From brainstorming concepts to reserving friends and outlining present subjects, there’s numerous work concerned with planning a podcast episode. Podcast planning templates may also help you retain monitor of sponsors, handle your enhancing and manufacturing course of, and even map out promotional content material as soon as your episodes go reside.
These are a few of my favourite choices for inexperienced persons, seasoned hosts, and everybody in between.
monday.com: A podcast planning template for clean manufacturing
monday.com is one in all my favourite venture administration instruments available on the market. It’s a good way to plan your podcast as a result of it has all the things it’s good to keep organized and guarantee none of your manufacturing duties slip via the cracks.
It additionally has an excellent cell app, permitting you to handle podcast planning from the palm of your hand.
You may join monday.com’s free plan to unlock entry to 200+ templates, as much as three venture boards, eight customized column sorts, and seats for 2 collaborators. It’s an excellent place to begin or strive it out however most groups will seemingly have to improve to a paid plan slightly shortly.
Extra on monday.com: monday.com Evaluation | monday.com vs Wrike | monday.com vs Airtable.
I actually like how the manufacturing stream is ready up with this template. As a substitute of a single card for every episode that shows its standing, each episode has its personal listing of devoted duties.
For instance, the preparation section might embody duties associated to getting ready questions for friends and outlining the episode construction. You too can have a post-production section for issues like enhancing clips to be promoted on social media earlier than the ultimate episode is polished and able to reside.
This type of setup permits you to get as granular as you’d like with out cluttering all the things up.
The template additionally permits you to estimate how a lot time every activity ought to take. From there, you’ll be able to enter the actuals and examine the distinction.
Total, monday.com and this template are stable choices for any podcaster, whether or not you’re working by your self or with a full crew. It’s straightforward to make use of, and the truth that you’re getting the complete energy of monday.com’s venture administration platform is a bonus that may’t be ignored.
ClickUp: Podcast planning templates for any sort of present
ClickUp is one other all-in-one venture administration and crew collaboration platform. Whereas this may look like overkill for podcast planning, there’s a free perpetually plan that’s good for organizing nearly all the things.
Every template under is extra superior than the one earlier than it.
The precise one for you relies on how a lot you need to lean on the instrument, how many individuals you’re working with, and the way granular you need to be with post-production monitoring.
Extra on ClickUp: ClickUp Evaluation | ClickUp vs monday.com | ClickUp vs Notion.
Template 1: A beginner-friendly possibility for planning episodes
This template is nice for newer podcast hosts who simply want one thing easy to plan upcoming episodes.
It comes with all the fundamentals it’s good to keep organized. You may create a backlog of episode concepts, categorize episodes, add audio recordsdata, and connect hyperlinks to reside episodes so all the things’s centralized in a single place.
My favourite half about this podcast planning template is its simplicity.
It’s organized into 4 sections that comply with a linear stream — deliberate episodes, recorded episodes, reveals which have been edited, and reveals which have been revealed.
Due to its simplicity, you gained’t must spend a ton of time determining the way it works. It’s only a matter of signing up and including all your concepts. Inside minutes you’ll be extra organized and have much more perception into the place all the things stands in your manufacturing stream.
The most important draw back is that it’s lacking performance for brainstorming, managing post-production duties, and scaling past a single channel.
This isn’t essentially a foul factor, particularly for newer reveals. However larger manufacturing groups will seemingly have to go together with one of many different templates under.
Template 2: Added options for managing several types of podcasts
This ClickUp template follows the identical core idea of the earlier one within the sense that every one episodes are organized by stage within the manufacturing course of.
Nevertheless it takes it up a notch in order for you extra granular particulars about every episode.
You’ll see the progress standing of every episode up to date in real-time as you or your crew completes duties required to get it reside.
This template comes pre loaded with 17 customized attributes that you should use tag episodes and keep organized.
These vary from matter classes to listens, subscriber info, and extra.
You’ll additionally have the ability to categorize every merchandise by sort. For every sort, you’ll be able to outline a set construction that’s utilized while you add a brand new episode, so that you don’t have to stipulate all of the steps each single time you add one thing new.
Say you’re planning an episode that features a visitor. In the event you tag that episode with this attribute, you’ll be able to have your interview notes and questions accessible by default on that individual card.
I additionally love the visible parts of this template. If you wish to have a broad vary of subjects in your present, the color-coded matter column clearly signifies whether or not you could have mixture of concepts or too many episodes in a single class.
Whereas you should use it to handle some post-production duties, like your social media advertising and marketing plans, it’s a bit extra restricted for this use in comparison with the template under.
Template 3: Probably the most superior possibility for managing all pre and post-production duties
When you’ve got a well-established present with a full crew working collaboratively to document, edit, and promote your present, this template has all the things you’ll want to remain organized earlier than, throughout, and after manufacturing.
