One of the questions I get asked more than almost any other is this: how do I know what to talk about on my podcast? And I understand why it comes up so often, because it is genuinely one of the things that stops podcasters in their tracks – both before they start and long after they have launched. The blank screen problem. The running-out-of-ideas problem. The recording-episodes-nobody-clicks-on problem.
In this episode of Podcasts Done For You Show I went through 10 proven ways to find podcast topics that your audience actually wants to hear. Not topics you think they want. Not topics that sound good on paper. Topics your audience is actively searching for, using the exact language they use, that speak directly to the pain points they describe when nobody is listening. Here is everything we covered, expanded for this article.
1. Start with your listener’s exact words – not your own
This is the most important shift you can make, and it is one most podcasters never make. As an expert in your field, you naturally think and speak in the language of someone who has already solved the problems your audience is facing. But your listener is living inside the problem. They describe it differently. They use simpler words. They frame it emotionally, not technically.
The practical tip here is deceptively simple: type your topic into Google and look at what comes back. The autocomplete suggestions, the “People Also Ask” results, the phrasing that appears at the top of search results – that is the language your audience uses. Subtle differences in phrasing can be all the difference between someone finding your episode or scrolling straight past it. Your job is to match their language, not yours. When your episode title matches the exact phrase your listener would type at 10pm when they are stuck and frustrated, they feel seen. And when they feel seen, they press play.
2. Mine your client conversations, DMs, and discovery calls
Every question a client or prospect asks you out loud is a topic that dozens more are silently searching for online. Go back through your inbox. Scroll through your DMs. Review your discovery call notes. What comes up again and again? What are the pain points – and I am going to use that term a lot throughout this article – that keep surfacing in every conversation?
When a client says something that stops you in your tracks, write it down immediately. Not because it is a nice phrase, but because it is probably your next episode title. The raw, unpolished language people use when they are genuinely struggling is far more valuable than any headline you could craft from scratch. Your client conversations are a goldmine of pre-validated episode ideas – every single one of them was important enough for someone to bring to you in person.
3. Build listener personas and know their pain points deeply
You cannot speak to everyone, and if you try to, you will connect with no one. This is why building a detailed listener persona is so critical. Go beyond the job title and the industry. Get specific about their fears, their frustrations, their aspirations, and the thing they would type into Google at 10pm when they are stuck and nobody is watching.
When you map your content to the emotional journey of your ideal listener – from where they are now to where they want to be – you create a show that feels like it was made specifically for them. That is what builds loyalty. That is what turns a casual listener into someone who tells their colleagues about your show, who shares your episode without being asked, who comes back week after week because your show is the one that actually speaks to where they are.
Understanding your persona does not mean writing a dry marketing document. It means genuinely imagining the person sitting in their car on their morning commute, or walking the dog, or doing the dishes. What is pressing on them? What have they been trying to solve? What do they wish someone would just explain properly? Answer those questions with your episodes and you will never struggle for topics.
4. Use SEO tools to find what people are already searching for
All of the common principles of SEO apply to your podcast just as much as they apply to a website or a blog. Search for your topic in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Google and pay close attention to the autocomplete results. These are not random suggestions – they are the platform’s best guess at what real people are actively searching for, based on genuine data about how people use the search bar.
Tools like Answer the Public and AlsoAsked.com go deeper, mapping out every question being asked around any keyword. If you type in a broad topic and see five questions come back that you had not considered before – those are your next five episodes. You can also use AI tools to go deeper on your research, but treat those results as a starting point rather than gospel, and always verify the relevance to your specific audience and niche. The goal is to understand what your audience is looking for, not what an AI thinks they might be looking for.
5. Pay attention to your daily observations
Every day you are operating in your industry, you are noticing things. Patterns across your clients. Contradictions between what conventional wisdom says and what you actually see happening. Surprising results. Breakthrough moments that shift how you think about something you have been doing for years. These observations are your freshest and most valuable content – and they are yours alone. Nobody else has them.
The practical habit here is simple: train yourself to notice. Whether it is a physical notebook by your desk, your phone’s notes app, or a voice memo recorded while you are driving – find a place to capture these observations the moment they appear. Because I can guarantee you that if you build the habit of writing things down when they come to you, ideas will flow far faster than you ever expected. The observations that feel small in the moment are often the ones that make the most compelling episodes.
6. Turn your stories and experiences into episodes
This is the big one. And it is the one I see underused more than almost anything else. Stories are what people remember. Not tips. Not how-tos. Not lists of strategies. Stories.
Think about the stories you tell all the time – the client wins, the turning points, the moments you nearly gave up, the situations that turned out completely differently from how you expected. The stories that come up in conversation because they perfectly illustrate a lesson you have learned the hard way. These are powerful not because they are entertaining, but because they are relatable. Your listener hears your story and thinks: that is me. And that connection is what keeps them coming back.
