The heart of a good podcast isn’t in expensive mics or a nice  studio— it’s in the idea. We talk through four litmus tests to test the strength of your idea: specificity, novelty, practicality, and repeatability. Honing in on these elements will help you uncover what’s exciting about your idea, and what will make it successful. While this episode focuses on podcasting, these tests are good to consider for any artistic idea. Consume: Listen to The Worst Idea of All Time and think about how it’s specific, novel, practical, and repeatable. Create: Take a podcast (or any artistic idea) idea you have and walk through the four litmus tests. Specificity: Write the one sentence elevator pitch for your podcast. Novelty: Write one sentence about what makes your podcast different. Repeatability: Write one to two sentences to describe what Episode 40 would sound like, or what the arc of your limited series would be. Practicality: Make a list of equipment, people, and how much time you’ll need for each episode Join the SWT Membership community to share your work, give feedback, and connect with other artists: https://www.patreon.com/startwiththis See Start With This live in Boston on October 20. Tickets on sale now: http://startwiththispodcast.com Help spread the word about our show by wearing our logo: https://topatoco.com/collections/startwiththis Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Credits: Jeffrey Cranor (host) & Joseph Fink (host), Julia Melfi (producer), Grant Stewart (editor), Vincent Cacchione (mixer). Rob Wilson (logo). Theme written by Joseph Fink. Currently performed by listener Mike Lynch. If you'd like your own cover of the theme song featured on this show, email us at [email protected] or share it in our membership community. Produced by Night Vale Presents. http://www.startwiththispodcast.com http://www.nightvalepresents.com