I don’t suggest it for solo podcasters and easy reveals or in case you’re publishing lower than an episode per week. You’ll find yourself losing time filling in particulars that don’t matter but.
However for groups producing episodes at scale, this template is a no brainer.
You may arrange a number of boards for various elements of the manufacturing stream. By default, there’s a brainstorming board, backlog of matter lists, and even a spot to arrange requests out of your listeners.
As soon as reveals go reside, you’ll be able to pull in analytics to see which subjects are performing one of the best so you’ll be able to replicate that success with future episodes.
From managing visitor outreach and relationships with earlier friends to planning social media posts and placing all episode belongings in a single card, this template has all of it.
There are a number of views, built-in statuses, collaborative paperwork, and a spot to retailer all your attachments.
Your producers, editors, social crew, and designers will have the ability to hold monitor of all their work in a single place, giving managers and supervisors all the things they should monitor progress and repair points earlier than they turn out to be bigger issues.
Though ClickUp’s free plan is okay to begin, you’ll have to improve to a paid plan to make one of the best use of all of the superior capabilities of this template.
Notion: Podcast planning templates created by skilled podcasters
Notion is a related workspace and productiveness platform that’s nice for taking notes, staying organized, managing duties, and centralizing assets. In the event you work by your self, you should use Notion’s free plan for fairly a while. In the event you work with a crew, the free plan is extra of a free trial that allows you to see if it’s proper before you purchase.
Top-of-the-line issues about Notion is that third-party creators can submit templates to its market. Two of my favorites have been constructed by an expert podcaster with 10+ years of expertise and 50+ million podcast downloads.
As such, you recognize they’ve been examined over time and utilized in real-world eventualities slightly than created for the sake of including a template to the listing.
Extra on Notion: Notion Evaluation | Notion vs Asana | Notion vs OneNote.
Template 1: An in depth guidelines for pre and post-production
This podcast template ensures you allow no stone unturned while you’re planning, recording, and advertising and marketing your episodes.
It’s a complete guidelines with roughly 50 gadgets — protecting all the things from outlining your episode to having water close by and transcribing your episodes after they’ve been recorded.
Whereas a few of these issues may appear apparent in case you’re an skilled podcaster, it doesn’t harm to have this helpful everytime you’re engaged on a brand new episode.
Everybody forgets issues now and again, and it’s particularly useful to reference in case you’ve just lately taken break day otherwise you’re recording episodes in a brand new setting. You may re use it again and again, which is one other good function.
However, it’s an excellent possibility for brand spanking new podcasters too. There’s quite a bit that goes into every episode and this makes positive you always remember a factor.
Over time, a lot of these duties will turn out to be second nature (like ensuring your telephone is silenced and turning off noisy home equipment). However early on, it’s straightforward to miss a few of these small duties that may dramatically impression the standard of your present.
Template 2: A full podcast group hub (paid)
It is a paid template — it’s $49 and consists of the guidelines above plus a variety of different templates and instruments you’ll want.
In the event you’re severe about your podcast, it’s straightforward to justify the associated fee because it comes with $1,250+ price of perks and reductions on {hardware} it’s your decision. The price financial savings alongside can greater than make up for the value you pay to get it, particularly in case you’re eyeing numerous new gear.
Along with the guidelines from earlier, this template makes it straightforward to make sure each episode aligns together with your excessive stage targets. Huge image considering can typically be misplaced within the shuffle while you’re brainstorming new concepts and making an attempt to safe friends, so it’s a pleasant reminder that it forces you deal with what’s most vital to your present.
In the event you’re struggling to attach together with your viewers, this template additionally comes with a pattern of a great listener profile. Whenever you’re planning episodes, you should use it to attempt to talk straight with who’s really going to pay attention.
You’ll additionally get 100+ podcast interview questions and 50+ matter concepts that will help you hold issues contemporary.
From outlining your enhancing course of to gathering listener suggestions and managing manufacturing belongings, this template has all of it.
Coda: Extremely customizable podcast planning templates
Coda is a relational database and doc creation resolution with in-built venture administration options. In contrast to venture administration instruments, Coda is a clean slate that allows you to construct several types of methods to match your wants.
As your wants change, you’ll be able to replace it to match your new workflows or add on to attach extra items of your online business.
The free plan is great, particularly in case you’re working by your self. However one of the best half is Coda’s inexpensive pricing construction that solely makes you pay for doc creators. In the event you’re the one individual creating and constructing paperwork, you solely must pay for one consumer. All editors and viewers are utterly free.
Extra on Coda: Coda Evaluation | Coda vs Notion.
Template 1: A full suite of templates to standardize your processes
Coda’s structure is effectively fitted to bringing dispersed knowledge collectively in distinctive and artistic methods. Due to that, one in all its greatest practices is separating your methods into a number of areas and connecting them collectively as wanted.
