What to Do Before, During & After Your Podcast Interview

Do you want to:

Grow your audience?

Build relationships in a non-salesy way?

Have your ideal customers seek you out instead of the other way around?

Podcast guest interviews can help you do just that.

Here is some advice on what to do before, during, and after your podcast interview so you can squeeze every last drop of goodness from the experience.

Before the podcast interview

Before you pitched the podcast host, you should have listened to an episode of the podcast to get a feel for the show.

Now that you’re booked, I highly recommend listening to a few more episodes before your interview.

You will get a clear picture of the vibe of the show and the type of questions the host will ask you.

If you are not a seasoned podcast guest or speaker, you might want to ask the host to send you through the list of questions they have planned for the show.

Most will use the questions from your one sheet as a jumping off point so have those well prepared.

Before the interview starts, turn off the notifications on your computer, log out of your email and turn off your phone.

I remember listening to a podcast just this week and I heard the guest’s phone buzz three times during the course of the interview.

It was annoying and unprofessional.

Remember, you can’t rely on the host to edit out these errors.

Double check that all of your technology is working.

You don’t want to discover that your internet connection is slow or Skype isn’t loading at the very last minute.

Of course, if there are unforeseen delays, contact the host as soon as possible.

Respect their time as you respect yours.

Be calm. Turn up a bit early to settle your nerves (if you have them!) and gather your thoughts.

Chatting with the host a little bit before she hits record can also help with the flow of the interview.

During the Interview

Keep in mind that your guest interview is about providing value to your host’s audience.

You have twenty minutes or maybe even up to an hour where they are listening to our voice and your message.

This isn’t the time to sound like a sponsored ad. Open up and share your best material.

The host wants your interview to be a success as much as you do. It truly is a win-win situation.

They have content to share with their audience and you get to enhance your personal brand and maybe welcome them into your tribe.

The host will ask you to tell the listeners how they can find you or learn more about your product or service at the end of the podcast.

This is when you direct them to a landing page where you can continue the conversation with the audience.

If this is one of your first podcast guest appearances and it didn’t go too well, don’t worry. You will improve with every interview.

What To Do After The Interview

After the interview, don’t just thank the host and be on your way.

Sometimes, the relationship you build with the host is the biggest benefit of the entire strategy.

Depending on your industry and your goals, the host might even be your ideal client.

Tell the host that you enjoyed the experience and are happy to leave a review or provide a testimonial for their website or social media channels.

Ask if there is any way you can be of further service to them or their audience.

Find out when the show will be published and get ready for promotion around and on that date.

When the episode is live, be prepared to share it with your audience.

You should have social media images ready, tweets and blurbs for your different channels.

Send the host a small thank you gift.

Tag them into any social media outreach so they know you are driving listeners to their podcast.

Let them know if you have any guest recommendations for their podcast.

Just keep the relationship going.

Now it is time to repurpose the heck out of the episode.

Audio snippets and quotes can be used on Linkedin, Twitter and Instagram.

Get a transcript of the episode and post on your blog (if the host has not done this on their site).

You can turn the episode into a content upgrade on your blog, a slideshare presentation, an email sequence and more.

You can get a few weeks worth of content out of a single podcast episode.

Podcast guest appearances can make a huge impact on your business but keep in mind, like most marketing, consistency is key.

Don’t expect to appear on one or two podcasts and then the traffic and leads will flood in.

It’s possible but not likely.

You might need to have 10 or even 20 appearances before you start hitting your goals.

Get to work on the steps I have outlined and you can be well on your way to podcast guest superstardom!

Think you might need some help?

Contact us to chat about how we can get you booked on podcasts.

This article first appeared on the PodSquad blog at https://thepodsquad.com/blog/podcast-guesting/