# What is a cold open in a podcast?

A cold open is starting the episode on content — a strong quote, the most dramatic moment, the question the episode answers — before the intro music and the "welcome to the show". It gives a listener a reason to stay in the first fifteen seconds, which is where a lot of listeners decide whether to keep going.

Television invented it; podcasts borrowed it because the first minute decides whether a new listener stays. The standard shape is: 20–40 seconds of the best moment, then the theme, then the normal intro.

To build one in Cast, cut the moment in the transcript and move it to the top — or record it separately — and place the intro music after it on the timeline. Ducking keeps the music under the voice wherever the two overlap.

## Related

- [How long should a podcast intro be?](https://mubert.com/tools/cast/docs/how-long-podcast-intro)
- [How do I edit the transcript — what can I actually do?](https://mubert.com/tools/cast/docs/edit-transcript)
- [How does the timeline work?](https://mubert.com/tools/cast/docs/timeline-clips)

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Source: https://mubert.com/tools/cast/docs/what-is-cold-open · Cast docs
Last updated: 2026-09-14