AN EFFECTIVE INTERVIEW REQUIRES STRATEGY

Interviews can be a powerful tool for your podcast. But creating an effective interview requires a strategy and plan.

In this episode, I want to show you how to use strategic questions to craft an effective interview that helps you reach your goals.

I’ll also share a recent interview I conducted with popular music artist Teddy Swims. We’ll dissect it to see what makes it an effective interview.

Get details on your Podcast Strategy Coaching Call with me here:

https://podcasttalentcoach.com/strategy-call/

WHY DO YOU INTERVIEW?

You first need to ask yourself why you are conducting interviews in the first place? What are interviews doing for you?

Solo episodes build your credibility. Interview episodes build your network.

When you create a solo episode, you have the entire episode to demonstrate your expertise, share your story, and connect with your listeners.

The episode is all you. But, a solo episode also requires you to do the heavy lifting and create all the content yourself.

Doing a show by yourself doesn’t require coordinating calendars to schedule the recording, which is a big benefit to me. I like to record when it’s convenient for me. That may not be as convenient for a guest.

You will also be the only person promoting a solo episode.

When you create an effective interview episode, you don’t have nearly as much room to demonstrate your expertise. The spotlight needs to be on your guest.

However, I’ll show you how to get creative to interject yourself into the episode.

On the other side of the coin, there are many benefit to interviews.

When you interview guests, it is easier to create content. To build an effective interview, you simply need to create a few great questions with a story arc. Then, have a great conversation by being a good listener.

It is also possible that your guest will promote. This usually happens when you make a clear ask before the interview and make it incredibly easy for your guest to share.

When your guest shares the episode, it helps you build your network by getting in front of your guest’s tribe.

On top of the exposure to a new tribe, you can also build a relationship with your guest. Over the long haul, this can help you get even more exposure.

EFFECTIVE INTERVIEWS ARE ABOUT MOMENTUM

So, how long should your effective interview be? I get this question often.

When it comes to your content, there is no such thing as too long, only too boring.

I have listened to episodes that are an hour long, and I wish it was longer. Then there have been 15-minutes episodes that seemed to drag on forever.

An effective interview is all about momentum.

Just like your solo shows, effective interviews cannot be information alone. When you infuse story and emotion into your interviews, you keep your listener engaged.

People have learned from story as long as people have been around.

TEDDY SWIMS INTERVIEW

Earlier this week, I had the pleasure to interview singer-songwriter and popular music artist Teddy Swims.

When I attend concerts, I typically go backstage to the artist’s meet and greet. This is where a group gathers in a room. The artist comes in to shake hands and take photos.

My wife and I had been looking forward to the Teddy Swims show for quite some time. He has an amazing soul and sound.

Two weeks before the show, my contact told me Teddy isn’t doing any meet and greets. He then said Teddy would be willing to do an interview if I was interested.

I jumped at the chance.

Creating effective interviews with pop stars can sometimes be challenging. They are often asked the same questions, provide standard answers, and can be a little standoff-ish.

Teddy has blown up quickly, and I was a bit nervous.

The music of Teddy Swims is hard to define. He blends R&B, soul, country and pop into a mix that is quite unique.

He started publishing cover tunes on YouTube back in 2019. People started taking notice by his unique voice and style.

Teddy released some original songs digitally. But he really rose to fame with his 2023 song “Lose Control“. Zero to stardom in 3 years is incredibly fast.

So, getting a chance to interview a guy who achieved fame quickly and probably isn’t a seasoned interviewee is a risk.

EFFECTIVE INTERVIEW PREP

As I prepared for the interview, I didn’t do a ton of prep. It was maybe 15 minutes. Many people spend hours trying to know everything about their guest.

When I prep for an interview, I find a few select pieces of information that will help me craft an interesting conversation.

I don’t need to know everything about my guest. It is my goal to create a conversation that will make the audience interested in my guest.

My interviews are not designed to show you how much I know about my guest. I want to ask questions you would ask my guest.

To create an effective interview, I also want to get my guest to tell stories and be engaging.

So now I’m walking into an interview with a guy who is fairly new to this game, and I need to make it as easy and comfortable for him as I can.

To make it worse, Teddy did two interviews right before I walked into the room. How can I ask questions that are different enough from those past two interviews to keep him engaged and excited?

I walk into the room and it is much different than my usual experience with an artist. Teddy is the only one in the room. There is no security or road manager. There is no handler. It’s just Teddy.

Many artists are uncomfortable being alone with anyone. Now to be fair, my contact was with us. But that was it.

Teddy and I had met once before. He remembered that, and it was an easy way to open the conversation.

He couldn’t have been more gracious. As we sat down, I quickly realized Teddy Swims is much more seasoned than his few years in the business would lead you to believe.

THE INTERVIEW

First, I’ll play the interview for you. Then I’ll dissect the interview and explain why I asked each question.

Remember, my goal is to get you engaged by getting Teddy Swims to tell stories. I also want to make you more interested in him than you were before you listened to the interview.

Enjoy my interview with Teddy Swims.

THE PARTS OF AN EFFECTIVE INTERVIEW

Before we start to dissect the interview, I want you to either close your eyes, or if that’s not possible, focus on something.