I shared a personal example in this episode – a career moment that happened at a graveside. I was called by a CEO to work with a group of consultants on the organisational culture they were trying to build. What I was not expecting was what happened on the day. Standing over a grave site, with someone who was clearly upset bringing a dispute to me in the most unexpected of settings, I learned more about communication and the importance of reading a room than any training session had ever taught me. I resolved it. And the story has stayed with me, and with everyone I have shared it with, ever since.
You have stories like that too. Experiences that shaped how you think and work. Moments that changed your perspective. Client situations that did not go to plan and taught you something irreplaceable. Those stories deserve to be told – not as entertainment, but as insight. The structure is simple. Every story has a before, a turning point, and an after. “I used to think… then something happened… and now I know.” Map your professional experiences to that framework and you will never run out of content.
And one more thing on this: when a client or colleague gives you a story idea or mentions something that sparks an episode, acknowledge them. You do not have to credit them by name if they would prefer privacy, but saying “yesterday someone asked me…” or “a client I work with raised something that stopped me in my tracks this week…” grounds your content in real experience and shows your audience you are paying attention.
7. Watch what is performing in your niche – then do it better
Look at what your competitors and peers are producing. Look at what is getting traction in your industry across podcasts, on social media, in the news. When you see something that is working, do not copy it. Elevate it. Take it to the next level. Add your own spin, your own experience, your own voice. There are many people who have built strong and respected platforms by watching what works in their space and then doing it better than anyone else has done it yet.
8. Use trends, news, and industry shifts for timely episodes
Some things you can plan for – tax time if you work in finance, end of financial year for business, major industry conferences, annual events your audience cares about. Others come up unexpectedly – a platform change, a news story, a viral debate in your space. Both deserve a place in your content calendar.
When something newsworthy breaks that is relevant to your audience, do not wait for your next scheduled episode. Jump in quickly, even if it is a shorter episode than usual. Timely content gets shared. It gets picked up by media. It puts you in front of people who had never heard of you before. And it positions you as someone who is actively engaged in your industry, not just recycling the same evergreen content week after week.
That said – do not abandon evergreen content entirely. The pain points that matter to your audience today will still matter to them in 12 months. Build your content calendar with a mix: mostly evergreen, some timely, and a small proportion of experimental content that lets you try something new.
9. Ask your audience directly – then listen with precision
Go to your email list and ask them one simple question: what is your biggest challenge right now? What would you like me to cover in a future episode? The responses will surprise you – and they will fill your content calendar faster than any research tool ever could.
There is also a powerful referral angle here that I think is underappreciated. When you cover topics your existing clients and listeners care about deeply, they share that content with their teams, their networks, and their own clients. They are not selling you – they are introducing you. And that introduction, through a podcast episode, is one of the most natural and effective forms of word-of-mouth there is. You cannot manufacture that. You can only earn it by consistently covering what your audience actually cares about.
10. Build a system to capture, track, and organise your ideas
All of the above is only as good as your ability to capture and act on the ideas that come from it. Whether it is a notebook, your phone’s notes app, a document on your computer, or a dedicated ideas board – find a home for your ideas and commit to it. Write things down when they come up, not later. Later does not exist for ideas. They disappear.
The other important point here is that covering a topic once does not mean you cannot return to it. If something is important enough to address, it is probably important enough to revisit with a fresh angle, an updated story, or new information that has emerged since you first covered it. Some of the best podcast episodes are deeper dives into topics the host has already touched on – because the audience has grown, the world has changed, and the conversation has moved forward. Give yourself permission to go back.
Action Steps – Start Here This Week
Before you do anything else, take these five steps:
- Open a fresh document or notebook right now and write down the three most common questions you have been asked by clients or prospects in the last 30 days. Those are your next three episode topics.
- Go to Google, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts and type in your main topic. Screenshot the autocomplete results. That is your audience’s language – start using it in your episode titles.
- Think of one professional story you have told more than once because it perfectly illustrates a lesson. Write down the before, the turning point, and the after. That is your next storytelling episode.
- Block 10 minutes every Friday to review your week’s conversations and observations and write down any ideas they generated. This is your weekly idea capture session.
- Set up a simple ongoing document with at least these four headings: Stories – New, Stories – Old, Customer Examples, In the News. Add to it whenever something comes up. Your content calendar will never be empty again.
In Summary
Finding the best podcast topics is not about inspiration. It is not about waiting for a brilliant idea to arrive. It is about paying attention – to your clients, your observations, the language your audience uses, the questions they ask, and the stories only you can tell. The ideas are already around you. You just need a system to capture them, and the confidence to know that your story is worth telling.
If you want all 10 of these strategies in a downloadable workbook with action steps, key quotes, and space to plan your next episodes, it is available through the show notes of this podcast.
And if you want help with any of this – the topics, the stories, the strategy, or the production – that is exactly what we do at Podcasts Done For You. Visit podcastsdoneforyou.com.au to find out more, or book a free discussion at podcastsdoneforyou.com.au/booking.
Listen to Podcasts Done For You Show:
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