Podcast Interviewing 101
Your VIP guest has said yes. The date is on your calendar. The studio is booked, or, if you’re a DYI podcaster, you have a list of all the equipment you’ll need for the remote recording session. Now, all you must do is prepare a few questions for your interview.
This is usually the point when the interview novice begins to panic. And rightly so. The questions you ask — and the order in which they are asked — determines how much time you’ll spend editing and whether, or not, you’ll engage (and retain) your listeners. Your preparation, or lack of, will also determine if your guest will ever agree to another interview with you. All that to say: Interview questions are important.
But an interview doesn’t have to be intimidating. Just think of it as creating a story. As with all stories, you’ll need a beginning, a middle, and an end. Ideally, your interview questions will build a framework for the story you want to tell with your recording.
Think about how the action in a script moves forward with scenes and how a book moves forward with chapters. And then organize your questions in the order that will create the most compelling story. Afterward, this process will allow you to delete parts of the interview that are uninteresting without disrupting flow. It will also make editing easier because you won’t have to cut and paste in order to create a good story.
It’s also important to find out as much as possible about the person you’ll be talking with — well before you turn on the mics. The more you know, the more targeted your questions can be, and the more likely you are to end up with an intriguing conversation.
And, please, let your guest talk! Don’t interrupt or add details about yourself to the conversation. Your guest has volunteered their time. She or he is there to promote their book/album/event, or inform or entertain your listeners. Make sure you give them lots of space to wax poetic.
And always record more audio than you think you’ll need. You can edit out the dull bits, but you can’t add more after your interviewee walks out the door.
Prepare well, and have fun!