Now without looking at your podcast player, I want you to guess how long that interview was.

The interview was 7:48. Did it feel that long? It’s my hope that the stories gave the interview great pace and momentum.

So let’s look at each question and why I asked it.

MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS

Question 1 was, “Who was the coolest person you ran into at the MTV Video Music Awards?”

This question was designed to open the conversation with a story. I wanted to make Teddy comfortable so he didn’t have to think much. The event was fresh in his mind.

I did not want to wander into the interview. There was no “tell us about yourself”, “how are you”, or “what’s been going on”. We hit the ground running.

INFLUENCE

Question 2 was, “What artists have influenced you most?”

This questions was built to be similar to a question like “how did you get started” or “tell us about yourself”. However, I want to question to provide inspiration to listeners and really connect you to the diversity that makes up Teddy Swims.

MUSICAL THEATER

Question 3 was, “What was your ‘go to’ audition song?”

This question was built in a way to provide some background on Teddy Swims without going into his entire biography.

The question also creates an “oh wow” moment. Teddy has tattoos everywhere. Well, at least everywhere I can see, including his face, kneecaps, and head.

He wears jeweled nail polish, crazy sunglasses, and big earrings. His attire consists of a jeweled snap, long sleeved cowboy shirt, cutoff jeans, white socks and sandals.

Teddy is not like anyone you’ve encountered. Being in music theater is probably not something you would guess looking at him.

This “go to” audition song question is also designed to be a question he has probably never been asked before. Which you could tell by his unsure answer. But like a pro, he pivoted into his favorite musical. That was pro level on his part.

COVER SONGS

Question 4 was, “What is your favorite cover song that you’ve done?”

This was part of my prep. I knew about Teddy covering the Shania song. This question was designed to tee him up to talk about that song.

When I asked this question, I was confident he would either talk about the Bonnie Raitt song or the Shania Twain song. Either way, I was getting a great answer that would lead me into talking about Shania’s comments.

SHANIA TWAIN IS THE APEX OF THE EFFECTIVE INTERVIEW

Question 5 was, “What did Shania’s response mean to you?”

This question was designed to stir emotion while telling a story. My whole interview was designed to get to this question.

Here is a guy covered with tattoos singing incredibly soulful songs being influenced and inspired by country artist Shania Twain. This was my “oh wow” moment of the interview. I knew it meant a lot to him.

LIVE SHOWS

Question 6 was, “What’s your favorite part of performing live”

We are now wrapping up the interview. The story arc of the interview started with artists that inspired him. We moved into how he got started on YouTube doing covers. He talked about a pivotal moment in his growth.

Now we are talking about where he is today. We’ve come full circle to his attendance of the MTV Video Music Awards the night before.

This question is also designed to provide some inspiration and interest to listeners.

COLLABORATION

Question 7 was, “Who is the one collaboration at that top of your wishlist?”

This question was designed to finish on a “what’s next”. It also gave Teddy an opportunity to share another story.

I had no idea of the Stevie Wonder answer. That was a gift. I was expecting a safe answer like, “Oh, there are so many to choose from.”

The Stevie Wonder answer was a fun way to end the interview.

EFFECTIVE INTERVIEWS WITH STORIES

During this 8-minute interview, I asked 7 questions. Of those seven, four questions got Teddy to tell some great stories.

The stories created momentum and engagement.

I didn’t need to demonstrate my expertise or my knowledge of Teddy Swims. To create an effective interview, I simply needed to ask some great questions that allowed Teddy to be in his moment and tell some great stories.

DEMONSTRATE YOUR EXPERTISE

So if you’re asking great questions and your guest is telling great stories, how to people fall in love with you and what you do?

When you conduct interviews on your show, it gets challenging to display your authority and expertise. So, you need to construct your interview a bit differently.

To highlight your knowledge, create a segment before the interview. Use this time to share yourself with your audience.

This will give you time to show your audience your authority in the space without taking the spotlight away from your guest.

The segment only needs to be five or ten minutes. It doesn’t need to be long an in depth. You simply need to take time to connect with your listeners.

When you use this strategy, you can focus your interview on your guest, and make them look great. You’ll benefit by association.

When you make your guest look great, you look great in return.

GET STARTED

Start creating effective interviews this week by asking great questions.

Carve out a little time before the interview to demonstrate your expertise.

Be a great listener during the interview, and ask great follow-up questions.

Finally, make it easy for your guest to share.

When you know why you’re conducting interviews and how to make them engaging, you’ll be creating effective interviews before you know it.

This is what I help clients do. I help you transform your information into entertainment, so you can build relationships with your listeners.

The process isn’t rocket science. You simply don’t know what you don’t know, and that’s ok.

Anyone can teach you how to launch a podcast. There isn’t anyone like me teaching you to be the influential expert you are while building powerful relationships with your audience and guests.

I’ve been doing this with radio broadcasters since 1995. Podcasters have been coming to me for help since 2012.

If you are like most, and you’ve launched a podcast that isn’t helping you grow your business, let’s talk. I’ll help you build your strategy.

If you don’t have a mentor who can take your hand and walk you every step of the way, go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply, click the button and apply to have a chat with me. We will develop your plan and see how I can help and support you to achieve your podcast goals.