A podcast launch gives a show its foundation: the name, the positioning, the format, the distribution plan. But none of that turns into an actual episode by itself. That’s where episode planning comes in.
In part two of our FAQ series, Adam Sockel talks with Amanda Smith about what goes into planning an episode once a show’s foundation is set. If you haven’t read part one yet, start with how a podcast actually gets launched before diving into this one.
What is a show flow, and why does it matter?
Once a show’s strategy and audience are locked in the launch phase, the team builds a show flow, the structure every episode follows. Amanda describes it as the bumpers on a bowling lane. Every episode starts at point A and lands at point B, and the conversation can spin left or right along the way, but the bumpers keep it from ending up in the gutter.
That structure gives listeners a consistent experience from episode to episode while still leaving room to adapt based on topic or guest. It’s not a script. It’s a set of beats the conversation needs to hit.
How do you map out the first episodes?
With the show flow in place, the team maps out the first batch of episodes, usually starting with the first three. There are two ways in:
- Guest-led, where the guest comes first, and the topic gets built around what makes sense for their point of view and messaging
- Topic-led, where the team starts with the messages the show needs to land first, then finds the internal or external guests who can deliver them
Neither approach is right or wrong. It depends on the show and what’s available at that stage, whether that’s a confirmed guest list or a set of priority messages waiting for the right mouthpiece.
How do you build an episode outline before the guest is even confirmed
A lot of this planning happens before a guest has agreed to anything. The team pulls together what a likely guest already talks about, drawing from LinkedIn and from tools like Claude and ChatGPT, and builds an outline from there. Some episodes get a full script. Others get bullet points. It depends on what fits the host and the format.
From there, some clients do a prep call with the guest, and some don’t. On a prep call, the team shares the general shape of the episode, then asks the guest for the context, stories, or data that will actually make the conversation land. As Amanda puts it, the goal is a shared understanding between host and guest of what the conversation needs to cover. It’s not there to handcuff anyone. It’s there so the conversation has a great outcome instead of an aimless one.
Depending on the show flow, the team also builds in a few takeaways at the end of the outline, so the episode reinforces the points the audience should walk away remembering.
What happens to the parts that don’t make the episode
Some clients also use recording time to capture social-only content, either with the host alone or with the host and guest together, that never runs in the full episode. That content doesn’t go to waste. It feeds the distribution and social strategy mapped out in the show pitch, turning one recording session into more than one asset.
What’s next after episode planning
Planning gets a show from idea to outline. The next step is what happens after the recording stops: what the Share Your Genius team does behind the scenes to turn a conversation into a finished episode. That’s part three. And if you’re looking for our pricing and what goes into each package, we’re an open book.
Want to see what episode planning looks like for your show? Get in touch with Share Your Genius to talk through your show.
