Podcast post-production
How to write a podcast script: the structure of an episode
Updated October 11, 2026
A good podcast script is almost never read out: it is a one-page run sheet with five parts. A hook with the best moment, the show's opening titles, an introduction to the topic or guest, two or three segments with one key question each, and a close with a single call to action.
The parts of a podcast, one by one
Almost every podcast that works shares the same skeleton, even if each show dresses it differently. There are five parts.
The first is the hook: a short piece of the conversation itself, the strongest moment of the episode, placed before everything else so that someone who has just arrived decides to stay. It is often called a cold open. The second is the opening titles, the show's intro: music, name and a look that repeats every week, so the audience recognises the show in two seconds. The third is the introduction: what today is about, who you are talking to and why now. The fourth is the body, split into two or three segments with one topic each. The fifth is the close: one idea that sums it up, one single thing you ask of the audience, and the goodbye.
If there is a sponsor, the read goes in a fixed slot, usually after the introduction or between two segments. Never in the hook.
On Aladetres, one of the most watched conversation podcasts in Spain, the opening is a 30 to 45 second intro with motion graphics and original music that we make for every episode. It is the first thing people see, and it has the same job as the hook: nobody leaves before the conversation starts.
Word-for-word script or run sheet: how to write it
The most common question is whether you need to write everything down. It depends on the format. A narrative or news podcast, where one voice tells a story or sums up the week, is written word for word, and you can tell when it isn't. In a conversation or an interview, though, reading kills the chat. What works there is a run sheet: one page with the order of the episode and what you want to get from each part.
An example, for a one-hour interview with a company founder. Hook: the script only notes what kind of moment to look for, because it is chosen in the edit. Opening and introduction, two minutes: who she is, in one sentence, and why she is on today. First segment, how it started, with one key question: the day she almost quit. Second segment, how she works now: a mistake that cost her dearly and what changed afterwards. Third segment, what comes next: what she would do differently if she started tomorrow. Close, three minutes: the idea to take away and where to find her.
If the podcast is on video, the run sheet gets a technical column: which set, which lower thirds, where the music comes in and which moments to flag for clips. That is what many people search for as a technical podcast script. One page is enough. If it runs to four, the host will end up reading.
Structure by format
Search for how to structure a podcast and Google splits it by format: interview, educational, narrative, news. What changes is the weight of each part, not the skeleton.
In an interview, the guest is the centre. The introduction is short and the segments follow their story, from the comfortable to what they have never told anywhere else. Here preparation matters more than the script, and we cover it in how to prepare a podcast guest.
In an educational podcast, the promise rules. In the introduction you say what the listener will be able to do by the end, each segment teaches one thing with a concrete example, and the close goes back over the ideas in a minute.
In a narrative show, like history or true crime, the structure is that of a story: setup, conflict and resolution, with an episode ending that leaves a question open for the next one. Here there is a word-for-word script, and it gets rewritten several times before recording.
In a news podcast, the order runs from most to least important, with the headlines at the start so people know what is coming.
And if the episode is short, five minutes or so, drop the introduction: hook, one well developed idea and close. There is no time for more.
How to start a podcast: the first 30 seconds
“Hi everyone, welcome to another episode, today we’re going to talk about…”. That is how almost every show starts, and it is exactly what makes people swipe to the next video. On YouTube and Spotify, the first few seconds decide whether someone stays.
It works better the other way round. First, a line from the episode itself that opens a question. Then the opening titles. Then, in one or two sentences, why this guest and what the listener gets out of it. The hello can go there, once people are already in.
The hook has to deliver what the title promises. On Aladetres, episode 145, with José Luis Cava, is called “La guerra económica que cambiará el mundo” (The economic war that will change the world) and has passed 2.6 million views on YouTube. If the title promises that, the first seconds go straight to it, not to how the guest got to the studio. We go into more detail in how a cinematic intro is made.
And the very first episode, when you start a podcast from scratch? Don't make it an introduction to yourself. Make it a real episode, one of the good ones, and leave the explanation of the show for the channel description and a short trailer.
The script is finished in the edit
However much you prepare, the conversation never comes out in the order of the run sheet, and that is fine. That is why the structure is locked in the edit. With The Sage Steele Show, a US interview podcast we post-produce with our partner Dull Light, each episode arrives as two to three hours of raw footage. In the edit we choose the hook, cut the detours, reorder the segments if needed and flag the moments that will become clips. The channel's most watched episode has passed 1.16 million views.
At Bostak Films we work on the script from both ends. Before recording, we prepare the format, the run sheet and the guest proposals with the host. Afterwards, we edit the episode with that same structure in mind, with its intro, its cuts and its reels. With Aladetres we have post-produced more than 100 episodes and the channel has grown from around 100,000 to more than 800,000 subscribers; you can read the Aladetres case.
If your podcast isn't quite hooking people, or you have an idea and want to start it right, book a free podcast audit: we look at your episodes or your idea and tell you what structure we would give it. Everything we do is on our podcast production page.
FAQ
How do you write a podcast script?
With a one-page run sheet, except for narrative or news podcasts, which are written word for word. The run sheet orders the five parts of the episode (hook, opening titles, introduction, segments and close) and notes the key question for each segment. If the podcast is on video, add a technical column with set, lower thirds and music.
What are the parts of a podcast?
Hook, opening titles or intro, introduction of the topic or guest, a body in two or three segments, and a close with a call to action and the goodbye. If there is a sponsor, the read goes in a fixed slot, usually after the introduction or between two segments.
How should you start a podcast so people don't leave?
With a strong line from the episode itself before the hello. Then the opening titles, and then, in one or two sentences, why this guest or topic and what the listener gets out of it. The hook has to deliver what the episode title promises.
Does an interview podcast need a script?
It needs preparation more than a script: research the guest, a run sheet with the segments and one key question for each, and the freedom to follow up. Reading closed questions makes the chat sound like an exam. The final order is adjusted in the edit.
Want to know what your podcast needs?
Book the free podcast audit. We look at your show or your idea and tell you what we would change and where we would start.
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