There are a few firms out there who have dipped their toes into the world of Podcasts. Every other firm I have spoken to is "talking about doing it" but have not yet got round to it ...!

People seem to think that running a podcast is very difficult to do.  Indeed, one of the firms I work with has done very few because they are charged £6K internally to run a podcast in their "Podcast studio".

But a podcast does not need to be recorded in a studio.  A podcast is actually just an audio file.  It can be recorded on your laptop, on your phone, using Zoom or even on your old double cassette player and in minutes you can be ready to go.

The below example from the FTSE 100 company, Intertek, is a great example of how to run a successful Podcast.  Choose someone from your team who can "anchor" the Podcast and then ask a couple of your experts to talk about hot topics.  What is reported in the press? What is of concern to your clients? Where are the gaps in their knowledge? What is keeping them awake at night?  If you understand this then you can create short, pithy podcasts where your experts can keep your clients (and potential clients) educated and informed on these key topics.

It can also be very powerful to invite your clients or "friends" of your firm to take part in your Podcasts.  The Media, Sports and Entertainment at the global law firm DLA Piper do a superb job of this.  In their Sports podcast series they speak to "... to various friends within the sports industry to discuss the latest 'hot topics' within their particular sport".  Here is a great example from one they did with the Rugby Football Union ahead of last year's Rugby World Cup: DLA Piper SportsLaw Podcast: Episode 1: RFU - Rugby World Cup and Social Media

EASY TO PREP FOR

Podcasts are really easy to prepare for and run.  You can send the questions to the experts in advance so that they can do all of their prep and because it is just audio, the less confident participants can easily read or refer to their notes throughout.  Any errors or things that you want taken out can easily be cut before the Podcast goes live.

AUTHENTICITY

If you get a second, have a quick listen to the DLA Piper podcast or the Intertek podcast.  This is not some sort of ghost-written content, this is not a PR firm or a communications team or actors speaking - this is the true subject matter experts within these businesses speaking directly into the ears of their clients and future clients.  This is extremely authentic and as Rupert Younger, Director, Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation said: 

'Authenticity is at the heart of modern communications.'