The success of an interview format podcast is in the way the interview is managed. And interviewing somebody and making it interesting is an art that you can obviously learn with experience. But some tips to get started is always helpful. Isn’t it?
So here are 10 podcast interview tips that can help you produce better interview episodes and give your audience more than what they expect from you.
One of the most preferred podcast format is the Interview format podcast.
There are multiple reasons why everybody wants to start an interview podcast some of which we had discussed in our earlier episodes.
While, interview format podcasts have a lot of benefit, is very popular both with listeners and creators alike, it has its own share of difficulties.
Now succeeding with interviews is just one of them and since interviewing doesn’t come naturally to everyone, it can be extremely tricky for podcast hosts to get the best out of their guests and provide value to their audience.
12 Podcast Interview Tips for Better Podcasts
In this episode, we are going to look at 10 quick tips on succeeding with your interviews. These are simple tips that are easily implementable and can give you good results.
Let’s get straight into it now.
Let the guest be the expert
This is where a lot of podcasters lose the plot. They start an interview format podcast but try to run it like a monologue and be the expert in the conversation.
Remember that the reason why you have brought a guest onto the show is to let them talk and be the expert. They are the ones that your audience has come to listen to. So let them be the ones who are talking and sharing tips, tricks, and advice.
This is applicable to most interview-style podcasts except in the case of a coaching-style episode where you can and should be the expert.
So let your guest talk and let them take the most airtime.
Follow your list of questions
When you aren’t habitually a conversationalist and cannot strike up conversations for long, running an interview can be a little difficult for you.
We are all like that and if we are put in front of somebody that we haven’t known for long, then it can become difficult for us to strike up a conversation.
And in order to fill that gap, we tend to babble and ask questions that aren’t relevant. It has happened to me and can happen to even the best of folks out there.
Try to stay calm and composed and follow your script or, the list of questions that you have prepared.
Try to control the conversation and stay on the list of questions you have prepared.
Avoid asking basic questions
One of the things to keep in mind is that interviews are about extracting valuable information from your guests.
And that isn’t going to happen if you don’t ask relevant questions.
Hence avoid asking basic questions.
It is ok to ask a couple of such questions to strike up a conversation and get the guest talking but too many of those basic questions will make your interview a dull and boring one.
Avoid close-ended questions
A closed-ended question is one where the answer is a “Yes” or, a “No”.
And when we are stuck and aren’t sure about what to ask, we tend to ask closed-ended questions. But these questions aren’t going to help get more information from your guests.
Hence try to avoid asking closed-ended questions.
Avoid leading questions
Leading questions are questions that lead your guest to a specific answer that you are expecting from them.
You would have seen a lot of journalists asking such questions to corner people.
The expectation from your interview is to let the guest talk freely and share as much information as possible.
Hence avoid asking leading questions.
Ask questions that trigger a conversation and let the guest talk freely.
Preferably only one question at a time
When you are interviewing a guest it is important that you let your guest speak. And for that to happen, you need to give your guest some time to think.
So preferably ask only one question at a time.
If you are asking multiple questions together, ensure that they are related to each other.
Avoid referring to Lists
I always recommend maintaining a list of questions that you want to ask your guest. It helps you stay on track and also keep on check on the flow of the interview.
But it is also important that you don’t get bound by your list and start reading off it. Deviating from your list till the time the conversation is valuable is fine and you should in fact do that.
So avoid getting tied to your list. Instead, let the questions be a natural flow.
Active Listening
The importance of active listening cannot be emphasized more in any conversation.
In an interview too, listen actively to what your guest is saying. A lot of people have a tendency to be too focused on what they have to ask next and thereby lose focus on what the guest is talking about.
Stay focused and listen actively. The conversation could give you a lot of hints on how to frame your next questions and what to ask next.
When you do that, the conversation will appear natural and free-flowing and will sound interesting to your audience.
Ask clear questions
Don’t be ambiguous with your questions. Ask clear questions and preferably be as direct as possible.
If you tend to go round and round around what you are wanting to ask, you will confuse your guest and you will never get the kind of response that you are expecting from them.
Learn from other interviews
One of the things I did early on in my podcasting career is to listen to a lot of interviews. I listened to all forms of interviews in all different niches.
This was to learn how the host is framing the questions, how he is controlling the conversation, how he extracts information from the guest, and how to build on questions already asked.
I recommend listening to interviews. Note down the questioning method or, questions that make it interesting and practice it.
It will help you record better interviews.
Don’t interrupt
Never interrupt the guest. Give them time to respond and complete their responses.
We as interviewers have a tendency to jump in at the slightest pause that we see. It is normal because we want to get to the next question on our list and that pause looks like a signal that we should get to the next question.
This also leads to interrupting the guest.
Don’t do that. Respect the pause. Give the time to your guest to assimilate and respond. Let them complete their sentences and only then jump in if required.
These interruptions could also be in the form of verbal nods.
A lot of us tend to do that. We use a lot of ah-ha, right, yes, absolutely, etc. to show that we are listening to them
Excess of this could appear interrupting to the guest.
So limit it and only use it to show that you are listening.
Show that you are interested
Your show is your baby and you are the one who can make it interesting.
Remember that if you don’t sound interested, your audience and your guests also won’t be interested.
And that will clearly reflected in the sound.
So be in the conversation at all times. Make the conversation interesting for yourself, your guest, and your audience.
Those were the 12 simple and implementable podcast interview tips that can help you get much better interviews in your interview format podcasts.
Resources Recommended for Podcasting
Here are some tools and resources that I recommend for podcasting. These are the ones that I personally use and am satisfied with and hence am recommending them.
- Acast Podcast hosting – Acast is my favorite podcast hosting company. They have excellent customer support, have a pocket-friendly plan, and even have a free option with no limits.
- Behringer Audio Interface – You will need an audio interface if you are using an XLR microphone. This is my recommended audio interface.
- Zencastr – Zencastr is the easiest option to record interviews, both audio-only and audio+video. This is a must for an interview podcast. Go to zencastr.com/pricing and use my code “thepodu” You’ll get 30 percent off your first three months of Zencastr professional.
- Audacity – This is the best and the most feature-rich free audio editing software. It gives you a lot of options while editing your interviews.
- Blue Yeti USB Microphone – My recommended microphone
- Tidycal – My recommended calendar and booking solutions
- Fusebox – Embeddable Podcast Player
Thank You for Joining
Thank you for joining me on the show today.
I hope you enjoyed these simple podcast interview tips that I shared on the episode and that you found value in them.
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In case you have any questions, you can drop them below and I will respond to them.
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