Recently, I’ve been talking about the mistakes I’ve made in interviewing guests- and I had a few mishaps along the way.  Meanwhile, you might be wondering about some of the steps I’ve used to find awesome podcast guests and get them booked for interviews on my podcast. So in this post, I’ll share with you how to do a podcast interview- step by step.

Approach your guests gracefully

Gracefulness is always appreciated, and who doesn’t enjoy a pleasant approach? It’s not about chasing anyone down—it’s about discovering if your audiences align and whether being on your show could add value to their business.

Introduce yourself, tell your potential guest what you offer your audience, and ask if they would like to participate in an x-minute interview. Be sure to let them know the kind of interview you’ll be setting up. Personally, that means a lot to me as a mompreneur if I know in advance if I’ll be expected to interview via webcam or on the phone.  (Kids running through the house screaming during a video call can be distracting.)  Help your interviewee figure out these things in advance.

How to do a podcast interview: know your schedule

Ask for their time and immediately schedule it.  In order to do that, though, you’ll need to know your own schedule.  Go ahead and plot out your times of availability for an interview and try to leave it as open as you can.  

Remain flexible.  Remember you may not be in the same time zone or even in the same country.  If you want to land a great interview, you have to be willing to work with your guest’s schedule.

Prepare thorough and thoughtful interview questions to send.

One important tip I can give you on how to do a podcast interview is to never surprise-attack your guest with questions they weren’t prepared for.  To avoid this, go ahead and plan out a set of interview questions to send them in advance.

This means you’ll need to research your guest thoroughly and get to know them through their own website and any other information you can find online about them.

Outline questions that are meaningful and bring the best out of your guest.  Be sure to send the questions way in advance of the interview so that if they have any concerns or edits need to be made you can do that ahead of the scheduled recording.

Be on time, ready, and available for your interview

It pays to be on time.  I think there’s no greater pet peeve of our guests than to be no-shows to our own scheduled interviews.  Due to schedule mix-ups, this has, unfortunately, happened to me before.  Not only is it embarrassing, but drains on your guest’s time and schedule as well since you have to work to re-schedule the interview all over again.

How to do a podcast interview: make your guest feel at ease

You’ll want to make sure that you set up your atmosphere to be as smooth as possible before, during, and after the interview.

These small things can make a huge difference in how relaxed your guest is and how well the interview goes.

Thank your guest for their time and what to expect next.

After the interview is over, let them know what to expect next.

When will the interview be posted?  Let them know when they should expect to hear from you again.  

Be sure to let them know a bit in advance before the interview will be posted so they’ll work it into their social media marketing schedule.

Finally, promote, promote, promote

You always want to make sure you set up lots of promotional social media posts.  Pin it, tweet it, announce on Facebook and Instagram, and just be sure to get the word out in all of your online circles.

Be sure you send out the interview to your own list, and ask them to do the same to their list.

Did this information help you?  I sure hope so. You can find out more about how to run a podcast interview at Soul Podcasting (my podcast all about podcasting!)

 If you’ve interviewed guests for your podcast or blog, please share a favorite interview in the comments below!