podcast interview – Podcastreporter.com

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss the podcast episode content from Dave Jackson, the podcast host of the School of Podcasting show and also the one called Your Podcast Consultant: Nine Minute Lessons on How to Podcast — Small Lessons with Big Value. The theme of an episode that was published earlier is: what are some suggestions and ways to recover and cope with a “bad” podcast episode where the guest or the interview was not good?

You can find this show episode from the publication date of June 15, 2021.

Dave titles this episode as “What do I do with a bad podcast?”

And since this topic is definitely evergreen, I listened to the 8 minute episode, and I was impressed with the flexibility that Dave discussed about how you can react from bad content or a bad guest (in your opinion, of course) that you had recorded — especially before you post or publish the episode to everyone in the podosphere.

One big reason for having bad content or a bad guest on your podcast on your show is perhaps that you did not do enough research and preparation — mainly because you did not ensure that your guest is a good fit for your show to provide value to your listeners.

And Dave had very logical and straight-forward answers and suggestions for this — ranging from the re-arranging of content and questions/answers to focusing on the “gems” of the replies from your guest. After all, as Dave reminds us: this is YOUR show and you control the flow and result of your own content.

One such reply is that you could perhaps turn your interview show into a “narrative” show, where you could be telling a STORY and weave the content from your guest in a narrative style or reporting, etc.

However, Dave did emphasize that the editing in the episode SHOULD NOT change the content or reply to the point where you are putting words in the mouth of the guest or having the guest’s audio “say” things that were not what the guest had really said (you know, such as what the lame-stream media has been doing for the past couple of years in their disinformation and suppression of truth and content in the social media and news streams).

I feel that what Dave had to describe to us is critical, and that this should be consumed by ALL podcasters on a yearly basis, so that our own bias and other lame content will not creep into the value that we intend to provide to our listeners. I would strongly recommend that this episode is an 8-minute gem that should be on every podcaster’s list for mandatory consumption — mainly for keeping an open and professional mind when generating content in the form of guest interviews for the podcast show.

To many, I know that I would be “preaching to the choir” — but this is so abused by the newer podcasters today that it needs to be said and it needs to be repeated. Otherwise, we would invite the lame podcasters and the lame episodes of the lame shows to keep performing their lame actions and delivering lame content, instead of providing good content that will provide VALUE to the listeners.

Thank you for your attention in this short article.

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In this episode of The Podcast Reporter, we discuss a blogpost from podiant.co that delivers suggestions and blueprint on how to make an interview podcast.

The article by Mark Steadman is located at:

https://podiant.co/blog/interview-podcasts/?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=unknown&utm_campaign=podnews:2021-02-10

Mark starts out the blog post by describing a podcast interview:

“An interview podcast — a host speaking with a guest or two, over Zoom or in-person — is the easiest way to start building your authority, and get to grips with the medium of podcasting.”

Mark spends a good deal of time in a lengthy discussion (which is more like a blueprint) on How to conduct a podcast interview. This means that the main objective of the interviewer is to set up the guest for success.

Mark also gives some PROTIPs along the way, including what an interview really is — a conversation where you discuss ideas, knowledge, viewpoints, etc.

In a bullet-format, Mark also suggests the roles and responsibilities of the interviewer in a lengthy preparation for the interview. In addition, Mark will also step you through his suggestions on how to conduct the interview — including the host-read wrap around method: “That’s where the host delivers an intro to the episode, hands over to the interview, then back to the host for the outro. These bits should be recorded after the interview, and as close to publication of the episode as possible.”

And so each stage of the interview and each task is given some detail as to how to approach and set up the dialogue and continue (that includes the “good, the bad and the ugly”), such as:

how to start each episode of an interview podcast;
how a good structure would work;
and what good personal podcast coaching should be to help.

Interestingly enough, Mark had this to say about voice-over artists: “no voice-over artist should come anywhere near your podcast in any professional capacity, other than as a guest. This is the host’s space, and the listener is here for the authority the host brings. Intimacy is based on authentic connection, and an over-slick intro, however good the voice artist is, puts a barrier up between the host and the listener. (I often work with voice-over artists, and love doing so. They do great work — they just don’t belong in podcast intros.)”

Mark then describes how to end each episode of an interview podcast.

In fact, he delivers a good structure for an outro (which a lot of podcasters seem to omit):

“Thanks to my guest for being on the show. Links to their work are in the show notes, which you’ll find at mywebsite.com.
You can support me by doing this thing (backing this Patreon, going to buymeacoffee.com etc). If you can’t do that, tell a friend about the podcast.
(If you like, and if it’s applicable) Next week I’ll be talking to so-and-so about such-and-such.
Thanks for listening, and talk to you next time.“

He finally gives some advice on editing a podcast interview, and, of course, his call-to-action is to promote his own consultation as a podcast mentor. He also gives some hints on editing software and a few bullets on good show notes.

Now, for this podcaster, this would be a great overview for a new or aspiring interviewer with his own show and a good beginning of enthusiasm. For the few minutes of reading these “reminders,” there is some value for the podcaster to remember some of the items mentioned.

However, there are other courses and tools that are given — let alone the plethora of podcast episodes that deal with interviewing from the interviewer’s point of view. In fact, one of the more comprehensive and detailed episodes that covers most aspects for the podcaster in planning and conducting interviews is in the archives and back-catalog of Daniel J Lewis of The Audacity to Podcast show. This evergreen content is an excellent launching point, as Daniel always has great detail and actionable steps for his suggestions. In addition, you should always get a copy of his “pre-flight checklist” for podcast recording (which is a MUST for any new podcaster).

We hope that you can get the proper workflow and preparation, recording and editing of your podcast interview, and that your show can then be a success.

Thank you for your attention.