Podcasting is a great way to share stories, ideas and knowledge with a global audience. Hosting guests on your podcast can be a great way to share even more of this value with your listeners. However, when working with guests on your podcast, you need to consider how to facilitate an engaged conversation. We’ve shared some best practices below to help you host podcast guests.
Prepare beforehand
Before the podcast interview, it’s really important to thoroughly research your guest. By having a clear picture of their background and experiences, you’ll be able to draft informed questions to extract their valuable knowledge and insights for your audience. Prepare a list of questions to guide the conversation and share these in advance with your guest to help them prepare. However, make room for spontaneous exchanges too.
Create a welcoming atmosphere
Some of your guests will likely have recorded many podcast episodes while some will have never spoken on a podcast before. To make sure everyone feels confident to share their stories, it’s important to make them feel comfortable and encourage them to share their thoughts openly. This will add the most value for listeners and make it more likely that they will follow or subscribe to your podcast or share your content.
Listen more than you speak
When hosting a podcast, it’s important to actively listen to what your guest is saying. Paying close attention to your guest's responses will help you ask relevant follow-up questions to guide your conversation organically. It’s also important to avoid interrupting your guests where possible so they can express their ideas fully. When your guests feel valued and that you’re interested in their stories, you’ll both gain more from the recording.
Overall, hosting podcast guests requires quality research and effective communication to put them at ease and encourage them to share their stories, expertise and experiences with you and ultimately your audience. By preparing adequately, creating a welcoming atmosphere and actively listening, you can create insightful conversations that demonstrate the value of your podcast to long-standing and new listeners.
To find out more about FF&M’s end-to-end podcast production service, email hello@fallowfieldmason.com.