So you’ve decided to put yourself out there and start that podcast, but want to brush up on how to make a great interview? You’re in the right place! In this episode Louise and Andy teach you some of the skills you need to get the most out of your interview.
In this episode of Elevating Experts, Andy and Louise discuss how to get the most out of your interview as the interviewer, but here are some of our top tips:
- Actively listen to what your talent is saying
- Be prepared respond to conversation points
- Make sure your response matches the tone
Here are some extra resources linked to today’s episode:
Some interviewers Andy and Louise admire:
Andrew Denton:
Why: because you can see that he is listening to the person he is interviewing. You can’t build rapport like that and gain somebody’s trust without taking an interest in what they’re saying.
Jana Wendt:
Why: Because she keeps control of the conversation while acknowledging new pieces of information offered by her interview subject. She doesn’t move on to the next topic until she is satisfied that she has fully explored the question at hand.
Howard Stern:
Why: He asks questions not a lot of other people ask and he is great at building rapport and getting people to open up things they don’t want to talk about.
Jerry Seinfeld:
Why: He keeps it conversational!
Steven Colbert:
Why: He’s funny, but also injects the right amount of his personal story and asks the hard questions when he’s built trust
For more hints and tips to elevate you as an expert in your field, subscribe to our podcast Elevating Experts now.
We’d love to hear your feedback on how this has helped you!
You can reach out to us on our website www.welcomechangemedia.com.au
Or connect with us on social media:
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Elevating Experts is an Australian short form podcast series, with new episodes released Mondays, where we help content creators and podcasters by sharing tips to improve your skills & simplify your processes, and elevate you as an expert in your field!
About Welcome Change Media:
We make podcasts & help you tell your story.
Our mission is to help people connect through inclusive content that empowers and inspires.
We also work with businesses, organisations and creators to produce branded podcasts that align with your mission.
Contact us today to see if we can help you.
Other projects by Welcome Change Media include:
That Entertainment Podcast | Adelaide Edition | Brisbane Edition
You can reach out to us on our website
Or connect with us on social media: Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Youtube
About us: Louise Poole and Andy Le Roy.
Louise has worked in Australian commercial radio, media and broadcasting for over 20 years, in on air and brand management roles. Her CV includes hosting 973fm Brisbane, Queensland, morning radio announcer and music director for 8+ years, Content Director of Darwin, Northern Territory radio stations MIX 1049, Hot 100. More info about Louise Poole here.
Andy has over twenty years leadership experience, across a range of fields including broadcasting, aged care and telecommunications. His CV includes Darwin’s top rating drive-time radio program to managing a successful community radio station in Adelaide, South Australia, helping it to expand its community appeal by leading the station to innovate its content. More info about Andy Le Roy here
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Episode Transcript
Louise: You’ve decided to finally put yourself out there and start that podcast, go live on Instagram or open up a clubhouse room and one of the things you’d like to focus on is interviewing guests. Excellent! So, let’s teach you some of the skills you need to get the most out of your interview. I’m Louise Poole…
Andy: and I’m Andy Le Roy, with part one, of a two part episode on interviewing. this part is for the interviewer. and we’re giving you the insights to help elevate you as an expert in your field.
[Elevating Experts]
Louise: Interview style podcasts are one of the fastest growing formats and for good reason!
Andy: It’s interesting to have a chat with somebody who has incredible insights or shares your common values and create something fun together, but I’m also sure that you’ve heard some podcasts where the interviews aren’t all that good! And we want to make sure that yours are. So here are some ways that you can improve your performance as an interviewer.
Louise: You know my motto Andy! Plan, plan, plan! And it makes the difference between a good interviewer and a bad interviewer. Thoroughly researching your subject or topic is absolutely key to having a great interview.
Andy: Not only does it give you that knowledge base to start with, but when your guest can see that you’ve bothered to take the time to learn more about them and their subject matter, they are more likely to open up and connect with you.
Louise: You’ll want to pre prepare some talking points and questions around the research that you’ve conducted, but one of the other key components of becoming an excellent interviewer is actively listening to what your talent is saying.
Andy: It’s good to have those notes written down in front of you but don’t be so rigid in needing to ask your pre-written questions that you actually miss those really good opportunities to expand on what your talent is saying.
Louise: You get better at this as time goes on. When you first start out interviewing people that can be a little bit hard because you’re so focused on not messing up that often you will focus on what you’re going to say next instead of listening to what the guest is actually saying.
Andy: But it’s going to get easier as time goes on. You’ll gain more confidence, and again that comes from the research that you’ve done prior. Eventually you won’t need to write out full questions, you’ll just need to write a couple of talking points and because you’ve done that research, you’ll hold that information in your head and be able to have a conversation with your guests instead.
Louise: Another tip for becoming a better interviewer – when you’re doing that research about your guest, you want to also listen to other conversations that they might have had with interviewers. Not you so can copy their questions, but so that you can anticipate the things that they might say to you. If you want an interview that sounds different from what everybody else is doing, then you need to ask questions that not everybody else has.
Andy: It comes down to planning again! By anticipating how they might answer a question, you could further enhance that point so that you get something unique out of the conversation for your audience.
Louise: And the last tip for this episode, although there are so many more tips that we could go over and probably will in future episodes, is to make sure that your response to your guest matches the tone of the interview.
Andy: If someone’s just told you a very funny story the next question you ask is not the one about the most traumatic incident of their life. And vice versa.
Louise: An example – Do you remember that interview we listened to recently while researching one of our guests for Reframe of Mind? Where the guest was talking about a really serious subject of sick children.
Andy: Yes! And it was clear the interviewer wasn’t really listening because they started laughing at something in the background. Even if it was unintentional, That was definitely NOT the right response to have at that time and that’s the kind of thing that will damage the relationship that you have not only with your guest but also with your listeners.
Louise: So let’s recap some of the ways that you can get the most out of your interview from an interviewer perspective.
Andy: Firstly you need to plan, plan, plan!
Louise: Do your research thoroughly.
Andy: And you need to actively listen that to what your talent is saying.
Louise: Don’t miss an opportunity for a great follow up question because you aren’t paying attention!
Andy: Lastly, make sure that you’re responding in a way that matches the tone of the interview.
Louise: Don’t get caught up on what you think you should ask and let the conversation flow. Be prepared to respond to conversation points and this could include expanding with anecdotes from your own life to build that rapport. Andy: next time on Elevating Experts, part two on how to get the most out of your interview – from the interviewee’s perspective.
Andy: next time on Elevating Experts, part two on how to get the most out of your interview – from the interviewee’s perspective.