Podcast interview tips: Putting it all out there

I still very much consider myself a noob at the podcasting game but I’ve been asking questions all my life and that’s a long time.

As well as my sales career, in my past, I also have a music background; fronting bands and songwriting – putting it all out there, but that was a few years and a few kilos ago.

Like all podcasters, when I started out, I found it both exciting and intimidating. The adrenaline still flows every time I kick off a show and long may that continue. It’s what projects passion. There’s a big difference between being present in sight and in sound but podcasting gives you the ability to focus on vocal theatre.

You can all do it.

If you’ve ever had a phone conversation, you understand how different emotions can be conveyed with just the voice.

When I was growing up, I admired radio DJs and TV interviewers who created a connection with their guests. There is a chemistry and when this happens, the conversation flows more freely. This is what I try to establish with every interview.

So tip No1

Interview people who fascinate you. If you were at a party, would you naturally be inquisitive about them and want to find out more about them? Then that’s your candidate. When you are fascinated, you’re never stuck for questions. Obviously, don’t fawn all over them and over-flatter, but people respond when you are interested and this comes through for the listener; it’s like they are eavesdropping on a real conversation.

Don’t giggle

Giggling is often a subconscious, cheap form of flattery. If your guest says something genuinely funny, laugh out loud and try to talk through the laughter like any normal person would, but don’t sit there, punctuating your guest’s story with little giggles because it sounds dreadful and interrupts the flow of the narrative. In order to laugh at the appropriate moment, you need to spot it when it happens, so point three is…

Listen and be prepared to colour outside the lines.

I prepare. You should prepare. I even send guests a list of subjects and questions I want to cover; it helps to keep them invested in the conversation. But I am always ready to take unexpected turns with a guest. Sometimes, this is the really nourishing part of a conversation. “You know, that Jane, the policewoman I met? She was talking about how hard the training was but she also told me that she was writing her first thriller fiction novel while she was taking her entrance exams..” There’s the gold. Writing a novel? There’s a completely different side to the person right there and that’s your job – to get a glimpse of other dimensions – other abilities that your guest has. We all think that we’re the only ones with lots of plates spinning but trust me – everyone is the same. In all of the corporate leaders I’ve interviewed, I found racing drivers, jazz pianists, blues guitarists, camping fanatics, carpenters, builders, DJs, carers, aviators and chefs. Always give your guest a chance to show their other dimensions because that’s where their true passion and personality lies.

Be prepared

Preparation is vital. One of the best interviewers I have found is Terry Gross of NPR radio in the US because she’s one of an elite class of interview chemistry experts. She can talk to anyone and it’s always fascinating.

When I first started, I admired people who ‘winged it’. I thought I was amateur to prepare questions and one day, I too could wing it. But then I remembered all the times I have been in sales presentations and the times I won business because I winged it (none) and those when I prepared (lots).

I like to have a pre-show call with my guests to probe all of the above, so that I can get some good questions down and find out if they are a rambler or a direct responder. Rambling answers lose the listener and dull the point of the question, so this is a great time to test out the type of answers you’ll get. Honest fact: People who aren’t used to being interviewed often ramble because they hate dead air or forget the point they were trying to make, so it’s your job to guide them home on every response. Guests who get interviewed a lot like to repeat the same answers from interview to interview because it’s like a rehearsal. One recent guest on The Fuel Podcast was Kate Bradley Chernis of Lately (www.lately.ai) - a classic example of a professional. She interviews a lot and often gets asked the same questions, so she is able to respond but also to ad-lib over the answer, to inject some humour (humor?). You’re familiar with this technique. Let’s say you have an interesting name. Every time you tell someone your name, you know what’s coming and you’re probably ready with a few zingers that you’ve prepared over time. That’s what professional guests do. It makes them great fun to interview.

Have a question and then have a couple of follow-ups ready. You may need them, you may not but you might uncover some gold and you need to be ready to follow that seam.

Another point on preparation is to read up on your guest. Read their blog posts, Twitter feed, their book. Make notes, you’ll have more questions.

