“What are we going to talk about on our podcast? Who should we have on?” These are common questions I get, especially in the pre-production phase of a show. What should we talk about on our podcast?  One way I answer these questions is to draw upon Charles Dickens and ask clients to think of the three ghosts that visited Scrooge on Christmas Eve.

The ghost of association podcast past

This is where the old saying “those who don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it” is crucial. Hearing tales of what worked (or perhaps more importantly, what didn’t work) for successful people and organizations in the past is always of interest. How an industry has come to be where it is now can shed light onto where it may be going in the future. And industry veterans are ALWAYS full of great tales of “the good ole days,” and they can often be great storytellers.

The ghost of association podcast present

What is happening right now is what affects members. There is nothing more crucial than delivering your audience up to date and accurate industry news in an easy to consume audio show. Answer questions like:

• What are some statistics about your industry right now?
• What do those statistics mean right now?
• Who just did what successfully just now?
• How did they do it?
• What legislation is happening right now?
• What does that legislation mean to our industry?

The ghost of association podcast future  

I don’t think there is anybody in any field anywhere that would not like to have at least a glimpse into the future. This is where their industry is heading and being able to help make a road map is one of the most useful things you can do for your members. You can talk about:

• upcoming events
• predictions on trends
• coming technologies
• potential disruptions

The best part is unlike Scrooge, associations have a newsletter that usually contains all sorts of topics to chat about on the podcast. But if your organization doesn’t have a newsletter or even if it does, this is a great opportunity for you to do a little crowdsourcing. Now you have a great excuse to contact your members and ask them about their concerns, what and who they would like to learn about, and who would they like to learn it from. On top of that, it gives you a reason to contact those industry experts and let them know that your members would love to hear from them. And no small side benefit is that it gives you a chance to get to know your members and the experts better yourself.

So don’t be a Scrooge and make some podcasts.