Luis Congdon

All right. Welcome back to the series on How To Create A Podcast.

I’m glad that you’ve made it with me this far. Because now, we’ve covered a variety of subjects about how to create a podcast. We have also discussed how to position yourself right from the start, just even when you’re thinking about your show, and how to create the positioning. Doing all these so that you’re creating the show that helps you accomplish getting better business, getting more attention, connecting with potential clients. Creating a show helps you build a brand, create awareness, and get your message out there.

Today, I want to go over with you on how to do podcast interviews. We’ve talked about how to create a podcast. But how do you create a podcast with awesome and amazing interviews that build you traction and allow you to interview like a pro. Even if you’ve never interviewed before.

I’ve been interviewing for quite a long time now. And I can tell you that some of my best interviews are right from the very beginning. Right from day one, I’ve had a lot of luck recording interviews and meeting some very high-level people.

Luis Congdon

One of the things about that was I just naturally did certain things that made my recordings and made my interviews awesome. Then later, I had to backtrack.

After making some mistakes, I had to backtrack and figure out what was I doing and why did those interviews work so well. Why was it that within one of my first interviews, I’m interviewing Dr. Harville Hendrix. Not known to a lot of people in the grand scope of things. But the guy has been on Oprah 19 times, he’s a five-time New York Time best-selling author. He’s a very well-known person.

In a lot of circles, he’s a very big name, multi-millionaire, had a significant impact on the world. After I interviewed him, he invited me to meet him, and he offered to give me a scholarship to one of his events. He nearly paid for me to come to the event and participate in it and that was cool.

Now, that I look back on that interview. There are certain things that I did that made him have an excellent experience during our interview. So today, I want to cover how to create a podcast. And I want to help you sound like a pro during your interviews from day one.

On the other episodes of how to create a podcast series, I talked about recording and how to get excellent audio quality. Make sure that you’ve listened to that and you’ve taken some notes. If you’ve haven’t, I want you to go back to that.

Luis Congdon

If you’re just listening to this to get tips on how to sound like a pro. But you don’t how to get pro-quality audio sound, then this stuff isn’t going to be the most helpful. Because if you’re a guest on someone’s show and they have bad audio quality, bad recording software, bad microphone, and they don’t sound professional. Then, it is more likely than not that the person isn’t going to be all that pleased to be on your show. They’re not going to be excited to share it. They’re not going to be excited to invite you further into their lives. They’re not going to look at you like a professional.

Make sure you go back, and you listen to that episode of how to create a podcast series . If you have already listened to it and you’re ready to move forward, then, let’s just dive in right now.

One of the first things to interviewing like a pro is we need to make our guest feel comfortable. If you are bringing a guest onto your podcast. One of the first things I tell people is, “The interview and the experience of the interview begin even before the interview starts.”

Before you even do the interview, people want to have an experience with you. – Luis Congdon

Luis Congdon

So when you’re sending out that message, and you’re inviting your guest, you want to craft a special message. That’s something that we won’t be diving into this course. That’s my bread and butter. That’s something I’ve taken a lot of time to craft. And it’s something inside The Podcaster Secret Weapon you can learn how to go out and get guests.

Luis Congdon

You can find all my templates that I’ve used to land people like Jack Canfield, Marianne Williamson, Bas Rutten, Cal Newport, Jay Papasan and a lot more. There’s a lot of people I’ve interviewed that are amazing. It is because I’ve used particular templates to create an absolute experience and because I’ve used certain methods that work amazing.

Let’s just say you have your first guest, and you’re excited to have this guest. And whether or not you use my template to get them on the show is not what matters right now. You’re about to do an interview, and you want to create a fantastic experience. You’ve got the right room. You’ve got the right microphone. You’ve got the right software. You’ve run a few tests, so you know that you’re ready to go.

Now, the next the thing is how do you bring this person onto the show and make them feel great? How do you bring this guest onto your podcast so that they feel good joining your show?

