Episode #290: How To Be Effective During Podcast Interviews

We think of our presentations as something we give to an audience physically in the room with us or these days, maybe to an audience trapped in tiny little boxes on the computer screen. Media interviews come up rarely for most business people. This medium requires a very specialised skill set to do it properly. Amateur business leaders up against the pros from the ranks of journalists rarely goes well for the great unwashed. Yet many business people are getting interviewed by podcast hosts who are also not s. These are usually never “gotcha” style interviews, but they are still going to be shared with a global audience. Remember, every time we present we are putting our personal and professional brands on display. How can we approach these presentations we will give on podcast shows? Here are some ideas to think about.

Before The Podcast

1. Research the podcaster. Who are they, what have they done, why are they doing this podcast? The guest on the podcast supplies the IP for the podcast host most of the time. They may be knowledgeable about the area under discussion but usually we are on the show because we are the expert.
2. What is the configuration of the show?Is there only one host or are there multiple hosts. This will make the research component more important to know who you are dealing with.
3. What is the style of the show?We must listen to previous episodes to get some idea of how they approach their guests, what types of questions they ask and how they conduct the show. Are they a good listener? Do they constantly interrupt and re-direct the answers? I personally don’t like watching Howard Stern’s shows because he constantly interrupts his guests, which as the audience I find very annoying.
4. Is it audio only or video and audio?Increasingly, podcasts are using both mediums. Knowing this helps us to decide what image we want to project and how we should dress for the interview. If the host is always casually dressed, should we match them? I believe we need to decide what is our brand look and dress accordingly. In my case my brand is always professional which means suit, tie, French cuff shirts, cufflinks, wristwatch and pocket chief. I don’t care how the host dresses because their brand is their decision.
5. Do they supply the list of questions beforehand?This is a good idea, although if they always ask the same questions, you can get the idea from watching their shows before you do the podcast,
6. How will they distribute the podcast?Do we have 100% editorial control over what goes out or not? Most podcasts are using some platform which will broadcast the interview globally, so we have to understand our brand will potentially be viewed by tens of thousands of people over time.

During The Interview

7. When we do media training, we are told to keep our answers brief, on the presumption we will get ourselves into less trouble by keeping it brief.Unethical journalists have a nasty preference for cutting up our comments and then rearranging them against pre-recorded questions. We can be taken out of context, and now we are sounding controversial. The media industry has learnt that controversial sells.

Podcasts however are a long form show that usually lasts around an hour. The temptation is to speak in long bursts, because you have the time. We can speak in long bursts, if what we are saying is high quality and we want to communicate a complex thought. If we are just rambling on because we can, then that is a brand value destroyer.

8. We shouldn’t feel any pressure to answer the question immediately. Everything can be edited, so if you take a long pause then the editor will just cut that bit out because they won’t like the long silence. Take your time and think about your answer. If you don’t like your answer, then just say you don’t like it and then do it again.
9. If the show is being videoed then avoid having to look at your notes for the interview if you can. It can make us look less professional and not in command of our topic. If we want to consult our notes, then we can do that off-camera and make sure that bit will be edited out later.
10. Don’t look at the camera, if it is video plus audio. Keep looking at the host and engage with them. We can look at the camera at the start and the finish when the host is engaging directly with the audience, but apart from that, keep your attention on the interviewer. Switching your gaze from the host to the camera and back to the host, breaks your connection with the audience and looks like you are nervous and not quite sure where you should be looking.

After The Interview

11. Get a copy of the interview, either audio or both video and audio and check the content to make sure you are happy with it. If you are umming and ahhing during the show, don’t worry about that and expect all of these will be cut out. This is the natural you and the way you speak, so your audience will accept that. If it is a problem, then there is a hint for you to get some training to improve as a communicator.
12. A lot of shows are weekly which means they have to have a stock of shows up their sleeve, so that they are never running out of content. This means it could be some time before your show airs. Find out roughly when it will be released, so you can coordinate your own promotion activities
13. Ask for the links to the show, so that you can blast it out to your own social media, website etc., when it is released.
14. If you have your own podcast, ask for the edited file and then add in your own introduction and release it as an episode for your own show.
15. Get a photograph with the host and pump this out into your social media etc., as a teaser for the coming release of the episode.

These fifteen points will be a good starting point to consider, before you accept any requests for podcast interviews. Podcasts are a good media to promote our personal and professional brands and we should always be looking for ways to do that.