That’s precisely what this suite of templates helps you do.
Slightly than making an attempt to cram each component of podcast planning and manufacturing into one dashboard, you’ll have separate areas for every section.
It comes with sections for brand spanking new concepts, episode planning, managing manufacturing flows, monitoring launched episodes, and extra. There’s even an area for conserving visitor info organized.
One of many included templates makes it straightforward to create SOPs that outline standardized parts for every stage of your manufacturing course of. This ensures that hosts, editors, social media managers, and everybody in between has clear directions each step of the best way.
If somebody is sick or leaves, anybody can soar in and comply with the identical SOPs to add a brand new episode to YouTube.
This additionally acts as a guidelines to make sure consistency for each episode — it serves as a reminder for issues like including the constant intro and outro music to every present.
From there, you’ll be able to brainstorm new concepts, select and plan episodes, monitor manufacturing duties, and see a working listing of reside episodes. There’s a full content material calendar and a spot to maintain monitor of manufacturing duties by section. You’ll even have the ability to add present notes and interview questions so all the things’s able to go.
The weakest a part of this template is the precise manufacturing stream monitoring. It covers primary activity monitoring, but it surely’s primary compared to others.
Nonetheless, you’ll be able to construct out extra granularity in case you want it.
Template 2: A collaborative template that turns artistic concepts into new episodes
Much like the primary possibility, this free podcast planning template from Coda combines a number of instruments and assets right into a single area. It comes with dozens of templates, together with a content material calendar, a spot to arrange reside episodes, an space for sponsor info, and far more.
However what actually makes this template distinctive is the best way it’s arrange for brainstorming.
New concepts can come from anyplace, together with when you’re out on a stroll, different teammates, your friends, your listeners, and even different departments in your online business.
With this template, everybody has a devoted area to take notes. On high of that, anybody can pitch concepts and work collaboratively to nail down these concepts earlier than transferring ahead to the manufacturing course of.
It permits you to arrange your personal inside approvals course of for episode concepts, and even pull suggestions out of your viewers submitted by way of social media.
By default, the template comes with a guidelines of 20 duties for every episode. Whoever completes a activity can merely mark it as carried out, and your complete crew will see it up to date in real-time.
If the default listing doesn’t be just right for you, you’ll be able to simply replace it by including, eradicating, or enhancing present gadgets primarily based in your processes. When you’ve up to date it, all new episodes can have your new listing included routinely.
The most important draw back is that this template doesn’t have a lot of a project-tracking component past this guidelines and an editorial calendar.
You might want to make use of one other template or construct it out additional to have a full end-to-end resolution for planning, producing, and publishing episodes.
Stackby: An entire editorial calendar for podcasting planning and monitoring income
Stackby is a no-code work platform that mixes spreadsheets and databases right into a single instrument. Whilst you might not routinely affiliate such a software program with podcast planning, it’s really a good way to plan episodes. Particularly in case you begin with a template.
It’s free for as much as 5 customers per workspace, making it an excellent selection for smaller groups with no funds or bigger groups needing a versatile platform to work with.
This template features a full editorial calendar that has all the key info you want, together with the host, thought, episode quantity, standing, launch date, and extra.
You may change between month, day, and week views, permitting you to zoom in and plan granular duties or zoom out to see a excessive stage launch schedule for the month. The calendar is clear and effectively designed, particularly in comparison with different instruments which have primary calendar views.
SEE: Uncover extra free editorial calendar templates for various platforms.
This template additionally consists of different venture views, together with listing, pipeline, and Kanban for getting work carried out.
One of many main standout options of this template is the power to trace income from totally different sponsors. You may simply hold monitor of your agreements, tag every episode with which sponsors are included, and import listener knowledge to calculate how a lot income you’re getting.
Say one sponsor’s CPM pays $25 for a 30-second advert. The template routinely calculates the overall income primarily based on the variety of listens.
That is significantly useful in case you’re working quite a few advertisements from totally different sponsors, all with totally different phrases.
The most important draw back of utilizing Stackby is that it limits file add sizes. Many episodes will probably be too huge, so that you’ll have to hold these recordsdata elsewhere and hyperlink to the supply as an alternative.
Podcast planning templates for Excel, Google Sheets, Microsoft Phrase, and PDF
Easy manufacturing schedules or solo customers might not want superior software program to remain organized.
In the event you want to maintain issues easy, there’s nothing mistaken with utilizing a spreadsheet or doc as an alternative. These work significantly effectively in case you don’t have to collaborate with lots of people or care about aesthetically pleasing views of all of your episodes.
Template 1: A primary calendar to handle recording and publishing dates
Smartsheet is a strong app builder. It’s just like Coda and monday.com however constructed extra for energy customers. It doesn’t have a free plan, but it surely does recurrently publish free spreadsheets you should use in Google Sheets or Excel.
