I have been podcasting for one year. 61 recorded episodes and 52 published. The learning experience has been extraordinary. I have learned all kind of technical stuff, how to record, how to edit sound, how to market my podcast, so on and so forth.
But today I want to share my experience about how to conduct an interview.
Why do interviews?
To interview people have many advantages.
- You get to talk to people who you admire or who are leaders in a particular field.
- With every interview, you can draw new people to your website, podcast, YouTube channel, or whichever platform you are using.
- By association, you improve your personal brand.
- When you do an interview, you learn a lot by doing the research on your guests or on your guest’s field of expertise.
- You improve your communication skills: your listening skills, your ability to think fast, and your vocabulary.
- You improve your critical thinking skills.
- You increase your self-confidence.
- You increase your circle of influence.
- You don’t need permission from anyone. You don’t need a degree, a certificate or a diploma.
What will the interviewee get in return
Most people are extremely generous and they will accept being interviewed simply because you ask them, but if you would like to offer something in return, this is what you are offering as an interviewer.
- Stroke of their ego. People feel important when you interview them.
- An opportunity to explain their ideas, products, and services. I once interviewed a financial adviser and I asked him to send me the most common questions asked by his clients. We did the interview, I asked him those questions, and now this financial adviser uses that interview in his website as a description of his products and services. Imagine you interview a restaurant owner and he/she explains the history of the restaurant. Or you interview an attorney and he/she explains the type of clients they take.
- Exposure. Even if you only have 5 people listening to your interview, those are five people who get to listen to the ideas of the guest.
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization). When you do an interview with a person, and then write a summary of that interview and link to the guest’s name and website from your website, you are improving your guest’s SEO. Google will see your guest’s website as an authority website and increase its ranking in Google search.
How to get guests to interview
The best thing to get people to interview is to be part of a community. If you are a runner, you ask your competitors. If you are into music, you ask performers. If you are an entrepreneur, you ask other entrepreneurs.
My podcast is about personal finance, entrepreneurship, and self-improvement. I follow many influencers on social media, especially Twitter and LinkedIn. I also listen to many podcasts and I watch many TED talk videos. I find that the best time to ask people to be a guest is when they are promoting a product or a service.
Gear
Contrary to what marketers would like you to believe, you don’t need expensive gear to record a successful interview. Watch this video interview recorded with an old smartphone, a tripod, and an external microphone attached to the phone.
Most of you have a smartphone. Those phones are powerful devices. You can use your phone as a voice recording device or as a video camera.
Most of you already have a laptop computer. A laptop can be used to edit sound or to record the conversations.
To make calls you can use Audacity or Google call. To record the conversation and edit the sound you can use Audacity. All of that software is free.
The only new investment you will have to make is a microphone. You can find a good microphone for less than $90 Check this one from Samson.
research
Whenever you interview someone, you already have certain knowledge about the subject. This base knowledge is your starting point, from there you have to do the research of your guest.
Social media: If possible, take a look at all their social media. The more you are immersed in the life of your guest, the more natural the conversation will become. When you know about their personalities, their tastes, their families, their accomplishments, you will have the feeling that you are talking to friends.
Their website: The website represents what they want to share with the public. It’s important to know the content of their website very well.
Previous interviews and or speeches: If they have done previous speeches, they should be on their website. Also, look in the Apple Podcasts search engine for more background information.
Pre-interview conversation: If you are talking with someone who doesn’t have much public information available, ask to have a pre-interview conversation and go over the details of the recorded interview.
Read their books. A trick that I use is to go to Amazon, and at the very least, read the free chapter offered by Amazon.
Preparation right before the interview
Confirmation of the appointment: It’s good to double-check and make adjustments for guests in different time zones. Always specify if the recording will be at your time zone or in their time zone.
Equipment: I double check to make sure all my equipment is ready, well plugged in, and the correct settings. Many times I call myself to make sure the recording settings are correct.
Questions: If you have an interview for one hour, prepare questions for two hours. You don’t ever want to get caught without enough material. Some questions will become irrelevant or maybe they will be answered in one or two sentences.
If possible, try to ask questions they have never been asked before, or ask the same question they have been asked a million times from a different perspective, from your perspective.
Prepare your guest
Many guests are used to being interviewed, they know their own life story, and they know how to describe their products or services, they can have an interview with little or no preparation, but tell them whether you will interview them for 30 min, 45 min, or one hour.
Guests who have little experience will feel a lot more comfortable if you give them a list of question.
Here is a nice format I use:
- Who are you and what do you do?
- How did you get into your field of expertise?
- Explain your book, film, business, etc.
- What’s next in your life, business, etc…
- Where can people find out more about you, your products, etc?
Make your guest feel comfortable
Always start by having some small talk before the interview. Make them feel relaxed, use your communication skills to let them know that you are there as a friend. The more relaxed they are, the more open they will be with their conversation.
During the interview
Break the ice: I like to start interviews by asking what did they study or how did they get into their field of expertise. These questions serve as a warm-up for the interviewee and also creates a story for the listeners.
Share snippets of your life: Sometimes, the best way to ask a question is to share a snippet of your only life. Share and then ask. Don’t forget that the show is not about you, it’s about the guest. The more you speak, the less you are giving your guest the opportunity to speak.
Listen; don’t become a slave to your questions. If your guest opens the door to an interesting question, don’t waste that opportunity. I dislike interviews in which there are standard questions and the interviewer never deviates from them. If your guest offers you a gift, take it.
Don’t ask useless questions: There are questions which don’t add value to the audience; questions such as: “What’s your morning routine?” This kind of question adds very little value to the listener.
Ask open-ended questions: You want a conversation. Try to avoid as much as you can “yes or no” answers. Instead, ask questions which will give your guest an opportunity to create a story. For example: Tell me what happened when…? Tell me about a time when…? Why did you…? How did that make you feel?
Don’t be afraid of silence: If you ask a question and there is silence, don’t be in a rush to fill the silence. Give time to the guest to reflect on their answers.
Thank your guest: Your guest took time out of their day to speak with you. Make sure you express your gratitude in as many ways as possible.
After the interview
Make sure your conversation is saved and stored properly. It would be a great shame to lose a conversation because you didn’t take precautions to save the data.
Editing, notes, links to the guest website
If possible, try to edit the audio, video, or written material to put your guest in the best possible light. If they give you a written text with spelling mistakes, you will fix that. In audio and or video, if you can edit out the “Ahs and Umms” that would be great.
If they mention any resource, website names, book titles, or any other important information, make sure to write it on the show notes so that the listeners can benefit from that information.
If you have a website, make sure you link to the guest’s website. This will increase they SEO status. Link’s in the internet world, are a highly valued commodity.
Promotion, publication
Once the interview is published, make sure you promote it as much as you can. By actively promoting your guest, you are doing a service to your community and to your guest. When other people find out about your interviews, other people will be happy to be interviewed and your audience will be hungry for the next interview.
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- How to stay healthy on a budget
- How Podcasting is changing my life
Connect with me
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