080 The Floor's Open - Podcast Guest Prep, Finding Shows and Giving a Great Interview

Victoria Bennion: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome. I'm your host, Victoria Bennion and the founder of the Victoria Bennion podcast, booking agency, and you are listening to the best guest, the podcast for business owners, creatives and entrepreneurs who want to harness the power of podcasts to grow their platforms and increase their visibility.

We're here to support you on your journey, bringing you actionable tips for each episode. Now, let's begin. Hello and welcome to another episode of the Best Guest. Today the floor's open and we are taking your questions. So I'm just gonna dive right into the first question, which we've received, which says, what do I need to prepare before appearing on a podcast as a guest?

Okay, well, we've got a handy checklist for this on our website, and I'll put a link to it in the show notes.

Have a quick wrecky of your digital presence. Ensure that your website and your social media accounts look professional, [00:01:00] or at least they're in keeping with your brand. Because the first thing that a host is going to do when they hear from you and they think, oh, this could be a potentially great guest for my show, is they're gonna Google you.

Well, they're gonna look you up on social media, so you want to make sure that you are creating the best impression possible. The one that's gonna get you. You want them to take this second step, this looking at you and say, yes, yes, this person's great. This is the person we want on the show.

Another thing that you want to do is to make sure that you have some basic equipment in place before you start approaching hosts. At the very least, you are going to need a pair of headphones or earbuds and an external microphone and a webcam is ideal because a lot of podcasts actually have a video element.

Now we'll make sure that you're looking your best as well. Headphones are so important because they keep the recording [00:02:00] clear. They stop sounds bleeding out from an interview and muddying the recording. It's really important also to check the acoustics of your room. Do the clap test. Is there an echo? As Zach, the podcast man who is also our fab audio consultant always says you need to kill the echo before you start recording.

If your room is particularly echoy, you're gonna want to add some soft furnishings cushions, maybe a duvet, heavy curtains, things that are going to absorb the sound, and that's going to make you come across so much better on your podcast interviews. Before you are a guest on a show, it's important that you have a sense of the style and the structure of the show, so make sure you listen to a couple of episodes.

Once you get a yes from a host, you need to make sure you schedule that interview without delay.. If you delay, you [00:03:00] risk the chance of losing the slot because hosts can get really booked up. You also can look really uninterested and you don't want to make that your first impression.

Make sure that you send over all the information that the host requests. That could be your media kit if you're an author, a copy of your book or the cover of your book, your headshot, et cetera.

It's a really good idea to connect with a host on social media before your interview. Read the podcast reviews and leave your own and share it on social media. Again, this is going to create a really good impression with the host, but it's also gonna give you an idea of why people are tuning in, what they're responding to in the episodes.

And it's so important that you know which platform the host's going to be using to record the interview. Most hosts are going to give you this information, but if not, make sure you ask, because we had [00:04:00] a client just this week and the podcast was going to be live. It was taking place on Kajabi and he had to actually set up an account before they could do the interview. So you don't wanna be showing up a few minutes before your interview and then thinking, oh my goodness, I don't have an account.

And rush, rush, rush. So it's important to get that information in advance cuz that's just gonna be really good for your nerves.

So let's talk about what you should do immediately before your interview. It's a really good idea to know your host's name and to use it, cuz this is really good for generating rapport during the show.

Also know the name of the show if you don't have the best memory. It can be hard when you're nervous and you're trying to think of what you need to talk about as well. Write the host's name and the name of the podcast on a Post-it and stick it to your monitor.

You don't want any distractions from your great content, so it's really important that you minimize [00:05:00] noise by closing windows, turning off fans or air conditioning.

Make sure that your computer is running an optimum speed. Close down anything that could be taking up a lot of memory. Any Dropbox syncing, anything heavy in the background that you don't need open. And have open what you do need, so the platform that you're going to connect on,

You don't want pinging going off while you're recording as well.

I know that's obvious, but at the beginning I, I was recording this. I have my phone all vibrate and you know, microphones are sensitive. They can pick it up. Make sure your phone's on silent. And turn off your computer notifications, so no binging and bonging.

It probably goes without saying, but before you settle in for a podcast interview, make sure that you're comfortable. Go to the toilet, get yourself a glass of water. Hydration is so important when you're speaking . If your saliva's sticky, it's gonna make more of those clicking sounds so make sure [00:06:00] you are drinking plenty.

Though don't choke. In one of my first interviews I did I took a big swig of water and ended up choking. Luckily, I was using the Blue Yeti microphone and I was able to mute most of it as it was live.

Okay, moving on to question number two we have, which is how do I find podcasts that are relevant to my industry or expertise. Good question. It's really important in a podcast interview strategy that you are finding relevant podcasts and not just appearing on any, I mean, it's fine to go on a variety of podcasts without a strategy when you're just getting started to build your confidence. But once you're making this part of your strategy, you do want to be particular about the shows that you are on. What helps with this is having an understanding of your own audience, and then what you want to do is look for podcasts, which have these people within their audience, they don't have to be [00:07:00] comprised fully of this group of people, but you want some kind of overlap.

When you start looking at all the podcasts out there, you're gonna find so many different types. Some are niche and some are broad. Some are gonna be more casual, some are gonna be more formal. Some are large, some are small. The largest shows can be the hardest to guest on. They receive many pitches a day and only have a certain number of guest spots.

