How to Get Your Guests To Open Up And Start Amazing Discussion?

How to Get Your Guests to Open Up And Start Amazing Discussion?

What it takes to have authentic conversations on-air

Hosting a podcast is not easy, but taking on a guest is even ten times harder. Your audience expects an open and honest discussion in every episode, but it takes a lot of work and trust to get to that point.?

Insider Secret!

The worst guests that I’ve had are the bigger celebrities and it’s often because they’re too over-prepped. They’re over prepped for what works on TV and maybe even on the radio but it doesn’t work for podcasting, because listeners are looking for open and honest discussion. When they’re over prepped, full of their soundbites, have got it memorized and say the same thing again and again, I know it’s a sound bite because it sounds rehearsed. So guests, take note!?

And hosts - to break this spell, you might need to have a few wildcard questions in your backpocket that you can use to get them off the script and into good conversation. Or, if you’ve done your research, you can break away from the topic at hand and bring up a passion of theirs to light them up and get into authentic territory.?

Do Your Homework

When I’m researching, I know I’m looking for that one thing. It doesn’t take me a ton of time to find it. I rarely get a guest on that isn’t going to be good, to begin with because I did my homework ahead of time and I check them out. If they seem like a robot, I’m not going to invite them on to begin with. Even if you don’t have time to read their entire book, read a chapter.?

If you don’t have time to learn their entire life story, familiarize yourself with their bio and what they've been doing for the past decade, or their origin story. That personal touch will make them feel like they can trust you, when you ask about their childhood pet or their biggest business success - and if you do it the right way - you will get an answer they aren’t giving every other show. You will get a real human response that is vulnerable and intriguing.?

If You’re Using Google…

Keep in mind that every other host is too. So customize your Google search to match what the topic of your show is going to be. If you are interviewing me and we are going to be talking about getting good guests, maybe your Google search is ‘Tracy Hazzard booking great guests’ instead of just ‘Tracy Hazzard’.

Prep Your Guest

If you jump into Zoom with your guest and hit ‘record’ right away, there’s going to be a slow start and some awkward exchanges. Instead, build 10-minutes in for prep, where you let your guest know what your listeners are hoping for, make sure they’re comfortable, make sure they’re ready, etc. This little bit of prep goes such a far way.

?If they’ve done hundreds of interviews, you probably don’t have to worry about that because they get it, so I go into my second part of prep which is, “I want to let you know a little bit about my listeners. My listeners care about this and are these types of people” so your guest knows who they’re talking to. This takes a tremendous amount of pressure off because mentally, they aren’t tasked with trying to figure out what they should say.?

If It Goes South, Let It Go

As a host, you have a responsibility to your listeners. If you end up with someone who turns out not to be a good fit or can’t break away from their script, or it just isn’t a valuable interview, don’t air it. If you realize this mid-interview, it’s okay to cut it short and be honest so you don’t waste their time or your own. If you’ve done everything you can to prepare and it just turns out not to be a good fit, chalk up your losses and move on. Part of podcasting is learning as you go, what is going to work for your audience and what isn’t.?

If you get into an interview and it isn’t going well but you think it can be salvaged, it’s okay to take a quick time out, and guide the episode by saying things like:

• Let’s start this section over again. My listeners are going to expect ‘xyz’ and I think we can angle this better by ‘xyz’. I know we can get this right.?
• Can we do this again and try ‘this’? I want to paint you in the best light possible and I want my listeners to really love this episode.
• Let’s run a few more questions like ‘this’ and if it still isn’t working, we can call it, but let’s try again.?

Most guests are happy to make an interview better and are open to feedback. If they aren’t and it starts going further south, let it go.

Last By Not Least: Don’t Be Lazy

So many hosts don’t research, don’t come up with a good line of questioning and they don’t prep. They ask the same questions everyone else asks, they give the same interview that guest has given numerous times before, and the listeners are the ones to suffer. This hurts your show, no matter how ‘big name’ the guest is. Take control of your show. Own it. Do good things with it. Apply yourself. Build trust and rapport with your guests by investing in their episodes. And the more you do this, the better you’ll get at it. A good host draws in good guests. ?

You can watch Tom Hazzard’s full on-air podcast coaching or listen to?Feed Your Brand on your favorite podcast player.