How to Prepare Your Guests For Seamless Interviews

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.520 --> 00:00:04.639 Welcome back to my club. Will we break down what's working with be TOB 2 00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:09.669 podcast? I'm Dan Sanchez. Friends Call Me Danchez, and today I want 3 00:00:09.669 --> 00:00:14.310 to talk to you about how to prepare your guests for interviews. How to 4 00:00:14.390 --> 00:00:19.469 prepare your guests for interviews, there's after doing over I don't know, I've 5 00:00:19.510 --> 00:00:22.620 probably done over a hundred and fifty interviews as a podcast host now, since 6 00:00:22.660 --> 00:00:26.219 working for a sweet fish and a little bit before sweetfish, and I found 7 00:00:26.339 --> 00:00:32.100 that with a little bit of work one time, you can save yourself a 8 00:00:32.219 --> 00:00:35.380 lot of frustration with these interviews. And so I want to walk you through 9 00:00:35.420 --> 00:00:39.490 two tools that I'm using to prepare my guests for the interview. One comes 10 00:00:39.570 --> 00:00:43.570 before the interview and one comes in the pre interview, right before you smash 11 00:00:43.689 --> 00:00:47.170 record, okay, and I wanted to share them. One is a prep 12 00:00:47.329 --> 00:00:51.600 sheet and the other one is a pre interview checklist, and I want to 13 00:00:51.640 --> 00:00:55.399 share these tools with you because I found that I've was actually coaching even a 14 00:00:55.439 --> 00:00:58.600 lot of our customers and just like copying and pasting my prep sheet and sending 15 00:00:58.600 --> 00:01:00.320 it to them over and over again. So I wanted to record it here 16 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:03.280 in this podcast for all of our future customers, so I can just point 17 00:01:03.310 --> 00:01:10.709 them to this episode and for prospects are people getting into BEDB podcasting who want 18 00:01:10.750 --> 00:01:15.230 to make their process a little bit smoother. So let's start with the prep 19 00:01:15.430 --> 00:01:17.750 sheet. Now, the prep sheet can be used in multiple ways and I 20 00:01:17.750 --> 00:01:19.900 didn't invent it. I'd seen other podcasters use it with me as I got 21 00:01:19.980 --> 00:01:25.180 onto their shows, and all it is is a is a is essentially two 22 00:01:25.260 --> 00:01:27.379 things. One it's a little bit of information about your show, so they 23 00:01:27.379 --> 00:01:32.299 have context of who they're speaking to and what they're interested and what you're what 24 00:01:32.420 --> 00:01:34.769 the angle of your show is, and then the other one is a checklist 25 00:01:34.810 --> 00:01:40.010 of things they need before they come onto the interview. So let's go over 26 00:01:40.170 --> 00:01:42.010 a little bit. I actually have my checklist pulled open here, which I 27 00:01:42.170 --> 00:01:46.530 made with I think I made this with lead pages. Yes, this is 28 00:01:46.569 --> 00:01:51.519 not on our website and it's kind of it kind of has like a your 29 00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:55.079 guide to being a fantastic guest on bdb growth and it has a little fun 30 00:01:55.159 --> 00:01:57.079 spongebob gift on here and all that kind of stuff. And actually have a 31 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:01.469 loom video recorded that says get to know us, welcome to bedb growth, 32 00:02:01.510 --> 00:02:06.790 and I kind of go over some of the the facts about what it's like 33 00:02:06.909 --> 00:02:08.189 to be on beb growth. WHO BE TO BE GROWTH? What? Who 34 00:02:08.270 --> 00:02:12.469 the listeners are, what they do, what the angle of the show is, 35 00:02:12.550 --> 00:02:14.870 like I said, and I kind of overview like hey, this is 36 00:02:14.909 --> 00:02:20.659 a show for bb growth practitioners. I interview people in the trenches, sometimes 37 00:02:20.699 --> 00:02:23.500 thought leaders, but generally people who are doing the work and I'm trying to 38 00:02:23.539 --> 00:02:28.300 find actionable insights. So I'm giving them ahead of that information ahead of time 39 00:02:28.620 --> 00:02:30.930 so when they're preparing in their minds they're not going into the theory of things, 40 00:02:30.969 --> 00:02:34.689 they're going into the things that are actually working for them. It kind 41 00:02:34.689 --> 00:02:37.610 of preps them and lets them feel a little bit more confident before the show 42 00:02:38.810 --> 00:02:40.969 and have better prepared answers for the show. I'm going to get better content 43 00:02:42.050 --> 00:02:45.759 because I'm better preparing them with the context they need before going live on the 44 00:02:45.800 --> 00:02:47.400 show. I recorded a loom video, but