A few years ago, Cal Fussman, the host of Big Questions told us that he receives 50 pitches a day. So that just gives you some idea, but you don't have to be on the biggest shows to get the biggest impact Anyway.

It's a good idea if you are just beginning with podcast interviews to get started with the small shows, it's gonna be far more beneficial to you to be speaking to a small group of the right people than a big auditorium full of people who just don't care what you have to say. They're just not interested, [00:08:00] so always bear that in mind.

Now the good news is when it comes to looking for podcasts, there are lots of different places that you can mine. Start with your own network. Is there someone you know who might be able to introduce you to a host with a show that's a good fit, or maybe a colleague, a friend, someone in your business group? has a podcast that you could approach. There are groups on Facebook that you can join and you can connect with hosts who are looking for guests. How about podcasts You already listen to? What do you subscribe to that might have the right audience? Go through your podcast app and make a list. Another place we like to find shows is through Roundup list.

For example, go to Google and type in best mental health podcasts and see what comes up. If mental health is your field, pick something that's relevant to you. The most obvious place to start looking is iTunes. [00:09:00] Of course, you can browse by category or search by keyword. You can also check out their new and noteworthy category for potential podcast.

Sometimes established business owners will be new to podcasting, so it can be a really ideal time to approach them about a spot on their show.

Podcast Search Engine Listen Notes is also a great resource for finding podcasts. You can , find that@www.listennotes.com. When you start booking podcasts, ask the hosts if there are any further shows that they know of who might be interested to have you as a guest. If you are an author, you could say something along the lines of, I'm looking to get the word out about my book.

Do you know two or three people who might be interested? People tend to like to help. So you'll generally get at least one name. And you know, this actually reminds me, last week I was at marketing meeting. With Mark Schaefer, , he is a very established author, [00:10:00] may well come across and he said that podcast interviews are one of the main ways to promote your book, to get sales for your book. So it's ideal if you've just written a book to try this strategy.

Right. If you're an author, think about where your book sits on the shelf. List some books in the same genre as yours, and Google the names of the authors of these books with the word podcast. You can do the same with coaches or business owners in your niche.

Then make a list of the podcasts, which appear in the search, and start exploring those that you found are any a good fit for you. Okay? I hope that's giving you some good ideas of places you can start looking.

Question number three is, what should I wear during the podcast recording? Woo. Interesting. Well, firstly, you're gonna want to know if the interview is audio or video, because as we mentioned [00:11:00] earlier, a growing percentage of shows have a video element, so it's gonna be very different if you're on video, what you want to choose to wear. than if it's just audio.

It's really important that you're comfortable. I was speaking to one of our clients recently and she said that she likes to wear a fairly plain outfit. But add some jewelry if she's on camera. Sometimes if I'm just recording audio, I'll be wearing a hoodie. Today I've got an afternoon full of different calls where I'm gonna be on camera a lot for Zoom.

So I'm recording the podcast and I've made sure that I look reasonable. I've even done my hair.

Okay. Moving on to question number four, how long does a typical podcast recording session last? Well, this varies so much on the show. It's really where podcasts deviate from mainstream media, such as a radio show, which, you know, the expected length. Some can be as short as a minute, whereas others can be a couple of hours.[00:12:00]

The sweet spot's usually 20 to 40 minutes, something around that area. Some will be a full hour. The best advice I can give you is to look at the previous episodes of the show. If you're booked to be a guest, that'll give you a good idea of how long these episodes last for, and a host is likely to tell you what to expect, cuz they're gonna wanna make sure that you're free for all that time, particularly if it's a long one..

Okay. How are we doing for time? Right? I think we've got time to get one more question in for this episode. . Number five, what are some tips for being an engaging and interesting guest on a podcast?

this one's so important because you want to be an engaging guest. Somebody that a listener wants to connect with afterwards, and you want them to remember what you said. So my number one tip here is share stories, because we remember stories so much more than we remember facts. This is gonna help listeners recall you.

[00:13:00] They're gonna connect with you through your stories. It will also make them want to stick around longer. Stories lower our defenses, and they enable us to teach principles in a much more engaging way than just sharing list of bullet points. According to the Content Marketing Institute, neuroscientists have this saying that neurons that fire together wire together.

When we're hearing a story, our brain is lighting up. And you have all these neurons that are wiring together, which triggers us to remember more of the information we are hearing. Makes sense? So this is where showing up to an interview prepared is gonna help. You might wanna make some bullet point notes. This can be helpful if the host has given you advanced questions or if they haven't, identify stories you could share to illustrate those points. Do your best not to ramble and to show some enthusiasm for the topic that you're talking about, and it's really key. Listen [00:14:00] to what the host is asking you.

I know this is one of Ed Kless who is the host of the Sage Podcast's. Biggest tips, listen and answer. The question you're being asked can be hard when you're nervous, so just to pay extra attention. And as we mentioned before, it's really good practice to use the host's name and the show name to create rapport.

Most importantly, try your best to relax and enjoy the conversation. Remember, a podcast interview isn't a test. We shouldn't really even call it an interview it's a conversation. And if you are relaxed and you're having fun, your personality is going to shine through. Okay. Well, thank you so much for listening to this episode.

I hope you found some of the tips useful. If you have any questions you'd like us to answer in a future episode, send them over to podcast@ victoria bennion.com and our team will keep a note of them and we will answer them in a future show. All right, I'll talk to you again [00:15:00] next week.