Answer These Two Questions to Ensure You Never Run Out of Content Ideas

I have a friend who, for years, has successfully helped dozens of people launch their podcasts.

Funny thing is, apart from a handful of audio blogs, he's never managed or even attempted to start or sustain his own show.

My friend admits that when it comes to launching a podcast of his own, he crumbles at the idea of creating something that, in his mind at least, never ends...a monster in constant need of feeding!

The good news is, if you, like my friend, struggle with the thought of maintaining a consistent release schedule, or you've already launched and fear you may soon run out of topic ideas, you've come to the right place.

Begin With the End in Mind

First, you must ask yourself, or your team, a favorite question an old boss of mine used to ask us all the time:

“What are we trying to accomplish?”

In other words, “What's the goal? What destination are we trying to arrive at?”

Imagine you and your family decide to take a vacation and proceed to head out the door without first determining where you're going. Needless to say, it's quite likely that not everyone will be happy with where you end up.

Well, it's the same with any project or goal you embark on. We first need to identify where we want to end up. Once we've done that, we can begin to reverse-engineer a path to getting there.

By the way, that's not only a good question to ask with regard to your show overall, but episode to episode. With every show I get set to produce, I start by asking, “Where is this going?” Or, “What do I want listeners to get out of this episode?”

In the case of an interview, answering this question for yourself can actually help in writing many of the questions you’ll ask your guest.

What’s Your Unique Worldview?

Another question you should consider is:

“Why are we creating (launching, hosting) this show in the first place?

As I mentioned in my last article, every podcast intro should answer this question for the listener.

What comes to mind right now when I ask you, “Why do you/will you create this podcast?”

Your response should be bold, confident, and unapologetic. It should go so far as to draw a line in the sand your listener must cross in order to continue.

Force them to “pick a side."

The beauty of this why question is that you've now created for your show a worldview...a lens through which you view the world and through which all future content will be filtered.

While quite specific in itself, basing your show upon a worldview, rather than a particular topic, allows you to explore a wider range of topics, so long as you keep the promise to present them through your unique lens.

Don't be surprised if you soon find you have more show ideas than you know what to do with.

You'll also be able to recognize well in advance what hurdles need to be dealt with to make a particular episode happen.

Things like:

• What types of people do I need to request to (and not to) interview?
• What book or resource do I need to study before hitting record?
• Do I have enough thoughts or ideas about one area to justify a series on a topic?

Remember to answer for your show these two questions:

1. What are we trying to accomplish? (Or, what do we want listeners to get out of this?)
and...
2. Why are we doing it in the first place?

The second question is asking, “Why does it matter?”

Answering these questions will give you much needed clarity and a laser-like focus.

With that clarity firmly in place, the content ideas will begin to flow.