Develop Benchmark Features For Your Podcast

I've teamed up with Detroit comedian Mike Geeter to launch a new podcast about the Detroit arts and entertainment scene called The D Brief. In this column, I am sharing the lessons I learn from it for other radio broadcasters who want to do the same.

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In broadcasting, we call a signature repeated bit on a radio show a "benchmark feature." For example, you might hear a morning show do prank phone calls every morning at the same time. Or an evening show might have a "Cash it or Trash It" segment. These features provide a familiarity to shows that develop audience loyalty.

Television shows also use benchmark features. Perhaps the most famous is David Letterman's "Top Ten" list. The Daily Show ends each episode with a "Moment of Zen." More recently, James Cordon has found traction with his "Carpool Karaoke segments while Jimmy Kimmel reads "Mean Tweets." Even news shows do it. Since taking over as the host of Meet the Press, Chuck Todd has added a benchmark feature called "Data Download."

Podcasts can borrow benchmark features from traditional media. For example, Slate's Political Gabfest ends each episode with "Cocktail Chatter," a feature in which the three co-hosts briefly discuss something that caught their attention during the week. Another podcast from Panoply (Slate's podcast network), Trumpcast, has a segment in which a Trump impersonator reads the president's tweets from the past week.

On the TV show Inside the Actor's Studio, host James Lipton asks the same series of questions of his guest. I stole this benchmark feature and adapted it for my food and travel podcast, Taste Trekkers: Find Dining. In a segment called "Out of the Frying Pan," I would ask my guests to provide a series of rapid-fire dining recommendations in their city in response to prompts like, "What's the best place to get a cocktail?" or "Where's the best place to go for brunch?"

When Mike and I started developing the structure of The D Brief podcast, benchmark features were on my mind. In particular, we knew that the last segment would involve reading the credits for the podcast episode, and that it would be nice to have a feature that would make this more compelling. During our practice episodes, we ended the show by asking each other, "What did you learn on today's show?" This is a tried and true feature on radio morning shows, but when we listened back to the recordings, it felt cliché.

I asked Fred Jacobs for some ideas, and he suggested that I look to the public radio program Car Talk for inspiration. Car Talk, a show in which the two co-hosts diagnose listeners' automotive problems over the phone, has a feature in which they give listeners thought puzzles and ask them to write in with answers. In the following episode, they give a prize to a listener who solved the problem correctly. Fred pointed out that a feature like this encourages audience participation. Moreover, by carrying across multiple shows, it offers listeners a reason to come back for the next episode.

During my time as a radio program director, I had a philosophy when it came to on-air giveaways: I wanted all of my contests to have what I called the "play-along-at-home factor." We know that the majority radio listeners don't participate in contests, so I always strived to make our giveaways interesting even if you were not calling in to win. In this sense, I viewed the contests like Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy! - entertaining for the people watching even if they weren't going to go home with the prize. Fred's suggestion adhered to this principle.

In the end, Mike and I borrowed a benchmark feature from another public radio show produced by Doug Berman: Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me! We had established that the central narrative of The D Brief revolved around the idea that Mike is the lifelong Detroit resident, while I am new to the city. We decided to create a benchmark feature that would reinforce this concept.

At the end of every episode, Mike would give me a homework assignment - a topic that, as a Detroiter, I should know about. For example, he might tell me to go learn about Detroit's salt mines, or Vernor's ginger ale, or Harry Houdini's connection to the city. At the beginning of the following episode, I offer a brief report on the topic. I then test Mike's knowledge as a native by giving him a pop quiz: I read three statements, two of which are true and one of which is false. Mike's job is to correctly identify the false statement. Although I first read the statement at the beginning of the episode, Mike doesn't offer his guess until we return to the feature at the end of the episode. This gives listeners a reason to stay through the reading of the production credits. Mike guesses, we celebrate his victory or mourn his defeat, then he assigns me a new homework assignment, and the cycle repeats. For added fun, we embellish this feature with dramatic music and sound effects.

This benchmark feature accomplishes a number of goals for us: it's a regular feature with a play-along-at-home factor to drive listener engagement, it spans the entire episode to encourage listeners to stick around, it bridges multiple episodes to drive listeners to return for more, and it reinforces the central narrative of the show.

LISTEN: Hear the latest episode of The D Brief podcast.

More Glimpses Behind the Scenes:

1. Every Good Podcast Needs a Central Narrative
2. Why Podcast Co-Hosts Need to Know Their Roles
3. Record Practice Episodes Before Your Podcast Launches
4. Creating Production Elements for Podcasts
5. Building a Radio Station Studio on a Podcaster's Budget