Podcast ‘Dos’ and ‘Dont’s’ from IDR Talk
We were brand new to the podcast scene in March, with our first one going live on international women’s day.
Since then, we have recorded monthly sessions with various guests which has been not only insightful, but also a joy to just sit back and have a chat with some of the people within the sector that we may not get chance to talk to regularly or in fact ever.
Due to August being the national month for holidaying and everyone seems to slow down a tad ready for ‘back to school’ in September, we thought we’d take a little look at podcasting and if there were any tips we could put out there for our next wave of interviewees.
Am I blushing?
Being interviewed can be so nerve wracking and even an informal podcast chat can bring out the worst in us all. Sweaty palms, the rush of blood to the cheeks that won’t stop and when you think about the fact, you’re blushing the brain says, ‘blush more, blush more!’ and of course the dreaded imposter syndrome.
But the likelihood is if you’ve been asked to take part in a podcast chat, you probably know your stuff and there is absolutely no need for all that craziness the brain tells you to do.
As well as all that, there are also things like the structure, what should you say, what shouldn’t you say, how can you promo your business without sounding to salesy??
Well, we’ve pulled together a few tips and takeaways we’ve gleaned along the way, to help alleviate some fears ahead of a podcast, here goes.
Tips and takeaways
On the clock – Always check the timing with your host as to how long the session is going to be. As a guest you’ll want to be able to get across what you do, and you’ll probably have quite a bit of content to share with the listeners.
So, make sure you jot down pre session the key aspects you want to get across, between three and five key points and share this with the host prior to the session so that you can predetermine a structure to the podcast. It doesn’t have to follow this religiously (and you wouldn’t want it to) but having a few key points in place will help the conversation flow.
It’s all in the edit – Post podcast you may want to use some sound bites from the piece for your own promotional material, which we would encourage. If being asked a question by the host, it’s sometimes a good idea to repeat that question (especially if it’s one that aligns with one of your key points), this means that when you edit the sound later you can create bitesize chunks of your voice to add to a specific campaign.
Don’t repeat all questions though as this may come across false for the full edit and may stilt the conversation.
Sell, sell, sell – The best podcasts are organic and natural conversations between two people about a certain topic, so when sales pitches are added it can sometimes make it all a bit off putting. That said, there is also nothing wrong with getting a shameless plug in for your business, just do it right. You don’t always need to wait until the end, you could weave it into the line of questioning mid podcast…
For example, Elizabeth Rimmer, CEO of Lawcare does this perfectly in our latest podcast when she discusses working within the emotive environment of the law firm. Discussing how we need to be better trained to understand the emotions of our colleagues. When highlighting this point, she then brings in the fact Lawcare have a free training programme ‘fit for law’ that links directly to this, giving the listener a solution to her point.
Less perfection. More authenticity – simply being you, being authentic, is what listeners want to hear, or see if on video. The audience will pick up on an unnatural vibe, so its best to be yourself. If you make a mistake that’s fine, laugh it off, people are tuning in to listen to real conversations.
Tune in to IDR Talk