Speculate to accumulate

This is related to preparation but it involves one of my pet peeves: ‘So tell us who you are and how you became CEO of BigCorp” Why don’t you know this already? I heard this a lot when I first started listening to podcasts and I think that interviewers do it because it’s easy. It’s a stock question and buys you some time to relax into the show.

I prefer – and all my guests know – to do my homework and show them that I have prepared. I like to do an opening monologue to introduce my guest, set the stage and tell the listener why I think this person is worth sticking around to listen to. Both Terry Gross and Steven Saker (BBC) do this. Again, the party analogy: let’s say a gracious host wants to introduce you to someone you’ve never met. Isn’t it great when they lay the groundwork for you and tells the other person a few interesting facts about you before you even open your mouth?

The other advantage of setting the scene is that you can jump straight into the interview and bypass possibly 5 minutes of small talk with a quick one-minute summary.

This isn’t an interrogation

It’s a conversation, so listen. This is a classic but always follow the “Who, What, When, Where, Why and How” format. Use open questions that can’t be answered with “Yes” or “No”. Write down your questions and go back over them and try to turn them into open questions. If you can’t but it’s a great question have an open ended follow-up ready: “Did you ever expect that you’d be suddenly flying a 737 in a storm, with no experience?”

“No”

“So what emotions were you feeling up there in the cockpit?”

Sometimes, the best questions are the follow ups and they can be highly effective when they are short and punchy - “Why did you do that?” “Who inspired you?” ‘When did you realise that?”.

Another point to bear in mind is that – often with podcasts, you’re interviewing remotely and not in-person, so you miss a lot of body language cues, so your ability to listen is your lifeline.

Murder your babies

I like to have a laundry list of questions ready but will probably only ask 50-70% of them. I might be short on time or usually, the guest will have already covered them in a previous answer. Always be prepared to sacrifice questions for the greater good of the interview. Four questions beautifully answered beats 20 that leave the listener hanging.

If your questions were that good, you can always ask the guest back for another go and cover them then, or you can ask them off the air and create a piece of follow-up content.

Be alert

I don’t drink alcohol. I mean, I do drink but not when I’m interviewing. I don’t drink coffee - except when I’m interviewing. It might have a lot to do with the fact that my days are long and my podcast interviews are always at the back end of the working day but I like to be on my game and a jolt of caffeine does the trick. I don’t have anyone else in the room when I’m interviewing, no producer. It’s just me and the guest, so here’s what I need to keep an eye on all the time:

• Run time – how are we doing for show length?
• Is my guest comfortable? Are they enjoying this?
• Am I comfortable?
• What’s the follow-up? What question should I ask next? Can I walk my guest over to the next question without it looking too awkward or should we pursue the current line?
• Sound levels? Are they OK?

The last point brings me on to

Mic technique “The next train to arrive on platform 4 is the …”

You can use the microphone as play thing. There are things you can do with a mic that you can’t do in a normal conversation. You can mumble right into the mic to let the audience hear something they think they shouldn’t hear.

You can back off and raise your voice, or laugh out loud. I’ve used literally hundreds of mics in my time and they all behave differently. Condenser mics pick up EVERY.LITTLE.SOUND in the room. They are CIA spy mics, so treat them with respect. Isolate yourself, sound-proof the room and shut down anything that makes a noise apart from you. Dynamic mics are more like traditional musician’s mics. They are great when you’re in front of them, which means they have a limited range. I prefer this type because you know where you stand: right in front if it. It might not look as cool and groovy as a Yeti but I know it won’t pick up paper rustling or breathing.

Talking of breathing. We all do it but it sounds dreadful. Try to avoid it, either during the interview or in post. Eliminate intakes and exhales as much as you can. Also I had no idea how many people suffer from Misophonia – dislike of mouth sounds – until I started podcasting. Gum slapping, slobbery, wet mouth sounds can shut your podcast right down. When you’re not talking, back off the mic. When you are talking, back off the mic, use a pop shield for plosives (Ps and Bs popping) and turn the mic gain up if you can, so you can keep your distance but still be heard, without sounding like you’re walking though shin-deep mud.

Thank you very much

Always, always remember to say thank you and to appreciate your guest’s sacrifice in the run-up to the show and during. They are usually doing YOU the favour.

