How to Leverage the Power of Storytelling in Your Video Podcasts

  • 7 min read
  • Mar 4, 2024
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You must have wondered at a point how Joe Rogan can attract about 11 million listeners per episode or how Crime Junkie has close to 6 million listeners per episode.  Your video podcast can also attract millions of listeners and viewers if you can put in the work. There's a hack for this, and it's called storytelling. Podcast listeners are just like every other person; they will likely get bored listening to people talk about a topic without a story or a conversation in between. These podcasters understand the magic of storytelling as a way to keep their audience glued, addicted, and keep coming back for more. In this post, we'll discuss how you can use storytelling techniques to enhance your video podcasts. 

What is a Video Podcast?

Video Podcasts are audio podcasts having a video element or video captured from an audio conversation and then maybe distributed via websites or youtube channels. According to Wired Clip, podcast listeners are no longer interested in what a podcaster has to say but also want to witness how the conversation is taking place. This is the more reason why The Joe Rogan Experience, How Stuff Works, and How I Built This are blowing up. Combining both video and a compelling story to your podcast might be the catalyst it needs to blow up. Being able to introduce the show with a story or tell a story alongside the podcast episode topic is potent enough to hold your audience's attention and keep them asking for more. While the eagerness to learn about the power of storytelling for your video podcast is brewing inside of you, let's tell a story;
Growing up as a child was much fun until my mother died. I had a younger sister born a year before my mother died. I lived and went to school in Kentucky with my father and mother before moving to San Francisco with my father and younger sister two years after my mother died. While my mother was still alive, she was always there for my younger sister and me because my father was always very busy with work and sometimes came home late. However, he made sure that we had everything we needed financially. My mother had to quit her job because she wanted to spend as much time with my sister and me. She constantly bathed us, played with us, and drove me to school every morning. Unfortunately, something terrible occurred, and can you guess what it was? My mother developed a chronic illness and spent nearly six months in the hospital before dying. My father was aghast by her untimely death as he hadn't expected such to happen in our lives. My younger sister and I were still young and naive at the time, and we didn't believe our mother had died because we kept asking our father where she was. It was challenging to live with the thought that our mother was no longer alive because she handled almost everything my sister and I needed. My father then had to resign from his job and apply for a new one where he would have enough time and free days to spend with me and my sister. It wasn't easy for him, but he never wanted us to feel dejected and reminisce on our mother's death; he had to do all that and create more time to be with us. He sometimes also carried us along to his workplace to avoid feeling lonely at home and ensured we never lacked anything to eat. He acted as a father and mother to us, and he didn't get to marry again on his wish because he felt such could draw us far from him. He never once thought about himself and took us as a top priority. He was exceptional, we had no idea he could be so, and he made our childhood memories something we will always cherish. My father died too soon at age 60, and it's been ten years since he died, and I still can't forget everything he did for my sister and me while he was alive. He was the best Father anyone could have asked for because he never once made us feel sad about our mother's demise.

How Does Storytelling Work? 

Now that we have gotten your attention back, How did you see this story? What have you now developed from the storyline? Did reading the story awaken your mind to a similar occurrence you heard or experienced before? From this story, you now have a glimpse of how storytelling can make your listeners or audience become focused on your podcast and want to know what happened in the long run of your story.

How Can Storytelling Enhance Your Video Podcast? 

Storytelling significantly impacts your video podcasts; it draws people's attention to your podcasts and piques their interest in watching or listening to any video podcast you post. Try to listen to an episode of American LiveThe Moth PodcastThe Office LadiesThe TruthUnexplained, and A Better Workplace. These podcasts begin each episode with an intriguing story that keeps their audience engaged and captivated. Below are ways how you can get to leverage the power of storytelling on your video podcasts.

1. Always Start With a Story

Starting your podcast with an intriguing story related to the topic is essential for capturing your audience's attention. Many podcasts do not appear to use these skills; instead, they begin talking about the issue of their podcast and end up with a small number of listeners. If you have a guest, you can ask them to share a story about themselves or someone they know related to the podcast topic.

2. Build Every Episode Around a Story

It is not a good strategy to concentrate solely on creating a story for your podcast's intro or first episode. You should always include relevant stories or conversations on each episode of your podcast that is released. This process will keep your audience glued to your podcast, and they will not want to miss any new episodes that you release.

3. Your storyline should be visually appealing, emotional, entertaining, or educative to your audience

To build a connection with your audience, you need to be able to share a story that resonates with them on an emotional level. There must be a driving factor in your story for your video podcast. Some listeners may begrudgingly listen to your storyline or even skip some parts of the podcast when your storyline becomes irrelevant. Make it a priority to craft an entertaining, eye-catching, educational, or emotional story for every episode. You'll be surprised at how much your audience will want to listen to other parts of your episodes and invite their friends to enjoy your video podcasts.

Final Thoughts

Incorporating storytelling into your video podcast can do more than just increasing your traffic and fanbase. Storytelling has been proven to increase the attention span of an audience. You should never give up on your video podcast until you have tried the storytelling technique. You can also check out our guide on how to record a video podcast and how to start a podcast