A good podcast guest doesn’t have to be famous, have thousands of followers, or even have previous podcast experience. They need something worth talking about.
If you’re recording a business podcast, choosing the right guests can make planning your episodes much easier. Instead of starting with a list of impressive job titles, start by thinking about what that person can bring to the conversation.
Look for Experience, Not Just a Title
A person’s job title tells you what they do. It doesn’t necessarily tell you whether they’ll have something interesting to say.
Suppose you run a real estate podcast. You could invite a home inspector who has spent years working with older homes in Central Florida. Instead of spending the episode talking generally about home inspections, you could ask about problems buyers commonly overlook, unusual things they’ve found during inspections, or what they wish buyers understood before inspection day.
Now you have a conversation based on actual experience.
The same approach works in almost any industry. Look for people who have worked through interesting situations, learned something others could benefit from, or can explain part of your industry particularly well.
Talk to the Guest Before You Book the Recording
Have a short conversation before podcast day. You don’t need to conduct the entire interview ahead of time.
Find out what they’re comfortable discussing and listen for stories or subjects you’d like to come back to during the recording.
You might go into that call planning to discuss one topic and realize the guest has much more to say about something completely different.
That’s information you’d rather learn before you’re sitting in front of the microphones.
Send Topics, Not a List of Answers
Guests should have some idea of what you’ll be discussing.
Send them the main topics or a few questions beforehand so they aren’t walking in completely unprepared. But avoid scripting the conversation for them.
If both people already know exactly what they’re going to say and in what order, the podcast can start sounding more like a presentation.
Give your guest enough information to prepare, then leave some room for follow-up questions.
If they mention something interesting, ask about it.
Choose Someone Who Can Explain What They Know
Knowing a subject and explaining it are two different things.
Your audience may not understand the terminology people in your industry use every day. A good guest can slow down and explain the subject without assuming everyone listening already knows the basics.
As the host, you can help with this too. If a guest uses a term your audience may not know, ask what it means. If they mention a process, ask them to walk you through it.
Those simple follow-up questions often lead to some of the most useful parts of an interview.
You Don’t Need to Agree on Everything
A good conversation doesn’t require two people repeating the same opinions.
Someone with a different professional experience can give you another way to look at a subject. You can ask why they see it differently, talk through both sides, and let the audience hear the reasoning behind each position.
Keep it professional, but don’t be afraid of a little disagreement. It can make for a much more interesting conversation than spending 30 minutes agreeing with each other.
Record Your Podcast at OASIS Studios
Once you’ve found someone you’d like to interview, spend some time deciding what you actually want to learn from them. You’ll have a much easier time preparing questions, and your guest will have a better idea of what to expect.
At OASIS Studios in Orlando, our Seminole Podcast Studio provides the audio, video, lighting, and recording setup for podcast conversations and interviews.
You bring the guest and the questions, and we’ll get the microphones and cameras ready.
