How Your Podcast Guest Can Build Your Authority – Episode 212

Do you interview guests on your podcast? Have you ever wondered why so many hosts use interviews? When your listener benefits by the info provided by your guests on a consistent basis, your show is viewed as a great resource. Your podcast guest builds your credibility and authority.

I hear many podcasters stumble through their interviews. They ask the same questions you hear on every other podcast. They do the speed round or the lightning round or the rapid fire questions that never really turns out to be all that fast.

Asking the right questions that allow your guest to be the star in turn makes you a star. Making your guest look great is the key to building your authority.

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STAR OF THE SHOW

Make your guest the star. It is your show. You know where it is going. When you interview people on your show, it is always your job to lead your guest and make them the star.

With guests, you must remember you always know more about your show and your audience than your guest knows. You know the goals of your show. You know the plot and strategy. You are always on the show. They are new. Lead your guest.

Phrases like “I’m glad you mentioned that”, “thanks for that great answer” and “I didn’t realize that” make your guest feel they are adding to the show … as long as you are authentic in your comments.

When interviewing a well-known guest, make it easy for them. Open with great questions for which you already know the answer. Talk hosts like Jimmy Fallon and Ellen DeGeneres have producers that do a pre-interview with their guests. They will ask the guest, “If Jimmy asks you about ____, what will you say?”

The producer then puts the great questions on the note cards for the host. Jimmy may not know the answer, but the guest will have an idea for the answer when the question comes.

You may not have a producer. That doesn’t mean you cannot use this technique with your podcast.

If you know your guest has done some amazing things, ask them about it. Then, let them answer. I hear so many hosts interview guests as if they are trying to show the guest how much they actually know. In turn, they answer the question as they are asking it. This leaves the guest very little to say.

You and your show become great when you make your guests the star.

WELCOME TO THE PARTY

There will always be new people joining your podcast. Never take your audience for granted. Never act like you have been there and done that. Your listener is still enamored by your celebrity status and ability to do what you do.

When you have an opportunity to talk with celebrities in your niche, your audience will be impressed. Treat every guest with great respect. Be humble. Be real. Be just as amazed as your listener is by the things you get to see and do.

Help your new listener get up to speed with your podcast. Inside jokes only make your new listener feel like they are not part of the group. You want your podcast to feel inclusive. If a new listener feels like they are being left out of the inside jokes, they will leave quickly. Your listener will feel unwelcome. Nothing will keep them around if they feel left out.

When you are interviewing a guest, avoid saying things like, “We were talking about this before we hit record.” This sends the message to your audience that they were left out of a conversation. Be inclusive. It is show business.

If you were talking about something great before you hit record, you know the answer and you know if it is great content. There is no harm asking it again or leading your guest down that path.

If your guest told you they recently spoke at an industry event, you do not need to set it up during the interview with a “we talked about this before”. The listener was not part of that conversation. Therefore, “we” didn’t talk about it before. The listener is part of this conversation. It would be better to say, “You recently spoke at a conference. What did you find?” Let your guest tell the story again.

I recently heard a host on a podcast say, “I don’t do this to grow the audience. I just do this for fun.” It should always be fun AND to grow the audience. Rarely is your audience size staying the same. It is either growing or shrinking.

You will always have listeners that go away never to return. If you aren’t doing something to grow new listeners to replace those that are leaving, you will soon have no listeners. You might as well be sitting in a room talking to yourself. There will be no need to record your material, because there will be nobody listening.

Help your new fan get familiar with the show quickly. Make it easy to understand and get involved. Include your listener. If you need to bring up something a new listener wouldn’t understand, explain it. There is never a reason to include an inside joke. A joke that needs to be explained is rarely funny.

AUTHORITY BY ASSOCIATION

Guests are a great opportunity to demonstrate your authority. It is authority by association.

When you have a guest on your podcast, it is your job as the interviewer to make the interviewee look good. You are the professional. You know everything there is to know about your podcast. Your guest is new to your show. They may even be new to interviewing. Help them.

When you help your guest get comfortable and look good, you help them successfully promote whatever it is they came on your show to promote. They will be grateful for that. Your guest will see the benefit of being a guest on your show. You will develop a reputation. That success will help you book even better guests in the future. Word will spread.

Think of some great interviewers. Consider people like Larry King, Johnny Carson and Jimmy Fallon. Are they considered great because how much they know or because their guests are always entertaining?

Interview hosts are great, because they have great guests and help the guest be entertaining.

THREE STEPS TO AUTHORITY

There are a three steps you can take to help your guest look good and thereby build your authority.

No Yes/No

First, ask open-ended questions. This will allow your guest to convey the information they have come to share. If you ask yes/no questions, your guest will be stuck trying to figure out how to get his point across. It will also be easy for him to simply say “yes” and leave it at that. You will then be the one trying to find the next point to make. Open-ended questions allow your guest to elaborate on their subject.

What’s In It For Me?

Second, know why your guest is on your show and help them make their point. Do a short pre-interview before you start the show. Ask them about the important points they would like to hit. Then during the show, ask them questions that help them make those points. If your guest tells you their spouse really had a huge impact on their success, ask them about their biggest influences in their success. Make it easy for them.

Set Them Up

Lastly, get out of the way. You don’t need to show your guest or your audience how much you know about their topic. It is their topic.

So many hosts ask long, elaborate questions proving just how smart they are and how much they know about the subject. If the host knows it all, there is really no reason to have a guest. (see “One Of You Isn’t Necessary“.) Ask great questions because you know so much. That ability will make you look much better than actually knowing.

Using our previous example of spousal influence, you do not want to say, “Your wife played a huge role in your success with her support. That must have been a real help to you.” You just stole his thunder. You’ve only left him the option to say, “Yes” and make some menial points.

Instead ask, “Who was the one person other than yourself most responsible for your success?” You’ve created some anticipation for your audience. You’ve also just thrown him a softball that he can knock out of the park with a fantastic answer about his wife. He looks great for having such a stellar answer. You also look great for asking such a brilliant question. Everybody wins.

Help your guest succeed. Allow them to answer great questions. Most of all, make ’em look good.

To build your authority through your guest, make your guest the star. Let your guest shine. They are the experts. You will have plenty of time to show your expertise. When the guest looks great, you look great by association. You know that right questions to ask. Over time, you become the authority.

Do you need help with your podcast? E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let’s see what we can do.

You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com.

Let’s turn your information into engaging entertainment.