Your Podcast Interview Needs Personal Stakes

If I could give one piece of advice about how to prepare for a long-form podcast interview, it would be this: figure out what’s at stake in this conversation for you.

Why do I really want to talk to this person? Is there a question about my own life they can help me answer? Is there something in me I’m hoping they’ll affirm? Do you need personal advice about a situation you’re facing? These things will grip your audience, especially if you clue them, and keep them rapt as the interview moves along.

Many make the mistake of thinking that interviews are an opportunity for an information dump as a way to educate the listener. But, most people listen to podcasts because they’ve connected with the host or because they have a certain amount of investment in the guest.

Podcasts excel primarily at spotlighting human connection and demonstrating a certain kind of intimacy and emotion. And that can’t happen unless the interviewer and the interviewee are truly connecting, and truly hashing something out.

It’s the question of stakes that separates the experience from hearing two strangers talking from hearing an excellent longform podcast interview. If you know what’s at stake, your audience won’t just hear an interview. They’ll hear your life change ever so slightly, and if they’re listening because they relate to you, their life will change alongside yours.