The Different Types Of Podcast Formats

A podcast format is a way to organize the content of your show, it is also a delivery method that gives your podcast a structure. A solid format will create consistency for your listeners ,making your content organized and accessible, without it your show will seem muddled and messy.

When sticking with a certain format your listeners will know exactly what to expect when they start a new episode, most importantly it will make your life a lot easier since it is much simpler to plan a content ahead of time when you already know how you are going to shape it for the upcoming episodes.

If you are thinking about starting your own podcast but you have no idea on what format to choose, here are some of the most common ones: 

1. Solo/Monologue Podcast: Solo podcasts feature a single host (no guests), telling stories or providing commentary on a specific topic or theme. These shows can be entertaining, informative or a mix of both. To make up for the absence of guests, these podcasts usually boast compelling storytelling and vivid sound engineering. When you produce a solo podcast, your audience spends the entire duration of the show with you and you alone, so after listening to your podcast for a while, they’ll start to feel like they know you personally. In terms of workload, solo podcasts are typically easier to edit than narrative-style podcasts because you don’t have to splice in interviews. To some listeners, having no guests on your podcast can decrease the credibility of your show unless you're an established thought leader in your space, it's challenging to get your audience to immediately trust your word. That's why you should consider spicing things up with music and sound effects to add some variety and provide breaks between segments.
2. Interview Podcast: On a 1:1 interview podcast, a host interviews different guests on each episode, just like on a talk show. It’s usually a lightly edited dialogue between the host and the guest. The primary benefit of producing an interview podcast is that the pedigree of your guests can instantly grab your audience’s attention, especially if you’re competing against bigger brands in your space. In an interview podcast don't worry about running out of things to say since each guest will bring their own perspective on your topic. It may also expand your audience if a guest shares the podcast with his followers. Interview podcasts usually require minimal editing but you have to do a little bit of extra work and research to find the appropriate guest for your show. This format requires you to have excellent interviewing skills as well as research skills, it also requires you to be an excellent listener which is a must if you want to be a great interviewer.
3. Conversational / Co-hosted podcast: This format is pretty common. It usually involves two people having a straightforward conversation making it feel like a casual discussion between two friends, however, these two people are both hosts. Multiple hosts can act as one super host ,  they are able to bring more perspectives, insights, and questions to the table. Your hosts can also share the workload of one podcast, making life a little easier. For example, if you have two guests on an episode, each host can interview one guest instead of only one host interviewing both. In such podcasts it can be hard sometimes to balance creative decision making and air time which are two of the most rewarding and stimulating parts of being a podcaster. You also need to keep your audience engaged and coming back for more, that's why you need to get creative and specific with topics you discuss.
4. Panel podcast: A panel podcast is similar to an interview podcast but with more people, each episode will have a single host and a group of guests making it feel like a natural discussion between a group of friends. If you get the mix of characters and points of view right, the dynamics and banter that you can deliver episode after episode will help your show achieve great success. This type of podcast can be tricky to coordinate, as you are dealing with the schedules of a number of different, busy people, and problems can also occur when you have a lot of different personalities in the mix, but if all the hosts pull their weight and are determined to work together to make the show a success, it very likely will be.
5. Non-fictional storytelling podcast: Non-fictional stories are podcast episodes about real life events, it is an excellent podcast format for listeners who like to learn more about our world, it can be most likened to an audio documentary that unveils or unravels an event or story that happened in real life, and usually does so over a number of episodes. This format requires exceptional research skills, and the ability to tell a story clearly and coherently, if you succeed in nailing those key points you will soon have a devoted audience.
6. Fictional storytelling podcast: Also known as theater podcast, these are fictional stories told across multiple episodes, similar to dramatic television. Just like TV shows, these podcasts use tension, climaxes, and cliffhangers to tell their stories. This podcast format has seen a massive surge in popularity recently, and some big names in television and film are jumping in on the action too. If you’re a good writer this can be a great way to get your writings out there but again it requires more than just you reading it into a microphone. This style is more audio cinema than audiobook and often requires music production and potentially a voice-over artist. Theater podcasts are an unusual format, so it might take you some time and work to build an audience, you will be competing with every source of drama and storytelling including Tv,  movies, YouTube, etc... Since all your episodes are related one to another, you have to plan your entire show ahead so you make sure you nail all the right points.
7. Repurposed content podcast: If you’re already an established blogger, vlogger, or another type of content creator, you could very easily transition what you’re already doing into a repurposed content podcast. This format is perfect for creators in other mediums who are looking to reach new audiences with their content. Since you have already done most of the ground work in creating your content, transitioning to a high quality podcast will be much easier, some editing will likely be necessary and the overall time it takes to produce episodes will be significantly less than if you were creating new content from scratch.