The difference between a great interview and a mediocre one comes down to how comfortable your guest feels. In this episode, Travis shares 3 strategies to help your guests trust you with their stories.
Need some help with your podcast? Join the Buzzsprout Podcast Community on Facebook to get the help you need from podcasters just like you.
The difference between a great interview and a mediocre one comes down to how comfortable your guest feels. In this episode, Travis shares 3 strategies to help your guests trust you with their stories.
Need some help with your podcast? Join the Buzzsprout Podcast Community on Facebook to get the help you need from podcasters just like you.
Today on five minute Monday, we'll talk about how to prepare your guests so that they feel comfortable on your podcast. Welcome to five minute Monday where we bring you the best tips and strategies for building your podcast in five minutes or less. So if you're new here, consider subscribing. Now it's easy to forget how it feels speaking into a microphone for the first time as a podcast or after a while you just get used to it and you know what to expect. But that is not the case with the majority of your guest. So here's the deal. If you want your interview to be great, the key is getting your guests to feel comfortable and to trust you to trust that you have their best interests in mind and that there's no gotcha questions, that they're not going to fall into a trapper say something that they regret. All right, so your goal is to help your guests feel comfortable sharing things with you and your audience. So here are three strategies that I use to put my guests at ease. Number one, I let them know what to expect. Now, this either happens in an email exchange or a message like on Facebook or Instagram, some of the things that I'll tell them or how long the interview will take or how much time they need to set aside for the interview, I'll let them know what kinds of things I want to talk to them about. Typically these are specific areas of expertise that they have that I think are going to be valuable from my audience. And so I let them know upfront and this is the kind of conversation I want to have. And then I also let them know that since it's an edited interview, it's not live. So there's a period of time between when we conduct the interview and when I publish it, and so I can edit out anything that I need to after the fact, if they share a story where they mentioned someone's name and then after they're like, you know what, I don't want that person's name to make it in the interview. Then I let them know that that is totally possible. And what that does is it helps them kind of put their guard down. And just share the real stories, the real, you know, vulnerable things that they have to offer without feeling. Okay. I had to put everything through a filter. Another thing that I will do is I will always try and do some small talk when we first jump on, especially if this is the first time that I've spoken to them. So for most of my guests I reach out to them through social media or by reputation and I don't know them personally. And so before I start getting into the actual interview, I want to establish a rapport. I want them to feel like they can trust me and to see that I'm a real person, that I'm not some investigative reporter trying to dig up some dirt on them, you know? And then cause I want them to feel comfortable. That's the goal. And by just engaging, it's a small talk and some chat. It gives them a chance to know me and to, to feel like they can trust me, to trust me with their story and to trust me with their lives. And one goal that I have when I'm talking to someone prior to jumping into the interview is I want to get them to laugh or chuckle, right? If I can get that to happen, that is ideal because when you can get someone to laugh, they're going to trust you more. They're going to feel like they can be comfortable around and a, they're not going to be worried so much about what they say or how they say it. All right? They're gonna feel like it's more of just a conversation between two friends instead of an interview. All right. And then the third strategy that I like to do that I like to utilize is I encourage them after the interview. So immediately after we're done talking, I will go through and, uh, tell them things that I thought they did really well and read. Just really encourage them because I want them to feel great about what we just did. I want them to feel great about their podcast episode. And then before the episode gives it out. Typically a day or two before, I will send them an additional email letting them know how great it turned out, how great the final episode turned out, because when they feel good about the interview, when they feel good about what they were able to share, they'll be more likely to promote it to their friends and their followers and gives you a better chance of maybe bringing over some new listeners to your podcast. So it's really, really vital that you encourage your guests after you're done with the interview and let them know that you thought they did a great job. Now when you're able to put all these pieces into place, when you have a process that helps your guests trust you and feel comfortable opening up in front of the microphone, the quality of your podcast will increase and you'll have a lot more fun as well. Need some help with your podcast, the Buzzsprout podcast community on Facebook is a great place to find answers and get the help you need to make your podcast as excellent as possible. So if you're not a member yet, just click on the link in the show notes and ask to join. That's it for today. Thanks for listening and I'll talk to you soon.