Podcast templates for show runners
A podcast is mostly logistics wearing the costume of a creative project. Guests, dates, questions, levels, publishing — these templates exist so the conversation itself is the only part you have to improvise.
15 templates86 sections, all public12 with an editable CSV
What a podcast template is actually for
The thing that kills shows is not bad episodes. It is the coordination load: a guest who needs chasing, a date that moves, questions written an hour before recording, a file that turns out to have been recorded on the wrong input. Each of those is small, each recurs every episode, and together they are why the median podcast stops inside its first season. Nearly everything in this cluster is a way of paying that cost once instead of weekly.
The second job is guest experience, which is more consequential than it looks. A guest who is briefed, sent the questions, told how long it will take and told when it goes out will say yes again and will introduce you to the next guest. A guest who is not will do the episode and disappear. Two of the templates here exist entirely for that.
The third job is turning one recording into the several things it should become — show notes, clips, a newsletter, social posts. That is a repurposing problem and it is far cheaper when the structure is decided before you record rather than excavated afterwards.
Where these templates disagree with each other
The episode planner, the script and the run of show look like three versions of the same page and are three different moments. The planner is before: topic, guest, angle, why this episode now. The script is the content itself, and for an interview show it is mostly the arc rather than the words. The run of show is the document in front of you while recording — timings, segment order, the ad break, who speaks when — and it needs to be glanceable, which the other two are not.
The guest templates split by direction. Outreach is cold and has to make a stranger want to spend an hour with you, so it says what the show is, who hears it and what the ask actually involves. The guest prep sheet goes to someone who has already said yes, and its job is to remove every remaining uncertainty — link, timing, kit, topics, what happens afterwards. The interview questions template sits between them and is for you, not the guest: it is where a generic question list becomes a specific one.
The two checklists divide by what they protect. A recording checklist protects one session and is almost entirely about audio you cannot fix later — inputs, levels, a backup track, room noise. A launch checklist protects the show's first appearance in a directory and runs once: artwork, feed, categories, the first few episodes existing before anyone arrives.
On the money side, a podcast media kit and a sponsorship pitch differ exactly as their equivalents do elsewhere in the library: the kit is standing and generic, the pitch is written for one advertiser. The ad read script is a third thing again — it is the deliverable, not the sale, and it is the only one of the three a listener ever hears.
What to have ready before you open one
A format decision. Solo, co-hosted or interview changes which of these templates matter: an interview show lives on the guest pipeline and the run of show, a solo show lives on the script. Trying to run all of them is how a weekly show becomes a monthly one.
A guest pipeline that is longer than one. The outreach template assumes you are asking several people, because the reply rate on cold outreach makes a pipeline of one a scheduling crisis. Build the list before writing the email.
Somewhere for the episodes to live. The launch checklist assumes a host and a feed; if that is not settled, the podcast hosting and podcast recording categories cover it, and that choice is better made before episode one than after episode six.
Every podcasting template
All 15, ordered by popularity. Each one is published in full on its own page — every section, nothing withheld — with the branded PDF and editable CSV available by email from that page.
Podcast Show Notes Template
Show notes are the only part of your episode Google can read. This template gives you a repeatable structure (summary, timestamps, links, and CTAs) so each episode page earns search traffic instead of sitting silent.
6 sections
Podcast Episode Checklist
An episode is dozens of small tasks across recording, editing, and publishing. This checklist captures every one, from levels check to directory verification, so nothing slips between hitting record and going live.
6 sections
Podcast Guest Outreach Email Template
Most guest pitches get ignored because they're long, vague, and about the host. These templates flip that (short, specific, and built around what the guest gets) plus a follow-up cadence that actually lands replies.
5 sections
Podcast Recording Checklist
Bad audio loses listeners faster than bad content. This recording checklist walks you through gear, environment, levels, and backups before you hit record, so you capture clean audio you won't have to fight in editing.
6 sections
Podcast Interview Questions Template
Great interviews aren't a random list of questions. They're a flow that warms the guest up, goes deep, and ends with a takeaway. This template gives you that structure plus a reusable question bank.
