Why should Bloggers and Podcasters do Interviews?
By: Matty Staudt
Matty Staudt is a Professor at the Academy of Art, and former producer and host of WJFK in D.C., WNEW in NYC, and the Alice Morning Show in SF; his client list includes director Kevin Smith, Jamie Foxx, and many more.
One kind of segment that many, if not most, of you will do in your shows is an interview segment. Interviews are great for shows for a variety of reasons. For one, it’s always worthwhile to bring in another voice. New voices can energize both listeners and you, and you stand to create a more dynamic situation all around. On a show, you need to speak all the time, and your listeners hear you all the time. By providing contrast, other voices add vigor. They offer different styles, tones, and types of enthusiasm. Alternative opinions add perspective and provide a foil for your own statements. Good conversations create action and reaction, making your show engaging and attractive.
Often, you will seek an interview for an expert opinion. For example, if you are doing an episode focused on a health issue but you yourself are not a health professional, it’s a good idea to have an authority like a doctor come in and offer expertise. The interviewee benefits from the opportunity to boost his or her public image, and your show gains the cachet of being a place where listeners can learn trustworthy information on an important topic. The same goes for current events. If you did a segment on, for example, the 2016 Presidential Election, you would be well advised to bring in a political or polling expert. In general, it’s a good idea to cultivate a relationship with a go-to person on some topics.
At the same time, bear in mind that interviews don’t have to be serious. It’s easy to make them a lot of fun. They offer opportunities for you to show off your personality and wit. You can bounce ideas off of your interviewees and offer listeners winning repartee. But perhaps most importantly of all, interviews offer occasions for promotion.
Interviews offer prime opportunities for bringing star power to your show, and star power equals promotion. Celebrities already have public followings of their own. If you can get them on your show, you will be able to tap into those followings. Audiences love stars. People who like a particular actor or singer or athlete may very well go out of their way to make time in their day to hear what the star has to say. You want to play to this liking in potential listeners and make talking points out of your interviews with stars. If you managed to book Kanye West for an interview, for example, you would definitely want to plug that interview early and often in your show, in your promos, and so forth. You would want to tantalize audiences by saying things along the lines of, “Next week, Kanye will be coming in to tell us about his new concert tour and life on the road.” You could rest assured that Kanye’s tremendous star power would draw not only devoted fans of Kanye but also a great many casual listeners.
It’s even advisable to invite guests who you know are not particularly engaging in interviews if they bring enough star power. Say you have an opportunity to interview a venerable A-list Hollywood movie star like Kirk Douglas, and say that celebrity happens to have a record of doing boring interviews in recent years. You would still want to book the interview to bring star power to your show. If you can only get the person to sit down with you for two minutes, that would be good enough. You will still be able to say in your promotions something like, “This show is the place where you can hear Kirk Douglas,” or whoever else you have on as a guest. A celebrity’s star power will outshine any mediocre or short on-air performance and bring notoriety to your show.
Realistically speaking, at the beginning of your career you are more likely to book people who are less prominent than Kanye or Kirk Douglas. But you will still want to capitalize on their star power to the greatest extent possible. You might, for example, ask someone on to your show who is not particularly well-known in the public at large but who has a sizable and passionate group of followers on social media. An interview of this sort would expose your work to a new set of listeners. Such a strategy is particularly smart if the listeners in question fall within your target demographic. By taking promotional steps such as these, you can build your audience incrementally. Over time, incremental gains add up. When you get a larger following, your show’s attractiveness for bigger name celebrities may grow.
This is the first post in a series of posts and videos that will hopefully help you get and do better interviews. The subjects that we will be covering are:
- Why should Bloggers and Podcasters do Interviews?
- How do I find Guests for my Show?
- What are some Best Practices when you’re Preparing for Interviews?
- How can you Conduct a Great Interview?
- How can you Make the Most out of the Interview for Marketing and Growing your Show’s Audience?
Matty Staudt is currently consulting for Banter, Inc. Try recording an interview on Banter.
