How to Make the Most of Your Guest Episodes

A lot goes into each of your guest episodes, so it’s important to make the most of them. This week on the podcast, I’m sharing what to do before you interview, during the interview, and after the interview to make sure that all your time is well spent.

Mentioned in This Episode Podcast

Transcript:

Abby Herman 0:09
Hey there, and welcome to episode 208 of the content experiment podcast, a podcast for podcasters that supports the idea that content and marketing our ever moving targets in any business. And it’s okay if you don’t feel like you’re doing it. All right all of the time. Here we talk about podcasting and creating content for your audience that they want to hear in a way that’s sustainable for you, the business owner, because I know that you have a lot on your plate. So I’ll give you the ideas and tools and tricks to publish your podcast consistently in a way that works for you. I’m Abby Herman, former teacher and current podcast manager. When I went full time in my business in 2013, I struggled to find the help and support that I needed that also fit into my budget. That’s what this podcast and my membership podcast ears are all about, to help the business owner with a tight budget, whose podcast is their primary marketing tool. For more information about the membership, and to find out how it can give you the accountability and support you need for a small $99 A month investment, go to thecontentexperiment.com/ease.

Abby Herman 1:22
Now, last week, in Episode 207, we talked about where to find podcast guests and how to vet them. This week, we’re gonna take the next step, once you’ve found the guests, how do you make the most of those types of episodes, because you’re taking the time to find the right people and to coordinate with their schedule, make sure the interviews are amazing. I’ll be the first to admit that this was all great advice that I’m going to share here today, but I don’t do all of it. And to be frank, I have not had a guest episode and quite some time now. And that’s okay. Remember that you should take away from this podcast and any podcast or educational material, what you need and what works for you. And then you can either just leave the rest, or save it for later. So the first tip to making the most out of your guest episodes is to be really thoughtful about who you interview. And that goes back again to Episode 207, where we talked about who you could interview where to find those people. And like kind of what to watch out for when you are vetting your potential podcast guests. Be really thoughtful, have the right people on your show, make sure that what the guest is going to talk about in your interview. And as they’re actually sharing on your interview, make sure that it aligns with your own values and your messaging. And maybe you choose to have somebody on the podcast where your values and messaging doesn’t align, maybe that’s intentional. Maybe that’s why you have them on the podcast. And I actually think that that’s a great new way, a great way to open up to new ideas and to explore different thought processes.

Abby Herman 3:16
So if you’re going to do that, my tip is to be really respectful about it and make sure that the guest is on board with having that conversation. Before you get on the interview and ask them questions about it. I like to go into any guest episode from a mindset that I’m going to learn something I want to learn a new process, I want to learn new ideas, new ways of doing things, maybe research that I wasn’t really aware of before. When you learn something, when you go into your episodes with the thought that you’re going to learn something your audience is most likely going to learn something as well. And I think that that is huge. So make sure that you’re approaching your guest episodes from that perspective. You’re having them on because you want to share a topic or an idea with your audience. And you’re not an expert at it. Make sure you treat your guests as the experts that they are. Something else that you can do to make the most of your guest episodes is to engage with your audience before the interview. So post a question box on Instagram stories, or send an email, letting some letting your audience know that you’re going to be talking to a specific person or maybe that you’re going to be talking about a specific topic if you don’t want to give away the guest name yet and ask what their questions might be for that guest or for that area expert. Your audience can share so many insights and then they are going to be really excited about look you know looking forward to We’re having that episode, go live. So engage with your audience, get them excited. And you could even talk to your audience after your interview. And let them know how it went. Because usually there’s, you know, some time between your interview and when it’s released.

