8 AI Podcast Templates: Choose the Right Format for Your Content in 2026

The format you choose for your podcast determines everything — the pacing, the tone, the audience you attract, and whether listeners come back for more. Most creators struggle with this decision because traditional podcasting offers infinite formats with zero guidance. AI podcast templates solve this by giving you pre-configured starting points designed for specific content types.

DIALOGUE offers 8 specialized templates, each with built-in host personalities, tone settings, and voice pairings. This guide breaks down every template so you can pick the right one for your content — or combine elements from multiple templates to create something new.

Why Do Podcast Templates Matter for AI-Generated Content?

When you generate a podcast with AI, the template isn't just a label. It shapes how the AI writes dialogue, structures arguments, handles transitions, and balances information with entertainment. A Tech News template produces fundamentally different output than a Storytelling template, even with the same source material.

Templates control three critical layers:

• Host personalities: Who is speaking, their expertise, and how they interact
• Tone settings: Formality, humor, and energy levels pre-tuned for the format
• Content structure: How information flows — chronological, analytical, narrative, or conversational

Choosing the wrong template creates a mismatch between your content and its delivery. A financial earnings report processed through a Storytelling template would feel unfocused. A human interest story forced through a Business Analysis template would lose its emotional impact.

What Are the 8 Podcast Templates Available?

Here's every template at a glance:

Now let's explore each template in detail.

Tech News: How Do You Cover Fast-Moving Topics?

The Tech News template is built for currency. Its hosts are configured with high energy, moderate humor, and a conversational style that makes technical topics accessible without dumbing them down.

Pre-configured settings:

• Formality: Low (30-40%) — casual language, contractions, natural speech
• Humor: Moderate (50-60%) — keeps the show lively without undermining serious topics
• Energy: High (80-90%) — fast-paced, enthusiastic delivery

When to use it: Product launches, AI news, startup funding rounds, industry shakeups, and anything where timeliness matters. The template's hosts naturally contextualize news within broader trends.

When to skip it: Deep technical dives that require patience, or topics where a calm, measured tone is more appropriate.

Business Analysis: How Do You Make Data Compelling?

This template transforms dry data into structured, insightful commentary. The hosts approach topics as seasoned analysts — referencing metrics, comparing periods, and identifying patterns.

Pre-configured settings:

• Formality: High (80-90%) — professional language, precise terminology
• Humor: Low (10-20%) — mostly serious with occasional lightness
• Energy: Moderate (40-50%) — measured, thoughtful pacing

When to use it: Quarterly earnings, market analysis, industry trend reports, and economic forecasts. It excels when your source material is data-heavy.

When to skip it: Topics that need emotional resonance or storytelling. The analytical tone can make human-interest content feel clinical.

Educational: How Do You Explain Complex Topics Clearly?

The Educational template prioritizes clarity above all else. Its hosts are patient teachers who build concepts step by step, use analogies, and check understanding throughout the conversation.

Pre-configured settings:

• Formality: Moderate (50-60%) — accessible but not sloppy
• Humor: Low-Moderate (20-30%) — light moments to maintain engagement
• Energy: Calm (30-40%) — unhurried pacing that gives ideas room to breathe

When to use it: Tutorials, how-to guides, concept explanations, and any content aimed at learners. This template works particularly well when you upload a PDF document like a textbook chapter or whitepaper.

When to skip it: Topics where your audience is already expert-level. The careful explanations can feel patronizing to advanced listeners.

Storytelling: How Do You Build Narrative-Driven Podcasts?

The Storytelling template structures content as a narrative arc rather than a list of facts. Hosts draw out characters, tension, and resolution — turning information into a story listeners want to follow.

Pre-configured settings:

• Formality: Moderate (50%) — polished but accessible
• Humor: Low-Moderate (30%) — natural moments of lightness
• Energy: Variable (50%) — rises and falls with the narrative

When to use it: Case studies, historical events, founder stories, investigative pieces, and human interest topics. Any content with characters, conflict, or transformation.

When to skip it: Breaking news or data-heavy analysis where narrative structure would slow the delivery of key information.

Ready to try a template? Create your first podcast and experiment with different formats to find your perfect match.

Interview Style: How Do You Create Engaging Q&A Content?

The Interview Style template simulates a host-guest dynamic. One host asks probing questions while the other provides expert answers, creating a natural conversational rhythm that listeners find easy to follow.