They don’t supply podcast particular templates, however there are a number of generic choices you’ll be able to simply adapt to work in your wants.
My favourite Smartsheet template for podcasts is a basic content material calendar template that works for publishing any sort of content material, together with podcast episodes. It’s solely free and suitable with Excel, Phrase, Google Sheets, and as a printable or digital PDF file.
It’s an excellent possibility in case you don’t want a lot other than visualizing your publishing schedule and planning at a excessive stage.
Whereas most content material calendars are for monitoring publish dates, you’ll be able to simply use in-built colour coded tags to schedule recording dates and even social media posts to advertise revealed episodes as effectively.
The principle draw back of this template is that it’s going to ultimately begin to really feel cluttered, particularly in case you begin including a ton of things.
It additionally doesn’t have any activity monitoring capabilities for managing manufacturing work.
Nonetheless, it’s place to begin in case you don’t publish typically.
Template 2: A printer-friendly possibility for jotting present notes
This template, additionally from Smartsheet, provides a easy option to manage handwritten present notes to make use of throughout recording. You may open it with Microsoft Phrase or Google Docs and print out as many copies as you’d like.
There are numerous methods you should use this template, from mapping out content material pillars to noting totally different speaking factors for various segments of your present.
You would additionally write down questions, plan episode construction, sponsorship info, or key factors you don’t need to overlook. Positive, it’s extremely easy. However that’s what makes it so versatile for individuals who get pleasure from writing issues by hand.
It may also be tremendous useful throughout recording because you gained’t want a pc.
The best way to create your personal podcast planning template
In the event you can’t discover something that matches precisely what you’re in search of, you’ll be able to modify an present template or create your personal. Relying on how detailed you need to get, there are dozens of parts you may think about including.
At a minimal, I like to recommend the next.
An space for brainstorming
New concepts can come up any time. It’s vital to have a simple option to observe them down and hold monitor of them with out an excessive amount of trouble.
It’s additionally a good suggestion to have some option to flip these into full plans so you’ll be able to monitor every thought via to completion, mark them for later, or write them off as concepts you aren’t going to document for some motive or one other.
Episode particulars
Every episode seemingly has a ton of particular info it’s good to hold monitor of, together with the subject, audio system, questions, construction, sponsors, backtracks, and extra.
Ideally, your template has an space to maintain monitor of all the things. This must be hyper-specific to the sorts of info you care about. For instance, you might need to even have a area for the season or theme in case you manage that manner.
Lastly, you’ll be able to arrange an inventory of duties, an overview, or different notes for various episode buildings so that you don’t have to begin each from scratch.
Manufacturing workflow
Except for episode info, it’s useful to know the place every episode is in manufacturing. That is significantly vital in case you’re working with a crew, however even solo customers have quite a bit to achieve from staying organized like this.
Your setup could be as easy or complicated as you’d like. For some, a easy stream with a backlog, in progress, recorded, enhancing, and revealed is greater than sufficient.
Others might want extra in-depth venture administration capabilities like due dates, activity assignments, progress monitoring, and extra.
Monetization and sponsorship particulars
Whether or not working advertisements, mentioning sponsors, or promoting your personal services, it’s a good suggestion to resolve this up entrance earlier than you begin recording.
You would additionally plan to pre-record snippets and add them in throughout enhancing. Nonetheless you resolve to do it, conserving monitor of all these particulars alongside your episodes and different recordsdata may also help hold all the things organized.
Publish-production advertising and marketing
What occurs as soon as an episode airs? Do you publish just a few social media posts, ship out an e-mail, or put up about it in your weblog?
Publishing these sorts of content material is not any totally different than publishing a podcast so it shouldn’t be too difficult to determine how you can hold monitor of different parts in the identical place. You would do the identical in case you publish the identical episode on a number of platforms.
Podcast planning greatest practices
Planning a podcast is quite a bit simpler mentioned than carried out.
Listed here are some professional suggestions to remember in case you’re struggling, working via your first few episodes, or in search of a little bit of steerage:
- Keep organized and constant.
- Don’t overcomplicate the artistic course of.
- Brainstorm as many subjects as doable.
- Get comfy throwing out concepts you don’t like.
- Define the stream of an episode, however don’t write a script.
- Resolve on episode size earlier than you begin.
- Schedule friends upfront and at all times have a backup.
- Give your self loads of time for enhancing and post-production.
- Doc all the things.
The principle purpose is staying organized and conserving monitor of all of the transferring items. If you are able to do that, you’ll study the remainder as you go.
Your first 20+ episodes gained’t be good and you might really feel utterly scattered — each are solely regular. Over time, you’ll discover vital enhancements in your supply, banter, concepts, sponsorship plugs, workflows, and enhancing capabilities.
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