you could easily just make it 45 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:51.280 a boldeted list of what the show is about and who's listening to this show. 46 00:02:52.039 --> 00:02:55.400 Now on the other part I have on this page is what I call 47 00:02:55.439 --> 00:02:59.949 it the technical details. What you need to know before we record, and 48 00:03:00.069 --> 00:03:01.870 I have a list of I say, I don't have it numbered as one, 49 00:03:02.030 --> 00:03:06.389 two, three, four, five, six things that people need to 50 00:03:06.469 --> 00:03:09.430 know about your thing. Your list could have more or less bullet points than 51 00:03:09.469 --> 00:03:12.900 mine, but here's some of the things on my list that I'm sending them 52 00:03:12.939 --> 00:03:16.539 ahead of time. First is a stable Internet connection. I let everybody knows 53 00:03:16.740 --> 00:03:20.780 because it sucks when they're on wifiing there. Breaking in and out of just 54 00:03:20.860 --> 00:03:23.979 ruins an interview when you have to like restart it multiple times. So I 55 00:03:23.020 --> 00:03:30.810 tell them at least I at least want fifteen mbps down as and five mbps 56 00:03:30.050 --> 00:03:36.770 up, and they may want to consider being at least close to their Wi 57 00:03:36.849 --> 00:03:40.009 fi router. But even better if they're just connected invite Ethernet. It's amazing 58 00:03:40.050 --> 00:03:45.159 how many people don't think about that before an interview, but it's important to 59 00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:47.840 tell them what. Second is they need a quiet room to record in. 60 00:03:49.560 --> 00:03:51.560 They it that. People ask me like, Oh, I'm going to a 61 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:53.080 coffee can we record in a coffee shop? I'm like no, you can't 62 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:55.750 record in a coffee shop. It's too loud. Like be a quiet room 63 00:03:55.830 --> 00:04:00.270 in your house. I had one time someone asked me if they could record 64 00:04:00.310 --> 00:04:03.030 from the bathroom I was like, what are you? Are you kidding me? 65 00:04:03.389 --> 00:04:08.830 From a bathroom literally, I'm like, you're at a hotel, like, 66 00:04:08.830 --> 00:04:10.659 why don't you go to Your Hotel Room? Would have work, but 67 00:04:11.139 --> 00:04:13.939 it is what it is. That's why, that's why every single bullet point 68 00:04:13.939 --> 00:04:15.980 on this list is there for a reason. It's because it became a problem 69 00:04:16.019 --> 00:04:21.300 at some point. Number three is minimize your alerts, like their phone, 70 00:04:21.420 --> 00:04:24.610 their slack. They're going to want to turn those off ahead of time. 71 00:04:28.089 --> 00:04:30.850 For is they need to think about their lighting. I always record video. 72 00:04:30.889 --> 00:04:34.089 I don't always use video, but I still want to have the ability to 73 00:04:34.290 --> 00:04:39.319 use a video clip if I so desire as a podcast host is to promote 74 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:43.240 this thing. So think about like the lighting are don't record this thing the 75 00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:46.519 dark. Be prepared to be on camera. That's part of my show. 76 00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:48.480 It may not be true for your show that you want to record the the 77 00:04:48.680 --> 00:04:51.910 video, but I do. And then I talk a little bit about the 78 00:04:51.949 --> 00:04:55.990 microphone. They need the rite microphone. I tell them that are pods. 79 00:04:56.029 --> 00:05:00.350 Specifically, our horrible choices were a podcast interview and that the cheap apple headphones 80 00:05:00.430 --> 00:05:02.949 with like the chords where the mic kind of handles down by the mouth is 81 00:05:03.029 --> 00:05:06.300 actually much better. And then I tell them if they want to buy a 82 00:05:06.420 --> 00:05:09.899 mic, this is what we I point. I send them a link to 83 00:05:09.939 --> 00:05:12.939 Amazon word. I send them the MIC at we send all our customers if 84 00:05:12.939 --> 00:05:15.939 they want to invest in that. Most people don't. In the apple headphones 85 00:05:15.980 --> 00:05:18.300 work great. I usually do a sound check. I walk through this sound 86 00:05:18.300 --> 00:05:21.689 again in the pre interview. And then, lastly, for US specifically, 87 00:05:21.730 --> 00:05:25.730 we use a tool called riverside to record interview. So I tell them they 88 00:05:25.769 --> 00:05:29.410 need to use Google chrome as a web browser because it doesn't work on Safari, 89 00:05:29.529 --> 00:05:31.250 it doesn't work on Firefox, it doesn't work on brave, it doesn't 90 00:05:31.250 --> 00:05:34.490 work on an edge like. You have to use Google chrome. Luckily, 91 00:05:34.610 --> 00:05:39.279 like chrome kind of dominates the market. So like this rarely is a problem 92 00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:42.639 for us. Only when they work at big companies and have, I don't 93 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:45.920 know their its, excessive about locking out APPS. Is this usually a problem? 