Even if your show isn't an interview-only show, you can benefit from having guests appear on your show ever few episodes:
- Someone's voice other than your own can breath new energy into your show
- Guests can cover topics they are experts in that you aren't
- A guest can expose your show to their audience
For these reasons it is important to become a decent, if not excellent, interviewer.
1. Prepare the Topic
Even if you are great at having a conversation without an outline, it would be helpful to have a list of questions in front of you.
These can come in handy!
- If the conversation goes stale, you can immediately jump to the next question
- You will be more confident before and during your recording
- The person you are interviewing is prepared, so should you!
I prepare a list of 3-10 bullet points or questions and send them to my guest. He/she may never even look at them but I am confident that the show will progress better now that I am more prepared.
2. Make sure everything is broadcast-ready
There is nothing worse than a podcast host that isn't ready to record the second you sign on to Riverside or Squadcast. That doesn't mean you have to jump right into the introduction and first question – but I am suggesting that you have everything hooked up, powered on, and ready to roll.
Here are a few things I do 15 minutes before connecting with my podcast guest:
- Let everyone in the house know I'll be recording (so, don't do the laundry!)
- Close any unnecessary computer programs (notifications, scans, updates, etc)
- Do “The Scratch Test“
3. Listen more than you speak
A 50/50 conversation is fine, but allowing your guest to speak for 1-2 minutes without interruption allows them to dig deeper into the subject.
Below is a screenshot of a recent interview I recorded: The top row is my guest and the bottom row is me. Notice there is a lot more going on in the top row? That's because I'm allowing the expert (my guest) to be the expert.
It would be counter-productive for me to have someone schedule an appointment, set up their gear, dial in for an interview and then command the conversation. They are the expert, so I should let them talk.
BONUS: Other tips to ensure your interview goes off without a hitch:
- Be very clear on the time zone! Most scheduling apps adjust automatically to their time zone, but they might have been traveling and forget what time zone they are in or booked from
- Send reminders to your guest leading up to the date of the recording (at least two days in advance, the morning of, and an hour before)
- Include the link to join the call
- Have a back-up plan in case the internet goes wonky
- Make everyone in the house aware that you will be recording (reduces noise and interruptions)
I hope these tips are helpful. I'm still trying to perfect them!
