School of Podcasting: Expert Tips for Launching and Growing Your Podcast Podcast Guest and Hosting Duties
Last week, a listener contacted me via email. He is one of my Pateron Supporters. He said he noticed on my Pateron page the goal for buying a new Mixer.
He went on to inquire about which mixer I was interested in. I sent him a note back telling him about the 12 ch Behringer mixer I had been saving for (which was the lowest cost mixer with Faders I could find on Amazon-I'm a FM Radio Throw-back and prefer faders).
In his subsequent email, he stated he wanted to purchase a Mixer for me-and he'd buy the Behringer if that is what I had to have, otherwise he preferred to buy me a Yamaha MG12.
After picking myself up from the floor, and maybe or maybe not drying one or both of my eyes; I said the Yamaha would be a fine choice.
The board arrived today, I'm still flabbergasted, and completely humbled. I have the best listener(s) on the planet!
Cale Nelson www.hamradio360.com
Be the Best Podcast Guest Be the Best Podcast HostMaybe it's Friday and I am just tired after so many hours of programming this week but if you send me an interview request that includes the following I will not even respond to you.
1: you must have a hour for the interview
2: you must have headphones
3: you must have a quiet space
4: We request all guest to share our podcast on social media
I must? I must? You are asking me for an interview and you say I must? Plus, if in your initial email request you say I should share it to my social media, I will never respond to you. I will share it to my social media if I think it is valuable to my friends, family and audience. Show some respect when you are asking for interviews. Wow. Whew, ok now I am going take a break this weekend! Have a good one everybody!
Stop Chasing InfluencersJared Easley is one of my My Favorite People on the Planet. I do't interact with him much, but when I do, I'm always glad I did. His Book Stop Chasing Influencers: The True Path to Building Your Business and Living Your Dream had a TON of useful advice that came from the real world. Here is a quick excerpt.
A majority of the influencers and A-listers on his guest wish-list did not have time or interest in being on his new show, which had zero listeners. The guests who were gracious enough to give him the time for an interview were not inclined to share it with their audiences. Finally, the guests who did give him their time, and who also shared the show with their networks on social media, did not translate into a large Starve the Doubts audience that listened to the guest interviews and subscribed or stuck around as well.
So if you're looking for GIANT numbers by having GIANT names, that is not going to happen.
Host Tips
If you of alot of interviews, you're going to lose your mind without a scheduling tool I love Acuity Scheduling. If you're looking for a free (scaled down) tool I've heard good things about Calendly.com
Let the guest know WHY they are there. WHO they are talking to, WHAT they will be talking about and HOW long the interview will be.
Go to their website and get the bio, headshot, etc. Then ask for what is missing.
Do some research (if you want, listen to other interviews, check out their Facebook page, twitter), and come up with some questions. This list of questions (for me) will be used as "game plan" but not as an interrogation
Email the day off (if not before, or better BOTH) the interview to remind them of your appointment.
Make sure they know to get the best microphone available, and to have headphones on.
Find out what website your want to promote. Where are we sending people?
If they don't sound good (meaning their sound is distracting from the content), stop and ask them to get a different microphone, different position, etc. TRUST ME, you will not want to release this to you audience. Who do you want to upset, your legions of followers or ONE guest. You will spend a lot of time trying to clean up bad audio, and some times you just can't.
When the guest arrives let them know its not live (unless it is) and that if they mess up you can do it over. Let them know that if you pause, you may be looking for the next question (and you're not looking for a longer answer).
Erik K Johnson has a great tip and says to come up with a great first question to get the interview pointed in the right direction.
Make sure you know how to say their name (sometimes you find them on YouTube and learn how to pronounce their name)
Michael O'Neal has a great tip in his Art of the Interview Course. If you know a guest loves to tell the same story over and over, use it in the intro, and now they can't repeat it.
Don't make them sit through the whole show if it's done live. If it's a live call, then bring them on 5 minutes before they go on the air.
Michael O'Neal said (when he was on this show) to promote the guests stuff first, then they are happier to be on the show, promote the episode, and they aren't looking for opportunities to promote because you already did.
After the interview is over -before you it stop - ask them if there is anything they'd like to change.
When the interview goes live, make it INSANELY Easy to share your stuff. Give them links to the mp3 file, to your episode on your website, and a graphic. Realize they may not share it at all, and that's OK. They did their job, they provided content. You can use tools like Click to Tweet so you give them one link and it sends the tweet.
Podcast Guest TipsDon't give one word answers.
Listen to an episode to understand a bit about the show, the vibe, the audience.
Get the best microphone available in your house (I suggest the Audio Technica atr2100) and wear headphones (even if it's earbuds)
Email the host the day of the show
Show up on time.
Have one sheet that explains you, your bio, websites, social media, and attache a headshot.
If you're promoting something, see if you can give people access to your product before the interview.
Try to customize your answers to their audience.
Don't go crazy with the hosts name, and compliments on "That's a good question" (unless it was an actual good question).
Nobody tunes into an infomercial on purpose. Bring Value.
If the episode would bring value to your audience, promote it on twitter, and any other venues you feel comfortable.
Podcast Glossary "H"htaccess file
A file on your website that dictates how your website functions, and what files are accessible
Hindenburg Journalist
This is one of my favorite tools to edit audio with. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistle of Adobe Audition, but it also has much less confusion.
Mentioned In This Episode
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