5 sections
Podcast Episode Planner
Recording without a plan is how episodes ramble and listeners drop off. This planner forces the decisions that make an episode tight (the single takeaway, the segment flow, and the hook) before the mic is on.
5 sections
Podcast Script Template
An episode plan decides what the show is about. A run of show sets the timing. This script is the third piece: the actual words you say, block by block, from the cold open to the last call to action. It comes in a solo version and an interview version.
7 sections
Podcast Launch Checklist
Launching a podcast involves dozens of moving parts most new hosts only discover when something breaks. This checklist walks you through pre-launch, feed and directory setup, and launch day so nothing gets missed.
6 sections
Podcast Media Kit Template
A podcast media kit is the document a sponsor forwards to their team. It needs audio-specific numbers: downloads per episode over a set window, where those numbers come from, and ad formats priced on CPM. This template lays all of that out on one or two pages.
8 sections
Podcast Ad Read Script Template
Host-read ads work when they sound like you. This template gives you a structure for each slot length, a sheet for everything the sponsor sends, and a must-say and never-say table so you hit the brief without reading it like a robot.
7 sections
Podcast Content Repurposing Template
Every episode is a goldmine of content most hosts publish once and forget. This template maps each episode into audiograms, video clips, social posts, and a newsletter so one recording fuels a week of distribution.
5 sections
Podcast Sponsorship Pitch Template
Sponsors buy access to an audience, not a download number. This pitch template helps you frame your listeners, package ad slots, and price with CPM so you sound like a media business, not a hobbyist asking for money.
5 sections
Podcast Run Of Show Template
A run of show is the minute-by-minute script behind a smooth episode. This template lays out every segment, cue, and handoff with timing so you and any co-host or producer always know what comes next.
5 sections
Podcast Guest Prep Sheet
A short prep sheet sent ahead of the call is the difference between a nervous, rambling guest and a confident one. This template covers logistics, talking points, and tech checks so your guests show up ready to deliver.
5 sections
Podcast Season Planner
Planning by season instead of week is how serious shows stay ahead and tell a bigger story. This planner maps your whole season (themes, guests, episodes, and release cadence) so you record in batches and never run dry mid-season.
5 sections
The full template library holds the rest, and the pricing calculators are where a template that asks for a number gets one.
Other template collections
The library has 7 collections with a hub of their own.
Newsletter templates for creators
An owned-audience list is four jobs that share one name — planning, writing, measuring, and eventually selling. These templates split along those lines on purpose, because the sheet that keeps a send schedule honest is not the sheet that prices an ad slot.
Social media templates for creators
Social output is a supply problem before it is a creative one. Most of these templates exist to make the next post already half-decided when you sit down, so that the decision you spend energy on is the one that actually differentiates the post.
YouTube templates for video creators
A video is the only creator format where planning, production and publishing are three genuinely different crafts with three different failure modes. These templates are sorted by which of the three they protect.
Media kit and sponsorship templates
Paid work is a sequence, and each step needs a different document. These templates are ordered by where they sit in that sequence — from the number you will not go below, through the pitch, to the thing you send after the deal is done.
Social media reporting templates
Reporting has two audiences with opposite needs. You need a record consistent enough to compare; a sponsor needs one page that says what their money did. These templates are split along that line rather than by platform.
UGC contract and rate templates
UGC is paid production work, not influence. You are selling footage a brand will run on its own channels, which makes the contract and the usage terms the commercial centre of the job rather than paperwork around it.
Podcasting templates: questions creators ask
Do I need a script for an interview podcast?
Not a word-for-word one. What an interview show needs is the arc — the opening, the three or four places the conversation has to reach, the close — plus a run of show for timings. The script template covers the first; the run of show covers the second.
What is the difference between the run of show and the episode planner?
The planner is filled in before the episode exists and decides what it is about. The run of show sits in front of you while recording and decides what happens when. One is a decision, the other is an instrument.
Which template most improves guest bookings?
The guest prep sheet, counter-intuitively. Outreach gets the first yes; being briefed properly is what makes a guest recommend the show to the next guest, which is where most bookings eventually come from.