Landing a big podcast interview can help grow your business and your personal brand, but you have to be able to nail it! In today’s tip, Michael Luchies covers four podcast interview preparation tips that he finds helpful.
#1. Ask questions before the interview
Asking questions before the interview is important to gain as much information as possible to do well, and to find opportunities to provide and gain additional value to the host, show, and their audience. Sample questions:
• When will this go up?
• Can I have a copy of the audio?
• Who is your audience?
• What have been your favorite interviews and why?
• Can I send a message out to your audience after the interview?
#2. Listen to past episodes!
Download a couple episodes of their podcast and listen during your daily commute or while you’re eating dinner. This will help you get an idea of the interviewer’s style and listen for things that went good and what went bad on other episodes. You can also recognize patterns — questions that the interviewer asks nearly every guest, which allows you to prepare for those ahead of time. But, when you’re preparing remember to –>
#3. Have bullet points as notes, don’t read!
There’s nothing more boring than listening to someone read on a podcast. You need to sound natural, and a way to do that is to have a couple of bullet points for each question the host will ask. If the host has not presented you with the questions he or she will ask, come up with a few you believe they will ask based on past episodes and then several points you want to work into your answers. Other than your introduction to your company, don’t write out full sentences or fully prepared responses — it’s very likely you will sound unnatural and the audience will know you are reading.
#4. Test audio!
Always test your audio! I once lost a huge opportunity because the quality of my audio (interview done through Skype at my home) was terrible. They couldn’t use the audio and it ended up being a waste of everyone’s time. Call a friend on Skype or record yourself and then listen to it. Don’t miss out on an opportunity because of something as easily controlled as the quality of the call line or internet connection you’re using.
Action Step: Your action step for today is to save this video to watch again or copy my notes and read over before your next podcast interview. Good luck!
About the 1-Minute Small Business Tips for Entrepreneurs Video Series:
Learning is a part of being an entrepreneur, but so is being overwhelmed with the wealth of information available online and all of the tasks and responsibilities we have. We created the 1-Minute Small Business Tips for Entrepreneurs Video Series to focus on one tip in a minute that can be applied to your business today. Each tip will include an actionable step you can take.
The series is hosted by entrepreneur and writer Michael Luchies, and we will also feature guest tippers along the way. Please subscribe to the channel and comment below with what topics you’d like us to cover. Thanks for joining us on this journey and we’re excited to provide you and your business value every day!
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