Pre-configured settings:

• Formality: Moderate (50-60%) — professional but conversational
• Humor: Low-Moderate (20-30%) — natural warmth without forced jokes
• Energy: Moderate (50-60%) — engaged but not overwhelming

When to use it: Expert perspectives, career advice, thought leadership content, and any topic where a question-and-answer flow makes complex ideas more digestible.

When to skip it: Topics that need multiple equal perspectives rather than an expert-questioner dynamic. For balanced viewpoints, use Debate instead.

Debate: How Do You Present Contrasting Viewpoints Fairly?

The Debate template assigns opposing positions to each host, creating structured arguments with evidence and counterpoints. It's built for topics where reasonable people disagree.

Pre-configured settings:

• Formality: Moderate-High (60-70%) — structured arguments, precise language
• Humor: Low (10-20%) — serious engagement with ideas
• Energy: High (70-80%) — passionate but respectful

When to use it: Policy discussions, technology ethics, pros-and-cons analysis, and any topic where hearing both sides creates value. The template ensures neither position dominates.

When to skip it: Topics with a clear consensus or factual answers. Forcing a debate on settled questions feels artificial.

Company Analysis: How Do You Do Deep-Dive Business Coverage?

While Business Analysis covers broad trends, Company Analysis zooms into a single organization. The hosts examine financials, strategy, competitive positioning, and growth trajectories with the focus of equity researchers.

Pre-configured settings:

• Formality: High (80-90%) — precise financial language
• Humor: Very Low (10%) — strictly professional
• Energy: Moderate (40-50%) — focused, analytical pacing

When to use it: Startup teardowns, public company analysis, IPO assessments, and competitive landscape reviews. Pairs well with uploaded earnings reports or SEC filings as PDF source material.

When to skip it: When you need broad industry coverage rather than a single-company focus. Use Business Analysis for wider scope.

Science Explainer: How Do You Make Research Accessible?

The Science Explainer template balances accuracy with accessibility. Its hosts translate research papers and scientific concepts into language anyone can understand, using analogies and real-world connections.

Pre-configured settings:

• Formality: Moderate-High (60-70%) — respects scientific precision
• Humor: Low-Moderate (20-30%) — curiosity-driven lightness
• Energy: Calm-Moderate (30-50%) — patient, thorough exploration

When to use it: New research findings, scientific explainers, space and astronomy topics, medical breakthroughs, and climate science. Excellent for turning dense research papers into listenable content.

When to skip it: Topics that are more opinion than science, or when the content is more about industry trends than underlying research.

How Do You Customize a Template After Choosing It?

Every template is a starting point, not a constraint. After selecting a template, you can modify:

• Host names and roles — change who's speaking and their expertise
• Personality and speaking style — reshape how hosts interact with topics
• Tone sliders — adjust formality, humor, and energy to your exact preference
• Target audience — define who's listening and what they already know
• Voice selection — choose from 30 TTS voices to match your hosts (see our guide to the best AI voices for podcasts)

For example, you could start with the Tech News template but lower the energy to 50% and raise formality to 60% for a more measured tech analysis show. Or take the Educational template and increase humor to 50% for a more engaging learning experience.

The key is starting with the template closest to your vision, then adjusting. This is faster than building from scratch and ensures your show benefits from optimized defaults.

How Do You Choose Between Similar Templates?

Some templates overlap. Here's how to decide:

Business Analysis vs. Company Analysis: If your topic covers an industry or market, use Business Analysis. If it's about one specific company, use Company Analysis.

Educational vs. Science Explainer: Both teach, but Educational works for any subject (marketing, coding, history) while Science Explainer is optimized for scientific accuracy, citations, and research methodology.

Interview Style vs. Debate: Both feature two distinct perspectives. Interview Style has an expert and a questioner. Debate has two equal positions arguing different sides.

Tech News vs. Business Analysis: Tech News is fast-paced, casual, and current. Business Analysis is measured, formal, and data-driven. The same AI startup story would get very different treatment in each.

For a deeper dive into the complete podcast creation process and how templates fit into the workflow, see our complete guide to AI podcast generation.

Start With the Template, Make It Yours

Templates exist to remove the blank-page problem. Instead of deciding every parameter from scratch, you start with a proven configuration and customize from there. The result is a podcast that sounds intentional from episode one.

If you're building a recurring show, templates become even more powerful. Set your template once and every episode maintains the same format, tone, and host dynamics automatically — learn more about automated recurring shows.

Find your format. Browse all 8 templates and create your first episode — no experience required.