✊ What's the big idea?
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“Small minds discuss people; average minds discuss events; great minds discuss ideas.” The quote is most often attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt, but some version dates back to Socrates. Clearly, the idea behind it has staying power. It also has portability. Because beyond applying to people, the sentiment highlights an important component of designing a marketable podcast: The idea behind it. See, while the vast majority of shows design, frame, and position their content around topics, the most memorable, resonant, and recommendable shows are built around ideas. Specifically, great shows exist to explore and/or amplify one big controlling idea, with each episode playing a small but essential role in that mission. A show’s controlling idea might be tied to the change the host or brand wants to see in the world. Or, it might be a big question that the show will explore. Or, it might be a specific idea that the host or brand wants to establish or reinforce an association with in the minds of their audience. The best shows—and the best ideas—achieve all three. Unfortunately, most shows lack a cogent controlling idea. The result is flimsy, disposable, forgettable content that fails to stick with listeners or impact them beyond sharing a quick, surface-level tip here and there. From the listeners’ perspective, these shows can certainly be helpful. But they do next to nothing for the host in terms of building their business, audience, or authority. Shows without a controlling idea tend to feel like a loose collection of episodes, floating around unbound by a central theme. A listener might binge through these shows at 2x speed to transfer the desired knowledge as quickly and efficiently as possible… while failing to form any meaningful connection with the show, host, or brand. Once they’ve got what they came for, they’re quick to discard the show and move on to the next thing, the show fading from memory within a few weeks. Easy in, easy out. As a listener, I’ve been through this cycle with dozens of shows, and have benefited from all of them. As a creator, however, I want to create a richer, deeper, more durable connection with my audience. I’m guessing you do to. Which is where identifying the controlling idea behind your show comes in. Your controlling idea is the frame that gives context to your episodes. It gives your listeners a simple, specific hook to latch onto that differentiates you from your competition and makes you, your show, and your brand more distinct and memorable. And it orients your audience around a common goal or belief with deeper emotional resonance than surface-level content about a topic. Unlike a collection of topics, big ideas are durable, portable, easily communicable. Most of all, they're magnetic, attracting people, attention, and interest at a simple mention. The bigger and more novel the idea, and the better you can articulate it, the more magnetic it is, and the more potential your show has for growth. When you structure your show around a big idea, everything else—from content ideation, to guest & sponsor pitching, to sales, to marketing—becomes easier. Finding and refining the idea, however, is the hard part. It's the real work of brand building that most people gloss over. Identifying and owning your big idea takes vision. And courage. It requires you to break from the crowd and chart a path that no one else in your space is taking—or perhaps even seeing. It requires you to plant your flag, take a stand, and convincingly advocate for your idea in the face of opposition. But it’s the key to creating a show that resonates deeply with your listeners, sticks with them after they stop listening, and perhaps most importantly, gets them talking about (and recommending) the show. We’ll explore the anatomy of a big idea that can carry your show tomorrow. But in the meantime, here are some examples of shows and brands that have structured everything they do around a big idea rather than a topic. 80,000 HoursThe DO LecturesThis Is PropagandaWhat's your big idea? |