How Long Should your Podcast Episodes Be?
One of the most common questions I get asked as Podcast Manager and educator is: how long should my podcast episodes be? While there isn’t a “perfect” length of time for your episodes, there are specific things that I’ve noticed over the last several years of being in this field which help increase a listener’s likelihood to listen to an episode based on length of time. In this article, I want to walk you through items to consider when recording episodes, as well as give you some recommended time frames for both solo and guest interview podcast episodes.
When deciding on podcast episode length, you first want to consider your target listener! You want to ask yourself things such as:
– what is their life like?
– how much time do they have to listen?
– are they interested in an in-depth discussion on this topic?
– etc.
This goes back to who your podcast is for. Back when you first began your podcast, you should have gotten clear on who you were speaking to because if you’re not speaking to anyone in particular, you’re probably not speaking to too many people who are open to hearing your message.
For example, I am a mom, wife, and a millennial; I’ve deconstructed from Evangelical Christianity, am antiracist, and desire to grow and learn as much as possible in my personal, business, and spiritual lives. I fit into many different categories within the podcasting world! Many of the podcasts I personally listen to speak to me on a level that I relate to or in some way gain insight from. Although each podcast has a different perspective, they’re all quite similar in length of time per episode OR can be easily broken down into segments to listen to when I’m driving the kiddos to school or activities, or while I’m folding a load of laundry.
Again, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, so you can even play around with this a bit and see what your listeners tend to gravitate more towards, then try to stay within that time frame moving forward. If you’re unsure who your listeners are, begin to gain insight here and integrate it into future episodes (which will also help increase your average podcast listeners!).
Once you have an idea of who you’re speaking to as an ideal listener and what their dedicated time frame to listening to your episodes may be, I find that it’s helpful to have a general episode theme or intention. I personally use a rough outline for my solo episodes and have a list of questions ahead of time for my guest interview episodes, both of which keep me focused and aware of time as I’m recording. While not everyone does well with super structured plans, it *is* helpful to have at least a few main points you want to cover in your episode to ensure that even if you do ramble, it’s not going too long and remains within the theme or intention you’ve set for your episode.
Keeping in mind who you’re speaking to and having a general idea of your theme or intention for your episodes, I want to share with you the recommended time frames I’ve found to be most helpful with keeping a listener's attention and increasing the listens and downloads for episodes:
Solo Episodes: 20-30 minutes
Guest Interview Episodes: 30-45 minutes
These are estimates and again, there’s no “perfect length” for episodes! So much is dependent upon your ideal listener, podcast format, topic, etc. I encourage you to take the time each week or at minimum once per month to track your podcast analytics on your hosting platform to see if there’s a pattern with length of episodes and downloads; you can even take a peek to see if topically there’s a pattern, or if guest interviews are more listened to than solo episodes. As with all tracking, don’t get too focused on the numbers! Instead look for patterns and make adjustments as needed.
Are you struggling with keeping your episodes timely, especially when it comes to your guest interview episodes? Want to know my systems and strategies for setting up a guest episode which makes sure they fit within the 30-45 minute time range?
Join me for my Intro to Guest Management workshop! We’ll be meeting live on Wednesday, February 22nd with a replay available for those unable to attend live or who may be interested in this information after our live date.
I’d love to hear from you! How are you doing with your episode length? Where can you make adjustments? Email me at jordan@jordanlangco.com or connect with me on Instagram at @therealjordanlang and let me know!
