Podcast producers who don’t leave things to chance often fall into one of two camps: architects or gardeners.

Architects must understand the client’s (or their own) vision for a podcast and give it all the structure and materials necessary to bring it to life. Large amounts of up-front planning, which can go on for weeks and or months.

Part of that time is spent detailing the arc the episodes will follow and sketching out the segments that will be used throughout the show. Then comes the scripting of episodes—sometimes a dozen or more—in detail, using the actual, real words said during certain segments when possible.

Architects will also build a slate of templates for episode artwork, in-app episode details, on-site episode webpages, newsletters, social sharing cards, video assets, and more.

Yes, all of that is done well before a single episode is dropped. 

Podcast production isn’t all that much different or gardeners. They also start with the very foundations of podcast creation. Maybe not quite as much planning as the architect, but still quite a bit.

They too plot out the arc and define each segment of the episodes. But with less rigidity to allow for rearranging of segments or episode order as needed without fear of the whole thing collapsing. 

Gardeners still rely heavily on templates for artwork, episode details, the website, and more; but with a bit more fluidity built in to easily adapt to changes as they come. And sometimes, if the foundational planning is extremely solid, gardeners can skip the script and rely on a listing of topics and angles to explore for the next few episodes.

Both can—and do—make amazing shows. Because most of us podcast producers are a little bit of both. Which are you?

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A written-to-be-read article and a full transcript of the audio of this episode can be found at https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/growing-your-podcast-like-an-architect

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Evo Terra produces Podcast Pontifications four times a week to provide ideas and ask questions every working podcaster should be thinking about.

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Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.