26. How to prepare for your next podcast interview

In episode 4 of this show, I discussed all the reasons podcasts are a great medium for growing your business. Go back and listen to that episode if you missed it.

But podcasts work two ways. You can host your own podcast, which can be great for a number of reasons. In a bonus episode I dropped right after episode 20, I interviewed a podcast host, Dr. Brent Lacey, a physician who has built a financial coaching business through hosting a podcast. Check that one out too if you are considering hosting your own podcast.

Another great use of podcasts to build your practice and business is through being interviewed on different shows.

Not only can a podcast interview be fun – after all, they are usually a lot longer than TV and radio interviews, and you can tell stories and give longer answers – but they can also be good practice as you look to do more media.

Just like every media interview you will do, though, you need to prepare so that interview goes great. In this week’s show, I want to give you 6 simple tips to prepare so your next podcast interview goes really well, and maybe you get customers, clients or patients out of it.

Listen to the show.

All podcasts are different. You need to know going in how that podcast usually goes. Is it rapid-fire, back-and-forth questions? Is the tone of the show light-hearted and joking? Does the host let guests sell a product or service at the end or promote themselves during the episode?

Listen to a few episodes before you do the interview – and even before you pitch the show in the first place – to make sure you fit what that host likes to do on his or her show.

Develop your message and talking points.

This is a critical step before any interview, whether it’s TV, radio, newspaper, magazine, online publication, or yes, a podcast. I work on it with my one-on-one coaching clients because it makes your interview much, much better. And it’s a skill I’m still working on improving myself, even to this day.

You want to go into the podcast with an over-arching message to share with the listener, the one thing they should remember and do. Then you want to have three or four talking points to support the message. These can be statistics, stories, personal experiences, quotes, or soundbites.

Obviously, you aren’t going to answer every question with this exact script you create. But you will use it as a guide to what you want to say. Go with the flow and answer the questions the host asks, but when you have the opportunity, you can pivot to your message and one of your talking points.

Have stories to tell.

I’m going to do an entire episode at some point on the power of story. The fact of the matter is that people remember stories, especially if they are told well, much more than they remember facts or statistics.

And since most podcasts are at least 30 minutes long, you have time to give longer answers, and to tell stories.

Tell stories of why you do what you do and why it’s important to you. Stories of people who have had problems like the one you’re discussing on this podcast, and how they overcame that problem, with your help, of course.

People love stories. The podcast host will love you if you have stories to tell, and so will the listeners.

Show personality.

Again, the length and nature of podcasts lend themselves to a little more fun than you can have on TV or the radio. Enjoy it. If the host asks you personal questions, go with it. Show a lighter side, a funny side. Be willing and able to answer off-the-wall questions.

Over the years, I’ve been asked about my favorite breakfast cereal, my favorite cartoon, my preferred type of alcohol after a sporting event, my walk-up song, and much more. Have fun. I promise the listeners will enjoy it more than if you are boring and just stick to the script.

Have a call to action.

Go into the interview knowing where you want to drive listeners. The host will almost certainly give you the opportunity at the end of the interview to promote yourself. It will be something like, “Where can our listeners go to find out more about you?” This is where you need to have something prepared.

Maybe you create a short eBook on that topic you give away to listeners for giving you their email address. Maybe you drive them to your store or sales page and give them a discount code. Maybe you drive them to your website or social media, although I’d strongly suggest you drive them somewhere that captures their email so you can connect with them on an ongoing basis.

Promote the episode on your social media.

Podcast hosts work really hard to create content for their listeners. And they would love to grow their audience. They are doing you a favor by bringing you onto their show and exposing their guests to you and your message. So, the least you can do is to help them try to grow their audience.

Share the episode with your email list, with your followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Talk it up and mention how fun it was and how great the show is. Mention that they should consider subscribing if they like the episode.

It might seem like a small step, but believe me, hosts appreciate it. And they will much more likely to have you back on in a few months or year or so if you promote their show to your audience.

Work with me to achieve your media goals.

One of the things I do with the clients I work with one-on-one is that you and I find podcasts that would be perfect for growing your business or practice, that have an audience who could be your ideal customers, clients or patients, pitch the host of those podcasts in a way that makes the hosts want to have you on their shows, and then prepare for the podcast so that the interview goes really well, and the listeners want to get to know more about you and potentially work with you in the future.

Now please remember, that just like my website, my coaching and everywhere else, that I am not giving business, financial, legal, medical or any other kind of advice here. Talk to a professional for advice specific to your situation.

If you want to learn more…if you want more customers, more clients, more patients, you want to make more money, you want to be recognized as THE expert in your industry, or you even want people you don’t even know to come up to you at the gym or in the grocery store, thanking you for helping them, I can help you become a Media PRO.

Go to MediaProsCoaching.com and sign up for a FREE 30-minute media strategy session with me. We will see where you are and what you’re trying to achieve in your business, and then plan some strategies for you to get more media interviews and appearances to achieve all those goals and far more.

Also, pick up my FREE eBook – The Media PROS Interview Checklist, offering you a handy reference full of tips to shine in your next media interview or appearance so they keep asking you back, over and over.