7 Podcast Script Elements That Are Essential

Author: Mallory Carra

Whether your podcast is a narrative, news show or talk format, the script is a roadmap for everyone involved in your podcast, whether it’s a team or solo effort. That’s why your podcast script needs 7 essential elements to streamline production – and make the end product a great experience for your listeners.

Unlike screenwriting or journalism, there isn’t one set format or industry standard for podcast scripts. Each podcast’s leadership often determines what it looks like. For the most part, scripted narrative podcasts usually have the hosts’ spoken words written down (mostly) verbatim, but talk formats may have a run-of-show or list of questions that may act as a script. I’ve been working on podcasts for over six years as both a staff writer/editor and freelancer, in addition to teaching college journalism students how to make them for nearly three years, so I’ve seen many different types of audio scripts – ranging from extremely professional and detailed to extremely confusing. 

Either way, here are 7 essential elements you should include in your podcast scripts, no matter the format.

1. Intro & Credits

The hallmark of a professional podcast is having a formal introduction at the beginning of an episode and closing it with credits. For example, the intro can be as simple as “This is [Title of Podcast], a podcast about [subject] and I’m your host, [Name]...”) at the very beginning or after a short, but tantalizing tease or cold open.

As for the end credits, remind the listeners who are the host(s), what they’ve been listening to and give credit where it's due to the talented team behind the scenes (even if it’s just you). Good closers also include where the podcast can be regularly heard (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.), where to find links to additional resources and transcripts, and a clever sign-off from the host(s). 

2. Act/Ad Breaks

Like TV shows, most podcasts need to fit in advertisements and those ads go in the predetermined breaks in the story. Many podcasters like to lead into these breaks using a cliffhanger to keep the listener engaged enough to come back once the ads finish.

Even if the podcast doesn’t include advertising, act breaks can help with a podcast narrative’s pacing, story arcs, and general organization of information. 

3. Music Cues

Engaging podcasts often use music, but to do that, you need to mark the in and out points for those tunes in the script. This can help cement your vision during the editing and sound designing process. It can be as simple as text that says “MUSIC STARTS HERE.”

4. Sound Cues

Sound effects (often called SFX in scripts), ambiance, and natural sound (known colloquially as “natsound”) from the field can turn your podcast into a truly immersive experience, but you need to know when those sounds begin and end. Include cues for both of these, so you know what to use and for how long during the editing and sound designing process.

5. Timecodes

Cues are helpful, but timecodes are even specific and necessary, especially when it comes to the use of archival clips and interviews. It’ll help take the guesswork out of editing and and make it so much more precise.  

6. Pronouncers 

Podcast scripts are meant to be read and you shouldn’t assume every word and name has an obvious pronunciation. Always double-check them and include phonetic spellings in parentheticals. For example, the Irish name Siobhan would get the pronouncer “(SHIV-an).”

My rule of thumb is to check YouTube to see how other sources pronounced the word or name and use the pronunciation that’s used the most – however, a video of the person saying their name’s preferred pronunciation is always best.

7. Host Instructions

Depending on your host(s), the podcast script is a way to share your vision for the episode with your hosts – and communicate it in specifics, like if you want the hosts to banter or improvise about a certain topic. 

Make sure to include clear instructions and directly address the hosts in the text. It’s also a good practice to make sure these instructions are in a different color or style font, so you and the host(s) can identify that it’s different than the other text to be reading for the show.

Depending on your format and subject matter, here are some optional elements I’ve found helpful to include in scripts:

• Color coding, so you know what’s narration, sound, an interview clip, etc. just by sight alone. It can help you balance out all the elements in your script

• A source list and footnotes for obscure facts, so you can always refer back to them.

• Transcription of clips, so the editing process can go smoother and be much more precise.

What are your most essential elements in podcast scripts?

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Mallory Carra is a freelance journalist, podcast producer and adjunct professor with nearly 20 years of journalism and new media experience. She teaches digital, audio and TV journalism at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and currently works on several podcasts, including Sarah Turney’s Voices for Justice, The Why Files, and USC’s Electric Futures. Previously, Mallory was a podcast writer and story editor at Spotify’s Parcast Studios for over 5 years. She also contributes articles to NBCU Academy’s Equity Lab and co-leads the Asian American Journalists Association’s Voices fellowship, a multimedia journalism training program for college and graduate students. You can find her on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and her website, mallorycarra.com.