94 00:05:46.600 --> 00:05:49.709 And then underneath that I have actually, yeah, that's it. That's 95 00:05:49.709 --> 00:05:54.230 the two things I have on this list. Get to know us and technical 96 00:05:54.269 --> 00:05:57.829 ty details, what you need to know before you re record. And I 97 00:05:57.949 --> 00:06:02.310 have these things listed after they book the interview. So I have this webs 98 00:06:02.509 --> 00:06:06.899 like web page it goes straight to this web page after they booked the interview, 99 00:06:06.939 --> 00:06:10.139 so that it's Bam right there, right when they need to know it. 100 00:06:10.220 --> 00:06:15.540 It's also something that I emailed the guests before they come on. Still, 101 00:06:15.459 --> 00:06:18.209 not everybody reads the list, so you try to make it as convenient 102 00:06:18.250 --> 00:06:21.449 as possible to prep some people that are like to prepare ahead of time like 103 00:06:21.569 --> 00:06:25.610 to read it and kind of have all their details and ducks in a row 104 00:06:25.689 --> 00:06:30.329 before the interview. But naturally there's some people that skipped the instructions and just 105 00:06:30.490 --> 00:06:33.839 want to dive right in. That's fine. So that's why I have this 106 00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:39.480 second part, which is the pre show checklist right which I cover some of 107 00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:44.680 the same exact information just to make sure that it so that the interview goes 108 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:48.069 smoothly. So while I do the pre interview, and that's probably another show 109 00:06:48.069 --> 00:06:50.189 will do on my club later, is like, what is a good pre 110 00:06:50.350 --> 00:06:56.430 interview look like? A sorry, when I say pre interview, I mean 111 00:06:56.509 --> 00:06:59.709 like the part before when you jump onto do the recording. A pre interview 112 00:06:59.750 --> 00:07:01.939 could be a totally separate call, but there's also the section right before you 113 00:07:02.019 --> 00:07:06.740 push record, right when you jump on with them on the interview. Some 114 00:07:06.899 --> 00:07:11.779 people tap record right away. I would avoid that, but this is the 115 00:07:11.939 --> 00:07:15.970 list of questions I go into after the formal introduction, like hey, how's 116 00:07:15.009 --> 00:07:17.930 it going? So excited to do this interview. You kind of go through 117 00:07:17.930 --> 00:07:21.889 the pleasant trees and you're like, okay, I'm going to walk through my 118 00:07:23.089 --> 00:07:27.370 pre show checklist before I tap record, and they nod their heads and then 119 00:07:27.410 --> 00:07:30.240 you you. I rattle off this checklist and this is the exact way I 120 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:31.680 read it to them, and this is what I have on my list. 121 00:07:31.720 --> 00:07:34.199 I actually have, let's see, three, four, five, six, 122 00:07:34.279 --> 00:07:41.240 bullet points here as well. They're slightly different than what I had on my 123 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:44.040 other checklist, but there's some overlap. So the first thing I jumped to 124 00:07:44.470 --> 00:07:49.910 jump into is turn off slack, turn off your phone. If an interruption 125 00:07:50.509 --> 00:07:57.949 does happen, take a pause, along pause and start over. Feel free 126 00:07:57.990 --> 00:08:00.620 to take a pause anytime you need to collect your thoughts. I'm kind of 127 00:08:00.660 --> 00:08:03.980 reading through the bullet points here, and the reason why I emphasize it's two 128 00:08:05.019 --> 00:08:07.620 separate bullet points. If an interruption does happen, take a long pause and 129 00:08:07.699 --> 00:08:11.660 start over, and then I add another bullet point underneath his. Feel free 130 00:08:11.699 --> 00:08:15.250 to take a pause. We have editors who are going to be listening to 131 00:08:15.370 --> 00:08:18.209 this. If you don't have editors, then this might be a different process 132 00:08:18.250 --> 00:08:22.610 for you. But audio editors no to catch mistakes generally by looking at the 133 00:08:22.730 --> 00:08:26.209 flat line of the audio where there's no talking. They kind of