Episode TitlesLet’s talk about episode titles. Like Show titles, you can choose to be informative or cute; it’s up to you. But, if you’re looking for people to find your show, I’d leave cute alone here. People will decide to listen to you based on very few factors, the show title is one, and the episode title is another. If your title is cryptic, silly, or otherwise opaque, listeners won’t listen because they don’t know what the episode is about. So, as I said in the beginning, you have to give them a reason to listen.

On most occasions, I think your show’s content will drive the title, especially if your podcast is an audio listicle like “6 Reasons to use Evernote”, for example. Just run with that. This will also work if your podcast is a product review or a study or investigation of a person or subject.

In the case of interviews or solo podcasts, it’s a little more complicated. In the past, I’ve listened to the finished episode several times to deduce what I think the main point is and craft a title from that. For example, one of my interviews during the COVID period of my podcast was with my friend AMY, and we discussed a variety of things. Still, the main idea was that there was a nexus between trauma and creativity. So, I named the episode “The Nexus of Trauma and Creativity, with Amy M”. It was straight, to the point, and makes it very easy to see what the episode is about.

Since different podcast apps display different lengths for titles, It’s best to make these titles as short as possible. Aim for a maximum length between 50 and 60 characters.

A long time ago, it may have been necessary to use the name of your podcast, then the name of the episode, but that’s not the case anymore. Most, if not all, podcast platforms display the podcast’s name the listener is playing, so go ahead and leave that out. Also, you longer need to use season or episode numbers.

Now, let’s take a moment to address those of you who are making podcasts for fun, or you’re if you’re not using a podcast to promote a business or sell any product or service. I have some friends that make a podcast called Tell Me More…Live. It’s a live storytelling night from a local theater here in Norfolk, VA. There’s no service or product to sell; there’s simply a wealth of stories that everyone should hear. I had the honor of appearing on this podcast a few years ago to tell my story. My episode was called “A Life Lesson From A Rat With Wings”, and the show notes reflect the same thing. So they gleaned the main idea for the episode from the content and created a short, to-the-point title. It’s essentially the same. This would also work for thematically related shows, like Playing Doctor, a podcast related to Doctor Who that some friends have done. Episode 45 of their show was titled “Do You Want Daleks?”, and it was related to the newly animated adventure Power of the Daleks, the first Patrick Troughton adventure. Again, short and to the point.

Writing episode titles can be a challenge, but always remember you can make great titles if you let the content be the guide.