Before we explain how to create a video podcast, let’s cover why you should bother.

People love looking at faces

Humans are visual creatures. 30% of our brain is devoted to our eyes. And we particularly love faces. Infants begin to prefer looking at faces as soon as 24 hours after birth. That effect gets stronger as we get older because of the wealth of information we get from faces. According to some psychologists, facial features provide more data than spoken language.

This means you can create more value for your audience and help them make deeper connections with your content by adding faces via video.

Video opens you to a wider audience

As much as we like podcasts, there are plenty of people who prefer to consume video content. This should come as no surprise, YouTube is the second largest social media platform. By adding a video element to your podcast, you gain access to a massive audience of potential fans.

Source: Oberlo

That’s exactly what happened to Andrea Raquelle, producer and content provider for the “Hey Frase” podcast. “Without video, we hit a plateau; we could not go past 10,000 [downloads],” she said. “When we started doing video recordings, we saw the best growth. It took two months to get to 35,000 [downloads]. We noticed other influencers and podcasters in the space [with big download numbers]. We can’t even compete with that if we don’t have video.”

Video is far more social

Ever notice that all the videos on social media are set to autoplay, but without sound? That’s because social media platforms are optimized for video, but not audio. The audio is mute by default.

Adding video to your podcast makes it a bit more engaging for social media users when they come across it in their feed. Yes, you can post audio clips to social media, but they aren’t immediately engaging like videos.

You’re already doing most of the work

In terms of time and labor, there’s not much difference between creating a podcast and creating a video podcast. You can add a video element with just a few extra steps and minor expenses.

4 Ways To Record A Video Podcast

There are four ways to record a video podcast. Choose the format that’s right for you, your team, and your show.

1. Static image recording

This is the easiest method of recording a video podcast. All you do is convert your podcast audio file to a video file and add a static background image to “play” as the user listens.

This American Life uses a simple title card for all of their video podcasts.

Equipment needed: All you need is video editing software to add the static image and audio file together.

Example shows: Stuff You Should Know and Kickass News.

Pros: This method is fast and easy. If you host your podcast with Castos, we offer a free YouTube republishing service that automatically turns each of your episodes into a video with a sta...

Why do all the top podcasts publish videos to YouTube? Because YouTube has 2 billion logged-in users (and growing), which makes it a powerful place to grow your audience.

Fortunately, you are already doing most of the work. With a few small additions to your workflow, you can create engaging video podcast episodes that appeal to people who prefer video content.

What Is A Video Podcast?

Why You Should Start A Video Podcast

Before we explain how to create a video podcast, let’s cover why you should bother.

People love looking at faces

This means you can create more value for your audience and help them make deeper connections with your content by adding faces via video.

Video opens you to a wider audience

Source: Oberlo

Video is far more social

Ever notice that all the videos on social media are set to autoplay, but without sound? That’s because social media platforms are optimized for video, but not audio. The audio is mute by default.

You’re already doing most of the work

In terms of time and labor, there’s not much difference between creating a podcast and creating a video podcast. You can add a video element with just a few extra steps and minor expenses.

4 Ways To Record A Video Podcast

There are four ways to record a video podcast. Choose the format that’s right for you, your team, and your show.

1. Static image recording

This is the easiest method of recording a video podcast. All you do is convert your podcast audio file to a video file and add a static background image to “play” as the user listens.

This American Life uses a simple title card for all of their video podcasts.

Equipment needed: All you need is video editing software to add the static image and audio file together.

Example shows: Stuff You Should Know and Kickass News.

Pros: This method is fast and easy. If you host your podcast with Castos, we offer a free YouTube republishing service that automatically turns each of your episodes into a video with a sta...

Previous Episode

How To Pitch, Book, And Be The Perfect Podcast Guest

Pitching, booking, and being the perfect podcast guest takes persistence and practice. Appearing on different shows is a tried and true method to growing a following, but there’s a lot that goes into the process. This week on Audience, we sat down with Kai Davis who is an expert on how to get the most out of podcast guest opportunities.

Davis been in the industry for over a decade. Through appearing and booking podcast guests, he helps podcasters, business owners, authors, and more achieve their marketing objectives. He’s the authority on how to standout from the sea of pitch emails, why your pitches are being ignored, and how to help listeners become customers.

In this episode, Craig interviews this professional podcast guest and learns a lot along the way. Listen to the full interview above then read on for our favorite Kai-approved tips.

What’s The Biggest Pain Point Of Finding Podcast Guests?

Frustration.

Davis’ clients primarily come to him understanding the general pitching process but aren’t receiving any bookings. Or worse, no response at all. The time it takes to research, write an email, and find the host’s contact information is a commitment. And when that effort doesn’t bear any fruit, it is easy toss this strategy aside.

But there’s a better mindset to approaching podcast guests. Instead of a sprint, it is a marathon. Allocate a set amount of resources you can put towards booking guest appearances. Break it down by categories to keep yourself on track. Categories could include:

Researching podcasts and finding the right contact information
Refining and improving the pitch email
Following up with potential podcast guest bookings
Fielding guest requests for your own show

What’s The Most Common Mistake When Pitching Podcast Guests?

The primary way to get in touch with a host is via email. No matter if you’re pitching yourself or asking someone to appear on your podcast, the request typically follows a pitch template. This pitch is where most podcasters make the biggest mistakes.