zoom in 134 00:08:26.329 --> 00:08:31.600 on that area and make sure everything's cleaned up. So I actually emphasize, 135 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:33.960 like Hey, you, when you make a mistake or want to do a 136 00:08:33.080 --> 00:08:37.399 do over or just take a moment, we edit out all the silence and 137 00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:39.720 you will sound like a rock star. But please take an awkwardly long pause 138 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:46.870 and actually exactly like emphasize that by doing something like this. That was a 139 00:08:46.950 --> 00:08:50.190 long, awkward pause even in the PODCAST, right. You felt that. 140 00:08:50.269 --> 00:08:52.149 Yeah, it's easy to see. It's easier for the audio engineers to catch 141 00:08:52.190 --> 00:08:56.299 it because it's been coomes's long flat time like piece. So I emphasize. 142 00:08:56.340 --> 00:09:01.419 I even demonstrate awkwardly on the call and leave like three seconds of gap 143 00:09:01.620 --> 00:09:05.059 in there to demonstrate they need to take a long, awkward pause and it 144 00:09:05.179 --> 00:09:07.179 needs to be awkward, otherwise it's not long enough. People forget still you'll 145 00:09:07.220 --> 00:09:11.850 have to remind them the next second. The last bullet point is the video. 146 00:09:13.129 --> 00:09:16.370 I have to tell them as the videos recorded local as again we use 147 00:09:16.409 --> 00:09:18.690 riverside, so don't worry about what you see on the screen. It's not 148 00:09:18.730 --> 00:09:22.809 as good as zoom. So, like sometimes the video fades in and out, 149 00:09:22.850 --> 00:09:24.519 and I tell them about that. And if we get disconnected, just 150 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:28.080 come back to the link in the calendar invite and come back. It's no 151 00:09:28.200 --> 00:09:31.480 problem. Will just start recording again. And I tell them all that because, 152 00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:33.600 again, these things happen. So it's the kind of Nice to give 153 00:09:33.639 --> 00:09:37.039 them a heads up ahead of time that don't panic, just just go through 154 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:41.149 the process. It's okay. Again, I've added all these bullet points because 155 00:09:41.269 --> 00:09:45.549 us, I've run into these issues at some point and then I just keep 156 00:09:45.590 --> 00:09:48.110 as I run into new issues, I add more bullet points. As you 157 00:09:48.190 --> 00:09:50.870 run into issues, have a preshow checklist to add them to. It becomes 158 00:09:50.909 --> 00:09:54.500 handy. You can start with a few on mine, like the turnoff slack, 159 00:09:54.580 --> 00:09:58.299 turnoff phones if interruptions happen, like all that stuff. Like rip, 160 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:01.179 like steal my list and then start building it yourself as you run into your 161 00:10:01.220 --> 00:10:05.539 own unique situations or things that you find our problems. Okay, after I 162 00:10:05.659 --> 00:10:09.889 go through the checklist, I do a final check and then we start recording. 163 00:10:09.929 --> 00:10:15.929 I found that those two rules help create better content and more consistent contents. 164 00:10:16.049 --> 00:10:18.409 I'm not worrying about the little errors, I'm not worrying about the little 165 00:10:18.409 --> 00:10:22.039 performance issues. I can just actually focus on the questions and listening to their 166 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:26.840 answers because I've handled the problems and when a problem does arise, we've already 167 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:31.799 discussed and have a plan for when the problems arise, like if the Internet 168 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:35.039 connection dies or something, we can get back in. We don't have to 169 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:37.789 worry about it and reset. I can. We could just work through it 170 00:10:37.990 --> 00:10:41.870 more effect more quickly that way. So hopefully that's helpful to you. I 171 00:10:41.029 --> 00:10:43.789 know it's been a big help to me and I've recommended it to multiple customers. 172 00:10:45.429 --> 00:10:48.990 That's it. Remember, the first rule of my club is, of 173 00:10:48.070 --> 00:10:52.620 course, to talk about my club. Come on, we're marketing podcasters here, 174 00:10:52.139 --> 00:10:58.259 so please tell a friend, leave a review or send me a DM 175 00:10:58.379 --> 00:11:03.379 on Linkedin at linkedincom. I am digital marketing Dan. I love to hear 176 00:11:03.580 --> 00:11:03.139 from all of you.