Issue 7. Things to tell a guest before a podcast interview.

One of the most popular podcast formats is ‘The Interview’.

My own podcast is based on interviews. They tend to be fairly easy to produce, OK to edit and lets face it you don’t have to say too much, let the guest do the talking. I’m all for that!

But, a good interview can be made even better by telling your guests a few things before recording.

Target audience

Tell your guest who your podcast is aimed at.

If you’re running a business podcast then are you aiming at beginners or experts?

If you run an entertainment or lifestyle podcast then explain who your audience are, they could be singles, mothers, fathers, sci-fi fans… you get the idea.

Telling your guest about your audience will help them to understand how knowledgeable listeners are about the subject so they can formulate their answers.

Give them some questions

I don’t mean write every single question out and send it to them but write down a few talking points that create some type of journey so they flow from a start to an end.

Your guest will start thinking about what answers they want to give, what points they want to make and the questions won’t be a surprise.

They’ll even be able to let you know if they don’t know the answer to something instead of just saying… er… I don’t know during the recording.

Microphone

You can’t expect your guest to have a fancy microphone but you don’t want them to be talking to a screen so offer a bit of microphone advice .

This is what I send to all my guests:

“If possible could you use a headset like you would with a phone as it gives better sound quality than talking to a screen!”.

Always remember that its not ‘essential’ for your guest to have amazing sound quality. You, as the host need to sound good but we’re fine listening to telephone interviews on the radio so as long as one half of the conversation is good quality you’ll be OK.

Will there be video

I hope not! My own opinion is that a podcast stops being a podcast when it’s on video but that’s for another day!

Let folks know if you’re recording video and sticking the episode on YouTube. They might want to do their hair or put a nice shirt on.

The great thing about audio only is that you can look a right mess 🙂

How long will it last

If it’s going to take a while then your guest may want to have a drink with them or snacks!

I try to let guests know how long the recording will take. They will want to do other things afterwards so don’t keep them hanging on endlessly.

Most of my interviews last around 30 – 40 minutes and that gives me a good 20 -25 min podcast.

Guest interview email template

This sounds like a lot of information to get into an email but if you build a template then it shouldn’t.

Here’s the email I send to my guests:

Hi GUESTNAME,

Thanks for booking an interview on Not Another Marketing Podcast on DATE AND TIME.

The recording should last no more than 40 mins and it’s audio only. No video.

I use cleanfeed.net to record interviews so no downloads or logins. Just click the link below, allow microphone permissions and we’ll be connected.

INSERT LINK

If possible could you use a headset like you would with a phone as it gives better sound quality than talking to a screen!

The target audience for the podcast is marketers from SME’s, small agencies and I also have a lot of freelancers and students listening.

Here’s a few talking points:

INSERT QUESTIONS

Thanks again for booking and I’m looking forward to the chat.

Best Regards

Jon

Feel free to pinch this and edit it for your own podcast.

What I’m listening To

I listened to Death In Ice Valley a while ago and it’s a fascinating story.

This is a murder mystery from 1970s Norway that has never been solved and the hosts do a great job of telling the story and keeping you on the edge of your seat.

Give it a listen. You’ll enjoy it!