Luis Congdon

Well, one of the first things that we do on our show is we don’t push record right away. You come on my show, and I say, “Hey, really great to meet you today. I’m excited that you’ve decided to join the show. We’re honored to have you here.”

Then, I give a compliment. “One of the things about you that I appreciate is I read your book (insert the name of the book or YouTube video)” but you want to give him some compliment. “And when I watched that, I was impacted. It made a huge difference when I read that book,” or “Watched that video.” Give them some genuine compliment. They’re always going to say “Thank you. I feel delighted.” They’re human. That’s one of the things I want to say to you.

Regardless of how famous someone is or how accomplished someone is, they are human. Don’t be afraid to give them compliments. Just treat them like you would somebody who’s special. Thank them and give them a compliment and connect with them.

The next thing that you want to do is let them know that you’ve got it handled. “Hey, I’m excited that you’re here today. I want to let you know how much your work has impacted me. Thank you for coming on the show.” They’re going to respond, next thing you do is, “Listen, I’m going to be handling all the recording. I’m going to be handling the editing. If we ever make any mistakes or slip ups, URI, whatever happens, don’t worry. I can edit out. I want you to feel relaxed.”

Luis Congdon

Regardless of how many interviews people have had. They’re always going to feel good when you just let them know there’s no pressure. They don’t need to perform. They don’t need to be perfect, and you’ve got it. You’re in control.

The next thing I like just to check in, “Hey. So, we agreed to 20 minutes. I just want to make sure what your heart stop time is?” And just ask them briefly about what time they need to be off the call just to make sure because sometimes, interviews go longer than expected and you want to be cognizant of their time limit.

The last thing that you want to do is you also want to make sure that they’ve turned off their cell phones, or any notifications on their computer, any software that makes noises. Maybe they have an email app on their computer that makes dings. Maybe they have their phone on ring. Maybe they have a dog in the room or whatever it might be.

What I do is I just say, “Hey listen, I’m going to be shutting off my phone during the interview. I’m closing all my programs that make any noises, and I just want to check with you to make you’ve done the same. We want to get excellent audio quality for this interview. So, could you make sure to put your phone on silent and shut down any software that will make noises?” And they’re going to do that. They’re going to feel glad that you are in control and you’re helping them get the best audio quality possible.

Luis Congdon

Once you do that, then you can jump in, “Okay, great. Now that we’re ready to record, I’m going to push record and let’s dive in.” And that’s it. It doesn’t have to be much more complicated than that. You do the whole interview and then at the end of the interview, give them a compliment again, “Hey listen. It was great to do this interview, and I got some big takeaways from our time together. Again, I just really want to thank you for joining us.” They’re going to say, “Yeah. Thank you.” They might give you a compliment.

One last thing you want to do here is to ask them if there’s any way that you can bring value to their lives. “Listen, I appreciated having you on the show today. Is there anything I can do to bring some extra value to your life? Can I release this podcast at a specified date for you? Would that help? Is there something that you know about me or some way that I might be able to assist you with what you’ve got going on? Just let me know if there’s some way that I can support you.”

Luis Congdon

Our guests always love this. On many occasions, it’s endeared them so much to us that we become friends. It’s crucial that you do this.

It’s crucial that you make your guest feel great and that it’s not just an interview. – Luis Congdon

Luis Congdon

It’s something special, and it’s something that you have value and that you value them. You value their time, and you’re glad that this interview happened.

Now, if you just follow those steps of how to create a podcast, you will be a standout interviewer. You will be somebody that they’ll be glad that they came on your show. It’s not complicated stuff. It’s pretty simple, but it’s the little things that make a big difference.

That’s it for today on how to create a podcast like a pro and how to interview like a pro. If you want more information and want to level up, make sure you go and grab The Podcaster Secret Weapon

It’s been great to here with you, we have been talking about how to create a podcast. We’ll see you on the next episode on how to create a podcast.