17 Tips to Succeed as a Studio Podcast Guest
Posted on 23rd February 2020 at 21:26
If you’re reduced to a dry-mouthed, sweaty-palmed wreck at the thought of speaking on a podcast, then this article will help you prepare to relax and shine, as well as profit from the opportunity.
Discover what questions to ask your podcast host in advance, what to do in order to be at your best during recording, and what to do afterwards to make the most of your appearance.
About the Author – Serena Gay – founder and managing director of Made4U Podcasts
Serena founded Made4U Podcasts in 2018 after a career spent in radio and TV in the UK with the BBC, and in Germany with DW TV.
She has many years' of experience writing and voicing well-researched and engaging material, and developed her social media marketing skills managing companies in the UK and Germany.
Relax and shine in your podcast interview
Let’s be clear, if you have received a podcast guest invitation, it is because you are highly valued for your expertise and know-how. Someone considers you to be a mine of information. What better position of strength to be in!
Give it a go – it will buff up your reputation and may have far-reaching results for your business.
A podcast interview or discussion all boils down to the same thing – a friendly exchange of information and opinions which happens to be recorded and then published.
There are three distinct phases to the whole podcast guest shebang:
the pre-podcast briefing,
the actual recording itself,
the post-production tasks.
Here are 17 Tips to help you succeed across the whole process...
Pre-podcast interview briefing
1. Before you discuss the upcoming podcast with your podcast host, find the time to listen to a couple of their shows to learn about their format and tone and typical listeners. This will help you work out how best to pitch your contribution.
This plus your knowledge of your position of strength will help you direct the conversation during the initial briefing with your podcast host.
2. Take control and explain what YOU want to discuss and where you can add the most value. They’ll be grateful for your input.
The interviewer, if they’re worth their salt, will also explain what they want to achieve from the discussion. And it’s vital at the outset that the twain shall meet.
If you are clear on what kind of questions you will be asked, you will of course be far better prepared to answer them fluently. But don’t expect a good podcast host to reveal the precise wording or sequence of questions.
Too much straight-jacketing in the planning phase will lead to a dull interview with no spontaneity at all – and a podcast interview should sound more like a congenial chat than a scripted interrogation.
3. Do ensure that your interviewer gets your name, your title, your company name correct. It completely undermines an interview guest when their name and credentials are sloppily handled so if you have an unusual name, help them learn how to pronounce it properly. You too should correctly pronounce and remember to use the host’s name or that of anyone else if you’re on a podcast discussion panel during the recording.
4. It is considered best practice to give you a flattering introduction because it piques listeners’ interest, so make sure you get across a succinct description of any information supporting your expert status at this early stage.
In this pre-briefing, feel free to ask about how the interview will be used, who else if anyone will be interviewed alongside you and how long it is all likely to take.
Performing During the Podcast Recording
5. Turn up in good time for the interview and have at the forefront of your mind three points that you particularly want to get across and a call to action to give at the end of the podcast interview.
6. Remember you are the expert and that people are interested in what you have to say. The adrenaline will be running so concentrate on taking deep breaths and smiling. It’s a simple but surprisingly effective way to destress. And if you smile during the interview that will be come through in your voice.
7. Expect to be seated (or possibly standing) in front of a microphone. You should position yourself close to the mic and stay in the same position throughout the interview.
It’s important to be sitting comfortably within the correct range so that you don’t shift around. Constantly changing your position with relation to the mic will affect the quality of the audio.
Your podcast host might choose the simpler route of using a lavalier mic pinned to your lapel like this Rode SC6-L one pictured to the right.
They work brilliantly and are less problematic in some ways than ordinary mics – but they also pick up fidgety noises so the sitting still rule also applies.
8. You may be provided with a set of headphones (as in the picture here) which you should wear no matter how alien they feel.
They feed the sound of your voice back to you, so that you immediately pick up any audio changes if you move away from the mic.
You will also pick up (and stop making!) those annoying noises that you unconsciously make when you fidget and which cause problems in post-production editing.
