Congratulations! You’re booked to appear on a podcast.
Now what?
Listen to at Least 3 Episodes of the Show
You should have already listened to an episode of their podcast to get a general feel for the show, its format, and how interviews fit into it. For each confirmed guest appearance, pick three episodes of the podcast to get a much better understanding of the show, how it “flows,” and to get better acquainted with the host(s). These episodes should all be episodes with interviews, and the interview guests should be as closely aligned to your five areas of focus as possible to fully prepare for your appearance.
Ask Questions
As podcasts hosts, we try to anticipate everyone’s questions about their upcoming interview. It never fails that something gets missed on occasion. The best way to prepare for an awesome interview is to ask the team what to expect. After listening to four total episodes for research, your other questions shouldn’t be generic, and the podcast team will appreciate that you’ve put effort into learning about the show before you appear.
Also, you should ask for a pool of questions that they intend to use in the interview. For guests of Hustleburg, they receive these questions about a week before the scheduled interview day and time. Each guest should be able to put their best foot forward to the Hustleburg community, and if they prepare well, they will shine.
For every interview I’ve given and panel I’ve appeared on, I ask for questions or an outline of topics. That way, I can prepare my notes and how I will tie it all in with “The Five” and a call to action in the interview.
Prepare Two Calls to Action
As part of your preparation, you should create an offer to add value for each listener that you can refer to in the interview naturally, as well as provide to the podcast audience in the show notes. If you have a white paper, email course, cheat sheet, or other special offer, tie it into the conversation you foresee happening. It’s even better if you can direct them to that podcast’s specific URL to measure the response from your guest appearance. This contextual call to action that flows from the interview’s conversation should feel natural and part of the conversation, as you share with their community how you can add even more value for them.
In the same vein, almost nearly podcast host will give you the opportunity to promote yourself at some point during the interview, so preparing a call to action for that closing is as important as your earlier, contextual one. You’ve probably heard Hustleburg guests asked, “So, where can our listeners find out more about you/your business?” You shouldn’t just list every possible outlet. In fact, limit your response to 3 at most, including calling back to your contextual call to action within the interview.
Be Interesting, Be Informative, Be Happy
When it’s almost time to record, you should arrive several minutes early to the in-person or virtual meeting, so that you can get your bearings and focus on the task at hand. This will also keep the podcast team you’re about to meet from freaking out about running late or a possible no-show. It also gives you a few minutes to separate this from the rest of your day and get ready for the conversation.
Finally, in these few minutes before you sit down to conduct the interview, relax, breathe, and look over your notes one last time. If you’ve followed the earlier advice, you’re prepared, and you should feel confident about the conversation about to take place. As the conversation begins, make sure to smile. Even when there is no video component, your tone will often convey more about your state of mind than any words you say.
Have fun!