It’s a participation, sport

Your guest needs to know what you are going to do with the show, so they can be prepared. If you’re recording video or taking screen shots, give them notice to do their hair, put some make up on or dress appropriately. I’ve learned the hard way because guests weren’t happy with their appearance and it’s understandable, so give them notice or discuss it with them.

Also – tell them how and when you are going to promote the show, so they can get ready to support it on social media and LinkedIn. There’s nothing worse than going to all the trouble of doing a show, only to find you’re doing all the heavy lifting on the promotional side too. It’s in your guest’s interests to give it a good, hefty shove when it’s launched. But we’ll cover this subject in more detail in another article.

What’s the frequency Kenneth?

This is something I learned from Seth Godin. Commit to doing x amount of shows in x amount of time. You need to do this for two reasons: Firstly, you need a deadline, otherwise you’ll procrastinate and find excuses not to. Second, you will only get listeners, viewers or fans if you keep publishing and they know when to expect your next piece of work. You’re in the publishing business, so publish and be damned. It makes you fight for talent, fight for inspiration and content It will keep you awake at night and your family will question your sanity but when they see your commitment, it all becomes clear. It needs to be a passion first and a business second.

Get tooled up

Use the mic that suits the job. They aren’t that expensive but investing in a good mic is always money well spent if you expect people to listen to you. I use a dynamic mic (I have two Audio Techs with XLR connections, for better quality) and I use lapel mics for direct-to-camera stuff when having a mic and pop screen in your face on camera looks just wrong.

I also use a cheap 8 track mixing desk, which is great for giving you the best chance of balancing the sound.

Also – a note for interviewees; because you’re not on the BBC or Newsnight, give the poor interviewer a chance by investing in a decent mic on your end. Laptop mics may be OK for calling Aunt Marge on Zoom but if you have a point to make on a podcast, how you sound is everything, so invest in a special mic for interviews and surround yourself with blankets to absorb the echo of the room.

Redundancy

A couple of times, I’ve been caught out by losing a recording (or not hitting the record button) or the quality on one side is poor. Therefore it’s always a great idea to have a back up running just in case. I record all my interviews on Zoom using their software but I also keep a local version using Adobe Audition. My friend Ian Truscott (https://rockstarcmo.fm) goes one stage further with his RockstarCMO interviews and he uses Squadcast, which gives him a really cool professional quality. Using this technique allows you to pick which audio to use or (if you have the time) to splice one good half a recording into another.

All in the mix

I have a love-hate relationship with mixing and post production. It wasn’t something I was familiar with and I had to learn it on the fly. I love bringing all the elements together and crafting my show from start to finish and I think it shows in the finished product. Take your time to learn how the editing works. I tried by doing a few ‘home’ projects such as making an audio book, or – yes I admit – mixing a karaoke track I made for my wife’s birthday.

Mixing the show is useful in so many ways but it also gives you the chance to listen back, make notes, identify great quotes and get everything equalized.

It will take time. It does. I have lost weekends to podcasting, but this is the commitment we ask of people we devote our precious time to. I watch, listen and read products that take the creators time and I appreciate it.

Of course it takes time. Everybody would be doing it if it was so easy. I consider this an equivalent to painting, or writing music, or building something. The investment in time will show in the quality of the finished product.

I did a podcast recently with the wonderful Caroline Kay (www.carolinekay.co) and we discussed investment and balls. I said that I am always captivated when I see someone giving something everything they’ve got. I’m like Simon Cowell on one of those talent shows, gape mouthed in awe at the commitment I’m watching.

Don’t focus on the numbers until you have to. Five, rave reviews from five listeners is gold. Next week it will be 25, then 625 and before you know it, you’re in the thousands. But you’re only going to get the listeners or viewers if you put the work in.

So, my last word of advice is to go for it. Be prepared to go out of your depth. Go all-in because when you’re in uncharted waters, magic starts to happen. Podcasting, vlogging, blogging all require you to project. Not PT Barnum project, but just a little bit larger than life. You’re doing something for other people to enjoy so put it all out there, commit, prepare and plan.

But most of all have fun.