9. If you know you are a mumbler or a serial flubber of words, slow down your rate of speaking. Made4U Podcasts has some additional methods for coping with this problem which we teach on our How To Be a Successful Podcast Guest Course, but they are all based on breathing correctly, warming up your voice and feeling confident.
However, if you are nervous during recording, and ask to repeat your answers to questions, no one is likely to mind. Mistakes can easily be removed in post-production.
10. That said, DO NOT under any circumstances write out and read answers to questions. This is deadly! It kills off any spontaneity and is plain as day to anyone listening.
A previous blog by Made4U Podcasts - “Why You Should Never Ad-lib Your Podcast” - advises on the value of scripting many podcast segments, but not for interviews or chit chat between presenters.
11. It’s very effective to tell stories. Not only do they jazz up otherwise dry points, but they make you more fun to listen to.
12. Keep your answers or comments punchy and tight in the same way you would in a group discussion where everyone is vying to be heard. Try to be sensitive to the podcast host’s body language and allow them to butt in with questions. Don’t expect them to make the usual vocal noises of agreement while you’re talking because this might drown out your voice and play havoc with post-recording editing.
13. Be kind to your podcast host and any fellow guest speakers – reference their expertise and compliment their contributions. This makes it all the more likely the host will give you a decent opportunity to make your call to action towards the end of the podcast.
14. When that moment comes, the host will say something along the lines of: “how can people find out more about your association?” or “you mentioned your recently published book earlier, where can people buy it?” You might also want people to visit your website or even make an appointment to see you; there could be a whole host of other ways to benefit from your interview – only you can know what but don’t forget to prepare to make the most of the opportunity.
15. You can expect that a professional podcast host will write up show notes to accompany the episode so that listeners can easily find out your website address or any information you gave out during the interview.
Post-production tasks
16. Quality podcast productions do a professional audio edit of each episode to edit out any errors, stutters or flubs but it can take hours if lots of mistakes and retakes have occurred or if there was noise interference.
It affects the entire production if too much audio is cut out. So, try not to demand the removal of blocks of audio from the final edit. This can occur when people realise post-recording that there is a legal or confidential problem behind the information they’ve disclosed on the podcast. The best thing all round is to think about what you can and can’t say before recording takes place.
17. Do offer to promote the show on your social media platforms, email newsletters and blogs when it’s ready. You may be given some ready-produced tools such as an audiogram (essentially a snippet of the interview with audio, subtitles and a moving element – see a still from such an audiogram below) that you can publish.
16. Quality podcast productions do a professional audio edit of each episode to edit out any errors, stutters or flubs, but it can take hours if lots of mistakes and retakes have occurred or if there was noise interference.
It affects the entire production if too much audio is cut out. So, try not to demand the removal of blocks of audio from the final edit. This can occur when people realise post-recording that there is a legal or confidential problem behind the information they’ve disclosed on the podcast. The best thing all round is to think about what you can and can’t say before recording takes place.
17. Do offer to promote the show on your social media platforms, email newsletters and blogs when it’s ready. You may be given some ready-produced tools such as an audiogram (essentially a snippet of the interview with audio, subtitles and a moving element – see a still from such an audiogram here) that you can publish.
Podcast guests who go the extra mile to help publicise “their” episode will earn the undying gratitude of the podcast host – and may well be invited back at a future date!
Now you know what to expect and how to prepare, you are armed and ready to storm the podcasting scene.
The main key to coming across well in a broadcast interview is in the expression of confidence, knowing the main points you need to convey, and enjoying yourself!
What worries you most about the prospect of speaking on a podcast? If we haven’t addressed it here – we’ll get back to you.
How we help
Made4U Podcasts has many years' experience coaching people to feel more confident in the recording arena. Our training course “How to be a Successful Podcast Guest” provides advice, guidance and above all practice using a microphone and listening back to yourself – the best way to learn! We aim to give you confidence in yourself to be your best.
We also provide podcast skills training courses for in-house teams.
Contact us anytime for more information about these affordable and practical podcasting skills courses on serena@made4U-podcasts.co.uk.
Next time – how to prepare to be a podcast guest via remote recording.
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