PodMov Daily: Monday, March 16

Episode 163: Your Monday Mix

Focus Your Episode Intro: A Haiku Technique from NPR

For the NPR Training series, senior producer Kathy Rushlow explains why a newscast spot is “the haiku of radio journalism.” For podcasters, structuring an effective spot can hook an audience from the outset, especially important for new listeners.

A spot communicates the latest news, usually on the fly. “It’s a format that purports to tell a complete story — no matter how complex or involved — in under a minute,” Rushlow says. The intro of a podcast, even if it has nothing to do with news, benefits from this method.

Using examples from NPR correspondents, Rushlow shows how to capture your content’s main points in a “concise manner that leaves no doubt or confusion in the listener’s mind.” Listeners that wander into your podcast shouldn’t long wonder what they’ve chosen.

Leyendas Legendarias: A Hit from Wisconsin to Mexico

Jorge Swezc of Madison, Wisconsin is the executive producer and occasional co-host of Leyendas Legendarias, one of Mexico's top podcasts. Erik Lorenzsonn of The Capital Times profiles Swezc’s unexpected, passionate launch into the international spotlight.

Leyendas Legendarias (Legendary Legends in English) is “about serial killers, aliens, conspiracies, cryptozoological curiosities and other unexplainable phenomenon.” Spotify nominated the show for Podcast of the Year at its inaugural Spotify Awards.

Lorenzsonn speaks Swezc about “pav[ing] a way for Mexican creatives to turn podcasting into a living.” All Things Comedy, the podcast network founded by Al Madrigal and Bill Burr, has welcomed Leyendas as “the first Spanish-language podcast on the network.”

IAB Audio Summit: The Levitating Power of Podcast Ads

Last week at the IAB Audio Summit in Sydney, Eardrum founder Ralph van Dijk called out the “superheroes” of audio advertising. IAB Australia CEO Gai Le Roy has the details on van Dijk’s pantheon of Streamer, Podcaster, Captain Radio, and The Voice.

Le Roy describes each sector’s nature, superpower, successful mission, and kryptonite to explain how it “protect[s] marketers from low reach and unsuccessful campaigns.” Podcast ads have the “power of levitation, which signifies that high net worth individuals are listening in their droves.”

Noting that Streamer’s definitive superpower is data, Le Roy confirms that Podcaster’s strength is engagement. Its kryptonite, “ads that use the wrong tone of voice for the show they’re on,” loses power as campaigns “weave in seamlessly with the podcast itself.”

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Here's what else is going on:

• Speed dial: The Infinite Dial must go on, reports Podcast Business Journal, but plans for a live stats presentation in NYC will have to wait. Tom Webster and John Rosso will still deliver the planned webinar on Thursday, March 19.

• Personal space: Sarah Larson of The New Yorker has curated “podcasts to listen to while you're social-distancing.” Among “quick, facts-only” virus updates and political briefings, Larson recommends the fun, sanity-saving Reply All.

• Fortnight flex: Due to school closings, the new submission deadline for the NPR Student Podcast Challenge is April 7. The two-week extension was requested by teachers who are “busy preparing their students to go online.”

• Verbal experiment: Science Friday and WNYC Studios have launched Science Diction, “a series that digs into the scientific origin stories behind our words and language.” The new podcast is hosted by SciFri producer Johanna Mayer.