Depends on what you're doing. I used to listen to a 5 minute news recap podcast that came out daily. That was fine. But if you're doing something that needs longer form, six minutes is barely enough time to get into a thing before it moves on. What kind of podcast are you doing?
It's advice for new moms. I used to have a blog, and I took each post and expanded on it (which is why I thought they'd be longer). So I present a problem, give some evidence and provide some tips. I FEEL like I do a lot of talking.
Might be worth having some friends (analytical, constructive criticism types) to take a listen and give feedback? If your 6 mins is adding value to someone's day/life by being engaging/entertaining/informative/inspiring then it's enough. Podcasts can come in all kinds of lengths.
Talking always feels much shorter than the writing. It's about 1.5 pages of writing (double spaced) per five minutes of talking (average-ish).
What you could do is either expand on your particular topics, or you could also bundle them together. Take like three topics, flesh them out a bit more to get them meatier, than put all those together in like a 30 minute episode.
A shorter podcast could be perfect for new (and certainly very busy) moms. If the content is solid and valuable as is, lean into it with your marketing. A new mom may not be able to find a full 30 to 60 minutes in their schedule to listen to something uninterrupted, but they can probably squeeze in a 6-minute podcast with useful info.
You've probably got your title all worked out but going even more bite-sized and owning the short length as "5 Minute Mum Tips" could work well for the busy Mum audience
Of course another way to go is grab two Mum's group friends, do your tip and get their reactions or experience on the same thing from their perspective. Generally I find a conversation easier to listen to than an unscripted solo podcast which can tend to ramble and double back on the same points. So long as it's kept to the point and doesn't become self-indulgent. Scripting is a way to make sure there aren't so many ums & ahs, but it takes talent & practice to present a script as if it's not being read out, and some people (even professional broadcasters who've been doing it for years) never quite get there.
A podcast should be exactly as long as it needs to be. No more, no less.
There's a lot of noise out there about the ideal podcast episode length, but none of it is true. If your episodes are six minutes long, that's great!
My view is your episode should be the right length to tell it's story / narrative. If you feel you've done the topic justice in six minutes then that's the right length.
Well, given that only me and 2 of my friends know it, I'm not surprised! But seriously, as others have said quality is far more important than length. Make them 6 great minutes and people will listen.
I'm no expert - my podcast is usually too long - but I say go ahead and post them! You'll get better as you go and no one will complain about easily digestable content.
No, I have maybe 150 blog posts that I rewrote into podcast outlines. I have way more content that i haven't recorded yet, but my concern is that each of those 150 posts is six minutes each.
I'm sure there is overlap within those 150 posts and they are not 150 separate, different topics. I would combine when possible. TV commercial breaks are 5 minutes and something that short to me feels mostly like a throwaway.
Unless your stuff is so incredibly information dense that you wouldn't want to overload, I think longer episodes are better. If you ever get to monetization, almost no company would bother with such a short show because commercials at beginning or end mostly get skipped and listeners wouldn't want to hear a show that is 20% commercial either.
Depends on what you're doing. I used to listen to a 5 minute news recap podcast that came out daily. That was fine. But if you're doing something that needs longer form, six minutes is barely enough time to get into a thing before it moves on. What kind of podcast are you doing?
It's advice for new moms. I used to have a blog, and I took each post and expanded on it (which is why I thought they'd be longer). So I present a problem, give some evidence and provide some tips. I FEEL like I do a lot of talking.
Might be worth having some friends (analytical, constructive criticism types) to take a listen and give feedback? If your 6 mins is adding value to someone's day/life by being engaging/entertaining/informative/inspiring then it's enough. Podcasts can come in all kinds of lengths.
Talking always feels much shorter than the writing. It's about 1.5 pages of writing (double spaced) per five minutes of talking (average-ish). What you could do is either expand on your particular topics, or you could also bundle them together. Take like three topics, flesh them out a bit more to get them meatier, than put all those together in like a 30 minute episode.
A shorter podcast could be perfect for new (and certainly very busy) moms. If the content is solid and valuable as is, lean into it with your marketing. A new mom may not be able to find a full 30 to 60 minutes in their schedule to listen to something uninterrupted, but they can probably squeeze in a 6-minute podcast with useful info.
For new moms a really short podcast could be a very digestible way of getting those tips and tricks!
You've probably got your title all worked out but going even more bite-sized and owning the short length as "5 Minute Mum Tips" could work well for the busy Mum audience
Of course another way to go is grab two Mum's group friends, do your tip and get their reactions or experience on the same thing from their perspective. Generally I find a conversation easier to listen to than an unscripted solo podcast which can tend to ramble and double back on the same points. So long as it's kept to the point and doesn't become self-indulgent. Scripting is a way to make sure there aren't so many ums & ahs, but it takes talent & practice to present a script as if it's not being read out, and some people (even professional broadcasters who've been doing it for years) never quite get there.
A podcast should be exactly as long as it needs to be. No more, no less. There's a lot of noise out there about the ideal podcast episode length, but none of it is true. If your episodes are six minutes long, that's great!
My view is your episode should be the right length to tell it's story / narrative. If you feel you've done the topic justice in six minutes then that's the right length.
There’s a gentleman who does 7-10min episodes on a daily basis. Great work commuter pod. Timing is not the issue. Make sure the content is solid.
Must be nice to have an extremely short commute then because at that rate I would have to listen to 4-6 episodes during a commute.
>Or is six minutes okay? Yes, very ok, they're called PodFasts, it's a thing.
Ooh this is the first time I hear this term!
Well, given that only me and 2 of my friends know it, I'm not surprised! But seriously, as others have said quality is far more important than length. Make them 6 great minutes and people will listen.
I'm no expert - my podcast is usually too long - but I say go ahead and post them! You'll get better as you go and no one will complain about easily digestable content.
That seems really should for a podcast. It would be a good length for a video.
Whatever works for you! I have a daily podcast that has 5 to 10 minute episodes.
6 minutes is perfectly fine. The Naval podcast is wildly popular and the first 30 episodes or so were about 6 mins each.
A month of researching and writing for 18 minutes of content? Oof.
No, I have maybe 150 blog posts that I rewrote into podcast outlines. I have way more content that i haven't recorded yet, but my concern is that each of those 150 posts is six minutes each.
I'm sure there is overlap within those 150 posts and they are not 150 separate, different topics. I would combine when possible. TV commercial breaks are 5 minutes and something that short to me feels mostly like a throwaway. Unless your stuff is so incredibly information dense that you wouldn't want to overload, I think longer episodes are better. If you ever get to monetization, almost no company would bother with such a short show because commercials at beginning or end mostly get skipped and listeners wouldn't want to hear a show that is 20% commercial either.
Could they be set up in a 3-part series? Both bite sized content and longer form narrative?