In A Podcast, How Do You Strike The Right Balance Between Informational And Conversational?

When I first conceived of The D Brief podcast, the intention was to create a show that covered everything happening in the Detroit arts and entertainment scene. Although the show borrowed a number of concepts from commercial radio morning shows, the content covered by the show was more like a weekly alternative newspaper such as The Boston Phoenix, The Stranger in Seattle, or The Metro Times here in Detroit.

We developed a show prep process that allowed us to check hundreds of websites in a short amount of time, but we then had to organize that information in a way that it could be delivered orally. The blueprint we used was a "Concert Calendar" feature from my radio days. The Concert Calendar is simply a stack of index cards with the details about upcoming area concerts written on them. The DJ plays a produced introduction, then reads a handful of concert cards. I first encountered this feature during my time as Music Director of 107.7 The End in Seattle. I believe we "borrowed" the idea from KROQ in Los Angeles, and when I became the Program Director of WBRU in Providence, I borrowed it again.

Now, I was borrowing the idea for a third time - for a podcast. But this time, we would have calendar listing for different types of events: plays, movies, sporting events, and stand-up comedy shows in addition to concerts.

Over time, we learned a lot as we applied this concept to other types of entertainment. Sometimes, adapting the model was easy. For example, stand-up comedy shows are just like concerts, except that acts play three nights in a row in the comedy clubs. Other times, however, it became apparent that changes were necessary when applying this model to other areas. Most theater shows run for several weeks, which means that the theater listings segment can be the same for weeks at a time.

But the biggest challenge we had with these segments is that they often sounded "too listy." Even when co-hosts jumped in with some conversation about an event or two, the segments had a tendency to sound like somebody reading off a piece of paper (which, of course, we were).

Over time, we adopted a number of practices to correct this. We limited the number of items listed in each segment so they focused on the most interesting upcoming events instead of attempting to be comprehensive listings. The Sports segment shifted away from a focus on the 'when' and 'where' of upcoming games and instead turned towards local sports stories with their own narratives. For the Theatre segment, we decided to only list opening and closing weekends for plays, and to expand it to include other events around town such as gallery showings and museum exhibitions. With Stand-Up Comedy, we looked for news stories to include in additions to the listings, which often focused on Detroit-area celebrities like Kristen Bell, Tim Allen, or Jeff Daniels. We scrapped the Movies segment altogether and replaced it with a Food & Drink segment that reported on five upcoming events or stories in the news.

All of these changes helped, but to this day, we are still striving to strike the right balance between giving out information and offering interesting conversation. Frankly, we cover as many stories per hour as outlets NPR and CNN. But we're not journalists; we're an entertainment show. Our hope is that at the end of an episode, you will feel both amused and informed, and we continue to work towards the right mix of the two.

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

More Glimpses Behind the Scenes:

1. The Art of Adding a Third Co-Host to Your Podcast
2. What Happens When You Have to Switch Podcast Co-Hosts?
3. In Podcasting, What You Say Sticks Around. Is That a Problem?
4. Why It's Important to Think About the Shelf Life of Your Podcast Episode
5. Creating a Facebook Video Ad for a New Podcast