Mentally preparing for an interview
Confidence is key. Try not to be perfect.
Here are a few things that destroy confidence before and during an interview. Knowing they exist is a big step towards avoiding them.
Technical issues:
If you’re recording remotely, there will be technical issues. Almost all true podcast recording software are laptop based. This is so you can plug a USB mic into it and locally record audio. The laptop/USB mic combination will provide glitches with every interview. This is the best way to capture high quality audio, but that comes with a price in the way of technical issues. If you try the software for the first time with a guest during the interview you’ll spend half the time fixing glitches and the other half apologizing. With that, your confidence level to perform the interview is gone.
A best practice is to do a sound check with your guest at least 24–48 hours in advance. This way when you get onto your interview you can start with confidence.
Not preparing yourself and your guest in advance:
This is nothing more than sending questions in advance. This gives your guests confidence and comfort. Helping your guests be comfortable and confident is the interviewers main function. because if your guests isn’t comfortable they’ll be less open. If they’re less open then you’ll feel awkward.
But how to prepare yourself? Understand in advance how you want the interview to come together, without over preparing. Give yourself 10–15 minutes of mind clearing time before an interview. Make sure your equipment and software works. Avoid coming from a different meeting directly to the interview. Give yourself space.
I do my best to help my guest feel welcome and as comfortable as possible. I always reassure them that we edit all recordings after the interview so they don’t feel like they need to be perfect.
Production with ease of mind:
If you don’t have a smooth production system you’ll experience backup. In the early episodes of your podcast you’ll be chasing your tail looking for guests. As your show grows, then you’ll have too many guests. A poor production system will cause constraints and stress. Stress in your production system s will affect your mindset in the interview for sure.
Producing a show is all about doing so with confidence. Most people underestimate the power of a good audio production system. They over estimate their ability to manage it. A podcast is not the same as a video, webinar or Zoom chat. They’re very different, in that a podcast is more personal.
These are simple and to the point. I found in my 5 years of experience in hosting and producing podcasts the importance of these points.
