An interview It is a conversation that takes place between two or more people regarding one or more topics.however, the selection process of the interviews, the formulation of the questions and other aspects that must be taken into account when making a podcast they should not be taken lightly and the steps to follow must be known.
In this guide you will learn all the tricks and recommendations for create and develop the best interviews for your , what will make your project reach new audiences and it can be much more attractive to the audience that consumes your content.
Currently, interview podcasts are one of the formats with the most reproductions on the marketso you should get the most out of your project if it includes interviews with special guests.
Benefits of interviews for your podcast
Knowing the benefits that interviews can bring to your podcast is one of the first things you should know, and for this reason we list them one by one below:
Get new followers
Including interviews in your podcast makes the followers of the guests whom you bring to the program They can know your work and enjoy the other episodes you have and stay tuned for future podcast shows. If you talk about a specific topic with your interviewee, you can attract new people They are looking for information related to the topic you are developing in the interview, so this will be another reason for you to have new followers.
Stand out from the competition
In this digital market there are many people making formats similar to those of your podcast, so You must be very creative and innovative to make your project stand out from the rest, and this is where interviews can be that springboard you need to make your content go viral.
If you manage to interview influential people such as specialists in a subject, artists, athletes or any other celebritythis will make many people want to see the episode and react to the content on social networks, which increases the probability that the project will have many reproductions and stand out from the competition.
more dynamic program
Interviews add value to your podcast, since when it is customary to carry out monologues in a program where only one person is the one who addresses the public, it can become repetitive and bore the audience. So adding interviews to your podcast will give it that different touch that will keep the public entertained and enjoy a different format every so often.
How to choose the interviewees for my podcast?
The choice of guests to your podcast it’s extremely important since it will depend on him that the conversation is entertaining for the public. There are people who can go on too long with questions and do not give the interviewer space for the conversation to flow, which It is an aspect that you should take into account. when choosing a guest.
If the guest is a controversial person, who uses vulgar language or who talks about very sensitive topics for your audience, the interview may be a total disaster and your podcast’s reputation may be tarnished by the guest that it has nothing to do with the trajectory and all the production work that your project has, which is totally unfair but it is the price you have to pay for having brought a person with little emotional control and experience in interviews.
It is for this and many more reasons that you should choose a guest that you know will add their knowledge, projects and background to the conversation and the episode. A person who complies with the basic rules of an interview, giving enough space for the people involved to speak and also responding at times when it is appropriate to do so.
Learn how to devise and develop an interview for your podcast
In the following points we will see how to devise and develop an interview for your podcast:
Choose an interviewee
Plan weekly or monthly the guests you will have in the podcast. For this you will have to know if you can count on the presence of that person, so you must call guest representatives in case it is a celebrity or you can contact the person directly as the case may be.
Research and plan your questions
Before asking your guest questions, You must investigate about what you are going to ask. Whether they are questions related to a specific topic or about the professional or personal life of your guest, you should have a basic understanding of what you would asksince if you don’t know what you are talking about, you may look ridiculous when you receive the answer to your questions and you have no idea how to continue with the development of the topic or you may say wrong information and that may offend the interviewee or the public.
It’s recommended that When planning your questions, make sure to maintain a positive environment at all times. and without seeking confrontation, since an interview where the guest is attacked or intimidated can compromise your professionalism, ethics and morals.
This does not mean that the questions have to be boring, far from it, you must ask questions that attract the attention of the public and that generate curiosity but always complying with the respect that every person deserves. Try not to ask filler questions. take advantage of the limited time you have with your interviewee to make the most of their experiences, knowledge or skills so that your audience can learn from the person you interview.
Create a structure
From start to finish, the interview should have a structure to avoid dead spaces or long silences between one question or another. Design ahead of time what you will ask the interviewee and as the conversation flows you will be able to move forward and cross out each item of the structure made. In your structure you can add the beginning of the conversation, where you can start with basic questions such as: How are you? How you feel? Accompanied by a compliment: “It’s a pleasure for us to have you as a guest on the podcast”.
After you have created a more pleasant environment and the interviewee is comfortable, you can ask questions regarding the topic that you want to develop in the episode or go directly to ask about their personal or professional life that are entertaining for the audience listening to the episode. . Finally, you must add closing questionswhich can be asking for a recommendation, giving a message to people or offering a farewell reflection.
for later publicly thank the interviewee for accepting the invitation and then dismiss the episode or close the interview segment in case the program is going to continue but without the interviewee. All these questions with their respective times should be noted in your structure so that it serve as a guide for both the person asking the questions and the entire recording teamdirection and production.
Respect the interviewee’s time
When you conduct an interview, the important thing is that respect the guest’s participation time and do not interrupt them abruptly, since it could be considered impolite on your part. It is estimated that on average the intervention of each participant should never last more than 3 minutes at a timeso as not to exhaust the moderator and the public. Respect this established time so that the guest does not feel attacked or intimidated for your interruptions.
It’s an interview, not a monologue
The interviewer must take into account that the podcast in this case is about interviews, but many times this seems to go unnoticed and it often happens that the moderator starts a monologue and does not allow the interviewee to say a single commentso the conversation becomes poor and It is a serious fault that all management and production teams must take into account when choosing the interviewer.
It can also happen that the interviewee extends himself with a question and as the minutes go by he continues talking without giving the space that corresponds to the person who is interviewing him, so you have to choose to respectfully interrupt the person speaking in this case. How to do it?
Here are some recommendations:
- Warns from the start: Once the interviewee arrives at the studio or recording set, you should very politely introduce yourself to him and warn him that if he takes too long answering some of the questions, he will be interrupted so that the conversation can be as fluid as possible. This will prevent the interviewee from taking your interruption by surprise and thinking you are uneducated.
- Evaluate how necessary the interruption is: It is important that the conversation with your interviewee is not so rigid and does not have to be followed strictly as established in the script or rundown. When interrupting the interviewee because you consider that the time established for the question has already exceeded, you must first listen carefully and assess whether it is really necessary to change the question or interrupt the idea or information that the interviewee expresses, since it is It is possible that the public is very connected with what the person says and that at that moment they are giving a very relevant message, such as a scoop, a curious fact or a personal confession, that is where the interviewer must have the ability to decide whether to interrupt or extend it for a few more minutes.
- Use non-verbal language: Using your hands to signal to the interviewee or recording crew that you want to interrupt is a very respectful way to let the interviewee pay attention and know that you are taking longer than usual in your response.
Talk about topics relevant to your audience
For your interview to be attractive to your audience, it is important that you ask them what they want to be talked about, if they want to know about the personal life of the guest, their preferences, hobbies or other specific topics. This consultation can be done on the podcast’s social networks before starting the conversation and if you are broadcasting the episode live you can create a chat where the public can interact directly with your guest and ask questions that the interviewer considers relevant.
Another recommendation so that the interview does not get out of hand and maintain the dynamism and attention of the public is that you should never drop the microphone and leave the recording location while the interviewee is speaking, since this, in addition to being disrespectful, will make the guest intimidated by the situation and leave a dead space or an awkward silence in the middle of the podcast.
Other strategies to stimulate the growth of your podcast
Next we are going to show other strategies so that you can stimulate the growth of your podcast:
Promote on social networks
Any project or venture, in this case a podcast, Must have a presence on social mediasince it will depend on this that new audiences…
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