It’s Showtime!
Making the Most of Your Podcast Appearance
Podcasting can be a great way of positioning your brand as an author and promote your work. Even better, there are so many podcasts out there, and they all want content.
So, once you are booked for a podcast, what do you do to make sure everything goes well? In this post, we are going to cover four things that you want to check off the list before your interview starts:
1. Practice beforehand
Yes, a podcast is a casual conversation that is meant to evolve organically. That being said, podcasters will typically give you a heads-up about some of the questions they might ask you. In that case, decide on some key themes and thoughts you want to mention in the interview. The last thing you want to do is ramble.
2. Listen to some of the podcast’s episodes
Usually your correspondence with a podcaster will all be by email. Knowing what the podcaster’s voice sounds like as well as his/her interview style can make such a difference in your own performance on the podcast. For example, most podcasters have their “signature questions” that they ask of all their guests. If you know these in advance, you can be ready for them. Another advantage of sampling some of their previous episodes is if you can refer to one of them in your own interview. For instance, if it is a writing podcast, maybe there was a recent episode with another author who said something that resonated with you. Weaving in a detail like this will not go unnoticed by the podcaster.
3. Make sure you (and your surroundings) look good
Yes, this might seem like a superficial point, but no podcaster wants to interview somebody who has a sink full of dishes in the background! You want to look professional, so make sure you are in a well lit, uncluttered place. Make sure you are dressed well while still being mindful of anything you wear that could affect audio quality. For example, avoid chunky bracelets or other accessories that could either make noise or be distracting. Have a glass of water handy, but clear your desk of any unnecessary “stuff” that could get in the way, such as notebooks, papers, etc.
4. Be on top of all the tech
Most podcasters will ask you to have a semi-professional external microphone rather than relying on the built-in one on your PC. The sound quality from an external microphone is simply better. Same thing with audio—wear a headset to minimize any echoing effect. Finally, make sure all potential disruptions are eliminated: store away your phone and other electronic devices that could make sounds (or ring!). Make sure any other devices that add ambient noise that can be picked up by your microphone (such as an air conditioner) are turned off during your session. We once were part of a podcast and we could clearly hear a dishwasher changing cycles coming from one of the other speakers’ audio feeds.
Like we said at the top of this post, podcasting can be a nice complementary marketing initiative that you might want to undertake. We at the Aaxel Author Group provide a turnkey coordination service, where we scope out the best podcasts for you, pitch you and book you! For more information, contact us.
If approaching the media is a prominent piece of your marketing plan, check out our blog post about author media kits.
