Be the Perfect Guest

Being interviewed is the best way to ease into a speaking career. Here are some tips to make that easier.

​For them…

1. Know what you’re offering in terms of content.
Sure, you are inherently interesting, but the audience of this podcast is tuning in for a specific reason, can you filter your story / material through the lens of their interest?

2. Come with loose talking points prepared.
Most hosts will want an organic conversation, they won’t want you to prepare. BUT if you rely 100% on them and they have an off day - you can end up with a pretty gross interview! Always follow their lead, but have a back up plan in your back pocket just in case.

3. Be aware of time.
Keep your answers short and to the point. Not so short as to be curt, but it’s better to have the host ask you to elaborate than you hijack the mic and speak for 15 minutes and only get 3 questions in. Keep your host in your peripheral when you’re speaking.

​As soon as they start to look bored/impatient/uncomfortable - wrap it up!

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4. Promote the episode when it airs.
This takes a bit more effort because your episode might air much later than when you record it and that might not it in your promotional plan. If you are unable to promote it when it goes live, then at least promote it at your earliest opportunity. Tag the host so they know.

5. Refer when you can.
Do you know someone who would be a perfect guest for this show? Or someone who might like to promote it? Why not make an introduction?

6. When you send your info, keep your bio introduction short and easy to read out loud. (Test it yourself.)

7. Stay in touch. Keep the relationship with your host going.

For you…

8. Warm up beforehand.
You don't know how experienced your host is. You don't want to rely on them to make you feel at ease. Do a short warm up first. Relax yourself. Focus on making them feel welcome. This will only ever make you (and your host) look better.

9. Check your tech.
I’ve spoken about this before. Here’s a video that covers the basics: 
https://youtu.be/60gFqnZFt_s?si=fXi_ZC6xZwXTsEV8

10. Always offer an evergreen gift / lead magnet.
You want to continue a relationship with these listeners after the podcast is over. You don’t have their info, but if you offer them something (that they want) in exchange for their email, then you have an opportunity to stay in touch. Make sure the gift and link are “evergreen” as you have no control over when they may listen to this episode.

11. Be aware of sound bytes.
It makes it a lot easier to lift promotional snippets out of the interview if you include the answer in the question and if you keep the sound unmuddied.

For example: if you’re answering “did you always know you wanted to be a ballerina?” don’t say: “yes, from when I was a child” - you can’t take that out of context but if you said: “Yes. I’ve wanted to be a ballerina since I was a child when I saw Gisele for the first time.” Now they can start the clip after your say “yes” and it will be able to stand on its own.

For unmuddied speech: allow a pause between the host finishing what they said before you speak. No cross talk. This also counts for laughter.

Want a place to play and build all of the above skills? Why not join us the next Practice Lab?