(Click Here) for the podcast version of this article
You have to know and you have to understand that the closing to your podcast is also an important part of your production. Some of your listeners will get to the end of your podcast and be ready to move on. If you work the transition of the closing of your podcast into the ending of the body of your podcast properly, the listener will generally hang around for any important info you include in your closing. It is important to have a closing if for no other reason than adding a bit of finality to your podcast. You can use it to point the listeners to more of your information and podcasts, or to other sites of interest. It can also be a great way to transition to an insertion of a spot for your advertisers.
Many of the same rules apply as you think about how you want to close your podcast as when you thought about your opening. Both are important and both should have a specific and definite purpose. The opening was to introduce you and your subject(s) and the closing leaves the listener with a good taste in their mouth about your podcast. As they leave your podcast it gives them something to remember you by and perhaps want to check out more of your available podcasts and information.
As was the case in the previous article, this one also is one you will want to listen to the audio podcast version while you read along (or instead of reading along), because it will have some examples of closings that are better heard than read. (Besides, I won’t be writing out the examples anyway.)
There are only a few things I want to say about the closings. I have a way I like to close mine and that is what I will demonstrate, but remember, a closing needs to be something your listener won’t want to turn off. It needs to smoothly transition them into action of some sort. It may fall under the heading of them simply wanting to go and check out more of your other podcasts or it may give them something to think about as they leave. If you have other places or sites you want them to check out, the closing is a good place for that also. If that is the case, you need to include those addresses understandably in the closing.
Once again, if your closing needs to be different each time, you may not want to have it pre-made. More likely, you will want to have your closing music available to play and add the voice-over closing as you exit. If you are not doing a live closing, run your music in one track and add the voice-over in another track so you can move it around easier to match up to the closing music.
Personally, I don’t change my closings very often. I like to keep mine simple and I have a way I want my podcast to end. Since I also use “mypodcast.com” to upload my podcasts, I let their ad roll after the finish of my podcast. This works as long as I keep my podcast under twenty minutes. (They do have a twenty minute rule. Because they offer you a service for free, they use ads to pay for the free availability to you. This is not a bad deal at all.)
They actually allow you to prosper from the ads when your podcast becomes more popular or when people are interested in advertising on your webcast, but that is a subject for another day. Any way you look at it, what they offer is very good and very free to you the user. It is a great place to start your podcasting journey. (In the very near future, I will be sharing with you some other great places that help you get started and do it simply. One great place I’ll talk about allows you to call in on your telephone and turn it into a podcast. Now, how much easier can it be to get started?)
Okay, I guess that’s enough of the chatter. What do you say we take a look at a couple of examples of ways to close your podcast?
Although closing out a podcast doesn’t have to be a long, drawn out affair, it is always good to have a recognizable way to exit or close. I like to use music underneath the talking and then have a definite ending. Others may like to just say a few words and be gone. That works for me, too. I just like the feel and sound of using the musical exit with a voice-over. The first example I want to use is from one of my early podcasts and doesn’t use music. It is from “episode #0002”. Now this one was a while ago and it gives an example of a close with an additional close. That may sound a bit confusing, but I think you’ll understand it better as you listen.
(Play excerpt from episode #0002)
See, that wasn’t so painful was it? It was simple and yet offered a highlight of another site that was mentioned in the article.
This next one is very similar. I use it just to show how developing a phrase for a close is something for you to think about. This example is from “episode #0003.”
(Play excerpt from episode #0003)
Now I want to take you all the way to “episode #0006” and demonstrate a little more of how my closing developed to its closing phrase that I use now, (still no music yet.) I include it to show how I got comfortable with the closing and decided to use it regularly. It is another one of those recognizable things we talked about last time which I consider to be like a signature. You may not want to use something like this, but, I personally like the friendly exit and how it can be used to transition to where the listener can find more of my podcasts and information, or, I could have inserted the commercial spot here at the end instead of the beginning.
(Play excerpt from episode #0006)
Okay, now I want to move on down to “episode #0016”. This is just before I went to the full closing with a planned exit with music. This is a good example of how you can use a closing phrase and transition to a commercial spot. In this case, the spot is for “mypodcast.com”. (I still use no music, but don’t worry, it is coming.)
(Play excerpt from episode #0016)
In this final example, I used all of my closing including the addition of music in the background with a voice-over exit. I still use this one in my podcasts today. (You will hear it at the end of this podcast, in fact.) It uses all of the little things we have talked about. Its music slips in under the end of the body of the article and my closing phrase and then transitions to how the listener can find more of my podcasts and my URL. It then transitions to the inserted commercial spot for “mypodcast.com”. This is from “episode #0019”
(Play excerpt from episode #0019)
Well, I guess that is about all we can say about a closing for a podcast at the moment. You can see how a closing can be done in different ways and still contain pertinent information for the listener. This in no way limits how creative you can be on your closing but I do hope it gives you an idea of why I think having a closing is important. You should experiment with different types just to see what works best for you. In the long run, you will find that a closing of some type will become more and more comfortable for you to use and offers a definite exit point for you and your listeners.
See ya next time . . .
