Lesson 5

Promotions serve several purposes:

1. They allow listeners and stakeholders to find the episode via search engines.
2. They expand on the main topics of an episode beyond your guest.
3. They promote your show's mission, vision, and purpose.

We recommend you add several promotions throughout an interview during natural pauses in the conversation with the guest. Promotions are to podcasts as commercials are to a network radio or television show. As you will see and hear, there are different types of promotions.

You pronounce verbal promotions during the interview with your guest. There are two types of verbal promotions:

1. A mention is a brief verbal acknowledgement of a person or organization that contributes to your show. For example, you can mention a donor who donates to your show.
2. A shout out is also a verbal acknowledgement of a person or organization that contributes to your show. It is similar to a mention and usually lasts about 30 seconds. For example, you can give a shout out to someone who provides a significant financial contribution. You might play a clapping sound, music, or talk about them.

Let's listen again to how Josephine Reed introduces John Kevin Jones. Her pronouncement of "Killing an Evening with Edgar Allen Poe" (National Endowment for the Arts, 2019) is a form of a mention because it is brief and adds to the context of the episode. By mentioning the play, the host is promoting the play.

Click the play button to the left.

You can also promote a podcast by verbally pronouncing online sources such as a website, a social media page, or a hashtag.

A dynamic hashtag is a search engine friendly keyword that is used for a specific episode within a show. A fixed hashtag is a search engine friendly keyword that is used for a show. You include both types of hashtags in your show notes, audio recording, blog posts, social media blurbs, and the platform that hosts your podcast.