Day 4: Interview Prep
You’ve landed the interview and now you need to prepare. Some of the best podcasts have succeeded because the hosts can make any guest sound great! With thoughtful questions, careful research, and clever editing, they can make you sound great. But not every podcast host is good at that yet, or ever. So you need to prepare for the interview to make sure you can convey your value to the audience.
- What are their signature questions/segments?
- Many podcasts have their own special segments. Whether it is a rapid fire round or the same set of questions they ask every guest, you should be prepared for this. Again, part of your research includes listening to some episodes. You’ll sound kind of dumb if they ask you the same question they ask every guest and you start with , “hmm wow, I’ve never thought of that.” Really? Just be prepared for it.
- Be a prepared guest
- You should know what your message is that you want to bring to that audience. What are the tips or information that will help them. Yes, you’ll get a chance to plug your book or your launch, but what are the few key things that you want to focus on? Practice some questions with a friend to try and make sure you can stay on message.
- This also means testing your audio and video set up ahead of time and clarifying that you will need both if that is the case. Also, if someone on their team schedules an audio check with you and you blow it off – THAT’S NOT A GOOD LOOK! It also means they take their audio seriously. Don’t act like you had no clue that you needed a microphone and headphones.
- Answer their questionnaire or provide your own synopsis
- Good podcast hosts will send you a questionnaire to ask for your bio, confirm the talking points that you’ll cover (this would be a pick from the selection in your pitch), your social media links, etc.
- Send this back in a timely manner with any headshots or links they have requested.
- Practice Speaking SLOWLY
- This goes along with practicing a few questions. And this is one thing I CONSTANTLY have to work on. People listen to podcasts at higher speeds like 1.5 or even 2x speed. You need to speak slowly and clearly. If you talk fast then you’ll sound like a chipmunk if the person has their default podcast settings sped up.
- This also means you should be mindful of your ums, ahs, sos, likes, etc.
- Prep your platform
- In addition to being ready for the interview itself, you want to be ready for when it goes live. Update your website if needed, get your lead magnets ready.
Alright, now you are all prepped and ready to go. Tomorrow we will focus on the interview itself.
Additional Videos:
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