This free podcast production checklist takes one episode from idea to 30-day review. It covers planning and the outline, guest booking and prep, recording, editing and mastering to platform loudness, show notes, chapters, transcripts and clips, a host or producer sign-off, publishing to your podcast host, and promotion. Guest and video steps appear only when the episode needs them. It suits in-house content teams and agencies producing a show for a client, and slots in after the Content Production Workflow Checklist when the podcast is one channel among several.
A regular show is a production line. The host records, an editor cuts and mixes, someone writes the show notes, someone else cuts clips for social, and the producer publishes. Each handover is a chance for a step to fall between two people, and with a fixed release day the missing step is usually discovered an hour before the episode goes live. A checklist per episode, started as soon as the topic is agreed, gives every step a name and a date.
Loudness should be the same every week. Apple’s audio requirements ask for a loudness of about −16 LKFS, within 1 dB either way, with true peaks no higher than −1 dBFS. Spotify’s loudness normalisation targets −14 LUFS and turns softer masters up, so most podcasters still master to −16 and let Spotify raise it slightly. Pick one target, measure every master against it, and listeners stop reaching for the volume when your show follows another in their queue.
The RSS feed is the product. Apple Podcasts, Spotify and most other apps read your show from its RSS feed. Apple requires each episode to carry a title, a publication date, an enclosure with the file’s URL, length and type, and a globally unique identifier, the GUID, which never changes. If an episode is re-uploaded or the show moves host, the GUID has to come with it. The server hosting the audio must also support HTTP HEAD and byte-range requests, which matters if you self-host.
Transcripts and chapters are now expected. Apple Podcasts generates a transcript automatically after each episode is published, shown on iOS 17.4 or later. If your host supports the podcast:transcript tag, you can supply your own VTT or SRT file and set the show to display transcripts you provide, which is the only way to be sure guest names and product terms are spelt correctly. Apple reads chapters from timestamps in the episode description, from a podcast:chapters file or from markers embedded in the audio file; the first chapter starts at 00:00:00 and there should be at least three. Since iOS 26.2 Apple also creates chapters automatically for English episodes over ten minutes long, but your own will reflect the structure you planned.
One person owns the episode. In most teams that is the producer: they start the checklist, assign the editor and the person writing show notes, and chase the guest. The host records and approves, but should not also be the one remembering whether the transcript was corrected. Agencies producing a show for a client usually put their own producer in that seat and add the client as the approver, so the client sees one clear request rather than a thread of files.
Someone has to say yes. Once an episode is in the feed, apps can download it to subscribers’ devices, and removing it later does not undo those downloads. That is why the template ends production with a sign-off from the host or producer, and for agencies the client, before anything is uploaded. If the answer is no, the checklist stops there.
Before: booking, a guest brief, a signed release form and a tech check.
During: a separate track for the guest and a backup recording.
After: a share kit so the guest can promote the episode.
Covered by: Phase 2 and one task in Phase 7.
Recording: camera framing, lighting and a video feed for every speaker.
Editing: a synced video edit with captions.
Publishing: a YouTube upload with chapters and a thumbnail.
Covered by: one task each in Phases 3, 4 and 6.
Seven phases for each episode. Guest and video steps switch on from two questions in Phase 1.
Shown when “Guest episode?” is set to Yes in Phase 1.
Check the master and the feed against this table before the Phase 5 sign-off. Most podcast hosts handle the feed for you, but they publish whatever file and artwork you give them.
| Item | Target | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Loudness | −16 LKFS, ±1 dB | Apple’s guidance; Spotify normalises to about −14 LUFS |
| True peak | No higher than −1 dBFS | Leaves headroom so lossy encoding does not add distortion |
| File format | AAC (recommended) or MP3 | 44.1 or 48 kHz sample rate |
| Bitrate | Stereo 128–256 kbps; mono 64–128 kbps | Apple lists both; pick one and keep it |
| Show artwork | Square, 1400–3000 px, JPEG or PNG, RGB | Check it reads at thumbnail size |
| Episode identity | Unique GUID that never changes | Keep it through re-uploads and host moves |
| Explicit flag | true or false, every episode | Set it per episode, not just for the show |
| Transcript | SRT or VTT via podcast:transcript |
Shown instead of Apple’s auto-generated transcript when you choose to display your own |
| Chapters | First at 00:00:00, at least three | YouTube also needs each chapter to be 10 seconds or longer |
For audio-first shows, YouTube can take your RSS feed directly in selected countries. It turns each episode into a static-image video using your show artwork and uploads new episodes as they appear in the feed. A video episode is better uploaded as a proper video, with its own thumbnail, captions and chapters.
Answer “Guest episode?” and “Video episode?” when you set the brief. Guest booking, release forms and share kits, or video recording, editing and upload, appear only when they apply, so a solo audio episode is not cluttered with steps to skip.
The host approver is picked at the start and the sign-off is a required Approved or Not approved choice. Not approved halts the checklist before the upload, so a draft cut never reaches subscribers by accident.
Due dates are set from the release date, so the edit, the show notes and the approval each have a deadline before the episode goes out. Everyone sees who holds the episode now, and the finished checklist is a record of what shipped.
Sign-off works the same way across creative work. CheckFlow’s approval workflows put a named approver on the task before publishing, and the Design Review & Approval Checklist applies the same pattern to artwork and campaign assets.
Producing a show for a client? Start with a clear brief using our creative brief intake workflow guide, and handle edit requests with the Client Feedback & Revision Process Checklist before the episode reaches the approval step.
Around −16 LUFS integrated, with true peaks no higher than −1 dBFS. That matches Apple’s guidance of −16 LKFS within 1 dB either way; LUFS and LKFS measure the same thing. Spotify normalises to −14 LUFS and turns softer masters up, so a −16 master simply plays a little louder there. What matters most is consistency, so measure every episode against the same target.
Each episode in the RSS feed needs a title, a publication date, an enclosure giving the audio file’s URL, length and type, and a GUID that is unique and never changes. The show itself needs a title, description, artwork between 1400 and 3000 pixels square, a language, a category and an explicit flag. Your podcast host fills in most of this from the episode form, which is why Phase 6 checks the metadata rather than assuming it.
They are not required, but listeners now expect them. Apple Podcasts creates transcripts automatically, and will show your own VTT or SRT file instead if you supply one and choose to display it, which lets you correct names and terms. Chapters help people jump to the part they want: Apple reads them from description timestamps starting at 00:00:00 with at least three entries, from a chapters file or from markers in the audio, and recommends them for episodes over ten minutes. YouTube uses a similar timestamp list in the video description.
It is good practice for every guest. A short release confirms the guest agrees to be recorded and to the episode being edited, published on every platform and cut into clips for promotion. It avoids awkward conversations if a guest later changes their mind or moves to an employer with strict media rules. Take legal advice on the wording for your jurisdiction, and keep the signed copy on the episode’s checklist.
There are two routes. For audio-first shows, YouTube Studio can ingest your RSS feed in selected countries: it creates a static-image video from your show artwork for each episode and uploads new episodes automatically. For a video podcast, upload each episode as a video with a thumbnail, captions and chapters. The template’s “Video episode?” question adds the recording, editing and upload steps for the second route.
Far enough that the approval is not a formality. A practical rule is to have the final mix, show notes and transcript ready a few working days before release, so the approver has time to listen and the editor has time to make changes. Many weekly shows keep one or two finished episodes in reserve to absorb a cancelled guest or a sick host. In the template, due dates are set back from the release date, so the gap is built in rather than hoped for.
14-day free trial, no card required. The Business plan is $10 per user per month after the trial. Full details at checkflow.io/pricing.
