I listen to a lot of podcasts. It helps me keep up with all the different podcasting styles out there, and I’m always thrilled to find a new podcast to subscribe to.

I sometimes listen to them on the treadmill or when I’m out for a walk. It’s a different experience than listening on the desktop with show notes in front of me. Here are some of my best practices re: intros and extros to make sure your listeners have all the info they need in your podcast.

a) Assume that your your listeners won’t have the show notes in front of them. There will be a a general description, but not much detail. Some podcasters dive right into the content without an intro. This works when the listener has the website open in front of them, but not well when your podcast is automatically downloaded by subscribers onto their mobile device. So, my recommendation is that your podcasts be complete and self contained so they can stand on their own without the show notes. This also works out well if some of our radio friends hear your content and want to put it on the air. Broadcasters love it when everything is ready to go for them and they don’t even have to write a script.

b) theme: a very short, standard intro (possibly with a bit of podsafe music) will help your podcast be recognizable. It is your signature beginning .. when listeners hear it, they’ll know it’s your podcast. So when they’re previewing content on their ipod when they’re in the gym, or listening in the car, they’ll know right away it’s you. And a theme with music makes you sound so organized and professional.

c) calls to action: if you have promos, or website information, or other ways you’d like listeners to respond, put it at the end of your podcast. You want to get into your content right away, not ask your listeners to wait while you read a whole long list of things. It slows down the pace of the listening experience, so get into your content as fast as you can.

These themes and scripts don’t have to be long. Shorter is better. I recommend that your standard theme be less than 30 seconds long. And the spoken intro to individual episode can be as little as 3-4 sentences. What’s important in the intro to each episode is: Who your guest is, who you are, what you’re talking to your guest about, and why the subject is important. Give your listeners a reason to keep listening instead of requiring them to get into the piece so they can figure it out themselves. Because a many of them won’t. They’ll stop listening. Especially if they don’t have show notes in front of them.

d) And finally — don’t forget to say goodbye. And repeat who you’ve been talking to so they don’t have to go look it up. And this is where you can suggest email links, tell listeners about other shows or other promo points.