To fix poorly worded pitches and standout from the crowd, Davis recommends approaching the process with more empathy. So what does empathy in pitch emails look like? It boils down to two main components.

The pitch angle

Being a guest requires providing value to both the host of the show and their audience. How and why you can provide that value should be the angle of the pitch. Follow these three steps to get started:

Research the show’s back catalog to find topics or themes that are referenced often. This likely means the host enjoys talking about that subject matter and the audience likes hearing about it.
Analyze how you can improve upon that topic and add more to the conversation. Are you an authority in a specific area or have experience overcoming a similar challenge? Figure out where you voice fits.
Focus the pitch on the value their audience gains and why you’re the only person to deliver that value. It’s also important to relate how what you have to say relates to the overall theme of the podcast and aligns with the host’s vision.

All together, the perfect pitch has three legs. It’s composed of the thing you want to talk about, the overall theme of the podcast, and the interests, passions, or troubles of the audience. The legs need to be aligned, otherwise the guest opportunity won’t be successful. It doesn’t make sense for a guest to promote their new vegan cookbook on a podcast about barbecue

For example, you want to talk about your new vegan cookbook and found a podcast all about barbecue. While on the surface, it doesn’t appear there would be much overlap between each other’s audiences but you’ve done the research. The show’s host and audience are interested in grilling techniques and unique sauce combinations. You’ve noticed the host throws in ingredient substitution ideas throughout an episode to help listeners recreate the recipes with what’s already in their pantries.

Instead of angling the pitch around your favorite vegan dishes to directly promote the cookbook, you pitch the host on talking about popular meat substitutions and how to grill them to perfection. The audience wants doable recipes and techniques, the podcast’s theme is centered on barbecuing a range of foods, and you’re the authority on vegan eating. All three legs are aligned and the podcast guest spot is booked.

Invite the no and keep it brief

You may be reading “invite the no” and think we’ve lost it, but stay with us. Inviting the no means giving the recipient an out if yo...

Next Episode

10 Absolutely Best Podcast Interview Questions to Ask

In this episode of Audience, we’re taking a break from interviewing to talk about...interviews, and help you come up with podcast questions to ask during your podcast interviews.

Being a good interviewer often means asking thought-provoking podcast interview questions but what does that mean?

To answer that question, we’re taking a step back and look at how to interview someone for a podcast. From the prep work to coming up with a list of questions you should consider asking, this is a comprehensive look at how to generate a great podcast interview.

If you’re using Kai’s tips from our last episode, you’re hopefully already booking new guests for the show. So let’s get to showing you how to come up with questions that will spark engaging conversations with your guests.

But let’s get something out of the way first...

Why the Questions You Ask Matter So Much?

As a podcast host and the interviewer, it’s your job to make the guest feel comfortable. You want them to tell stories that they haven’t divulged in other interviews, after all. You want them to open up, and share information that’s going to resonate with your podcast audience, be it emotionally or intellectually.

To do this, you need to ask questions that guide the guest to immediately talk about the emotional parts of their story and skip over the pieces they’ve said on repeat.

These responses are more likely to tug at your audience’s heartstrings, keeping them on the edge of their seat until the final minute of the show.

But there’s another side to this too.

You see, great questions make up for amazing stories you can tell too.

Every time a guest on your podcast answers a question is an opportunity to retell their story to make it more relevant to your audience.

In fact, that’s what great interviewers do all the time. They ask a question, listen to the answer, and then, reiterate whatever key thoughts the guest has made. What’s important – They do it from the audience’s perspective, making sure that these points relate to their listeners.

And none of this would have been possible without clever questions, of course.

Podcast Interview Questions That Create Interesting Answers

Do yourself and your guest a favor by skipping over their general answers. Instead, try these 10 interview question frameworks that promise to generate interesting stories.

Tell me about a time when...
What was the hardest part about...
How did you feel when...
Describe your process behind...
What is one common myth about...
Who are three people who have helped you...
On a scale of 1-10...
What do you wish you had known when...
What would you change about...
How has X changed your thinking on...

You’ll notice every question ends in ellipses. That’s because the ending should be tailored to each guest and their background. To fill in the gaps, you’ll have to do your homework.

Let’s talk about that now.

How to Come Up with Great Podcast Interview Questions

The answer is simple. By doing a lot of prep work ahead of time. And I do mean, a lot.

Changing your mindset and researching the guest’s background will help create probing questions that get to the meat of their story.

Here’s a simple framework to prepare for a podcast interview.

#1. Define the Goal for the Interview

Interview preparation starts by defining the goal. You are the expert in what content your audience likes to hear, so it’s your job to guide the guest there.

Figure out how the guest connects with the topics your listeners love then share this goal with the interviewee. Being transparent about what you’re looking to get out of the interview is an important step in setting the guest up for success.

If they know where you want the conversation to go, they can tailor their answers to get you both there. If the guest has no idea what topic or angle you want to cover, they may not share information that your audience would find fascinating.

#2. Research Your Guest

Once you have a clear goal in mind, it’s time to do your homework.

Scout the web to find out as much as possible about their guests, from background information to current projects. Here are few places to get started:

Guest’s website: either a personal website or their company’s online presence. Read the About page, consume their latest content, and figure out what initiatives are most important to them right now.
Social media channels: Hit all the major channels from Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Read the bio information, scroll through the latest posts, and see what conversations the guest is chiming in on.
Previous interviews: Google your guest...