Abby Herman 5:19
I also want you to know what your goal is for the episode. So you might just love having conversations. And that’s why guest episodes are your favorite, that makes sure that there’s an end goal, some, you know, idea or takeaway that you want your audience to have at the end of the episode. Otherwise, it’s going to be a lot of rambling, it’ll be a lot of going in different directions. And there won’t be a really great defined path or thought process for your listeners to follow. So make sure that there’s some sort of goal. And that doesn’t mean you have to stick to it entirely. You can talk about other things, but there should be some sort of goal in mind. And once you have secured your guests, did you know who the guest is going to be and you’ve got it on your calendar, and you’re getting ready for that interview? Do your research so that you can have a list of questions handy. So now that said, don’t make the episode just a bunch of questions that you have to tick off like don’t make it an you know, like a Inquisition I guess. Respond to their answers, ask the question, respond to their answers. And then really do you try to make it into a conversation? It’s a back and forth. It’s not just your your guest? sharing their knowledge, it’s you responding to that and asking follow up questions. As you are developing your list of questions. This one’s kind of tough, but try to avoid questions that sell. So yes, you do want your guests to be able to talk about how they work with clients and what they do. But honestly, I think it’s up to the guests to pepper that information into the episode in a natural way. I talk about this more in Episode 177 and 179. But the goal here in having your guest on the episode is not to sell from the podcast, but rather to allow the guests to share their expertise. And this means teaching something to your audience. If they’re only talking about how wonderful their businesses or how great their offer his your audience is going to tune out. I know I do when I hear episodes like that. This is why having some questions on hand is so important so that you can go back to those if you feel the conversation drifting from where you intended it to go. You can ask questions about their processes, you can ask them about actionable takeaways for your listeners. And don’t be afraid to ask the quote unquote, stupid questions.

Abby Herman 7:54
As a former teacher, there are no stupid questions. If one person has a question. Probably half the people listening have the same question. Some of your listeners may not know something, so be sure to ask for clarification. And often, especially if your guest uses any kind of industry jargon, that maybe new people to the industry or new listeners might not understand. And some other ways to make the most of your guest episodes and this goes outside of the actual interview process. But if the guest has their own podcast, and you’d be a good fit for their audience, ask to be on it. There is zero shame in doing this, if you’re going to be a good fit for their audience, you want to get in front of them. Aside from just them sharing that they were on your podcast, you should be on their podcast as well. So make sure that you’re asking to be on their podcast, it can be you know, hey, I would love to explore this conversation a little bit more on your podcast. I think I could share XYZ with your audience. And they would get ABC out of it. Make sure that you’re asking it or certainly be it’s having to send them a cold pitch. You already have a connection with them. You’ve already had a conversation. This should be an easy ask and an easy yes for them.

Abby Herman 9:19
Once you’ve interviewed them, and before the episode airs, preferably a week or so ahead of time, reach out to the guest with a link to where the episode will be on your website and some graphics so that they can share it. This is something that we do here at the content experiment for our all of our clients. We share that information with them once it’s ready and loaded on the website and not quite live. And the reason why you want to do this in advance is because some people plan their content calendars in advance. If you send it to them the day that it goes live, it makes it really challenging for them to share early On in the release schedule, so share the information with them as early as you can, before the episode goes live, and not everybody is going to share. And that’s really unfortunate. But if you make it as easy as possible, so sharing graphics, and maybe you have audio grabs the link, all of that, I actually had a podcast host once share the graphics, and captions for me, I made a few tweaks to the captions to make them sound a little bit more like me. And they were good to go. But oh my gosh, it was so easy to share, I loved it. You can also reshare some of your more popular guest episodes whenever the topic aligns with your content calendar. And this is really useful, especially if the guest is someone who might draw in new listeners if it’s, you know, a well known person or somebody who is really, you know, popular in your industry. And then finally, stay in touch with your guests after the interview, especially if there’s someone who is really aligned with your message and your values. If it’s someone who you see potentially partnering with in the future, make sure you stay in touch with them. And that could be as much as little as following them on social media and commenting on their content. Or maybe it’s attending some of their live events, or something like that, but find a way to remain connected to your guests after the interview. Guest episodes are such a powerful way to bring new thoughts and ideas to your listeners. And I honestly learned something new every time I have a guest on my podcast. So be sure to make the most of the time that you’re spending with your guests by doing it right and right is whatever that means for you in your business and your podcast.

Abby Herman 11:49
I hope this episode has helped you to identify ways that you can better leverage your guest episodes to grow your network and your listenership. If it has, I would love it if you would share the episode on social media. You can tag me at thecontentexperiment if you do. The more you share, the more we can get the podcast into the earbuds of more business owners just like you who need to hear the message that they are not alone. Until next time, take care.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai