Interviewing people on a podcast is not just asking them questions. Prepare!

I just started listening to my umpteenth podcast of an executive interview being conducted, ostensibly, by some senior PR practitioner, where the interviewer opens the interview by saying “Tell us who you are and what you do.”

May I please just say, “Ugh!”?

If you are going to record podcast interviews at all, you ought to at least learn one rule for production. Get the interview subject’s bio ahead of the interview, and either turn it into an intro script so YOU tell your audience who you are speaking with, or do the research yourself. don’t make the guest also be the host.

Listen to NPR or CBC, Terry Gross or Brian Williams, it doesn’t matter. The pros do not open an interview by asking the guest those basic questions. If you want people to think you know what you are doing, act like you do know.

Prepare for your interview, and introduce your guest properly to your audience.

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