Conversation Piece

If there are a billion podcasts out there, sometimes it seems like maybe 750 million of them are interview podcasts. (The rest are true crime, radio drama, and news updates.) Meanwhile, talk radio, which used to, at least in significant part, be caller-driven, is now a sea of interviews, with audience interaction now largely supplanted by social media. Interviews are everywhere. Good interviews, on the other hand....

Way back in the stone age of talk radio, I would discourage hosts from doing a lot of interviews. The primary reason was that most interviews, let's face it, are boring. On radio, they fill time, sure, and if it's a celebrity or powerful politician, the host will get that little thrill that they're talking to a famous person. (Back before 2016, I can recall talking to hosts who would absolutely quiver with excitement when they'd tell me that they'd interviewed Donald Trump. They'd also add that he didn't say anything interesting, but they were excited nonetheless. Explains a lot.) One question the hosts weren't asking when booking interviews, though, was: What does it provide for the listener?

The same holds true today. I hear so many interviews that leave me asking why they bothered. It's not just that many of the guests aren't that interesting, or it's a topic that I don't care about, or that some guests are there primarily to sell something. It's also the way hosts handle interviews, and that goes for talk radio and for podcasts. Here, then, is a little free advice from someone who a) still believes he should get paid (well) for it, and b) has interviewed and been interviewed countless times:

1. Before you book an interview, ask yourself who would be interested in this guest. Time-filling isn't a good reason to do an interview. "But it's a celebrity" is not a good reason, unless we're talking A+++-list, someone you're sure your audience would tune in to hear even if they were reading the proverbial (and now practically nonexistent) phone book. Okay, so you've decided that this guest is worth the trouble? Good. Now...

2. Prepare. Do not go into an interview without a strong idea of where you want to go with it. Do your research -- don't delegate this to your producer, do it yourself -- and try to develop questions that will elicit unique, even newsworthy responses. (Consulting a Wikipedia page is not adequate research, by the way.) And then...

3. Establish, right out of the box, why your audience should be interested in the interview. Unless the guest is a major name/household word to your audience, you need to get right to letting them know who your guest is and why the listeners should care. This goes even to podcast episode descriptions: The description is where you convince someone to download or stream that particular episode, and if the guest's name alone isn't enough, you'd better concisely sell them on that interview. Okay, then, your description worked, or you've properly teased the segment on the radio. It's time. Now....

4. Ask smart questions that display the fact that you did your research. The other day, I heard a host turn to a guest and say "your thoughts." That's not a question. That's also allowing the guest, if they indeed have thoughts, to determine the direction of the interview, which can lead to all kinds of trouble, whether it's boring and esoteric areas or things for which the host is unprepared to follow up. If you find yourself just asking a guest for "your thoughts," don't. Just no. Have an actual question that you're reasonably certain will lead someplace. And if you're interviewing a politician, please, I beg you, do not fawn over them. Ask tough questions, even of someone with whom you generally agree. You're not a public relations spokesperson. You represent the audience, and, ideally, you're asking the questions they'd like to ask if they had the access you have. Don't fanboy or fangirl out. Be a pro.

5. One for talk radio: While one of your strategic advantages over podcasts is that you're live, you don't have to do all of your interviews live. Unless it's a newsmaker when news is breaking, you'd probably be better off taping and giving yourself the chance to review and edit the interview to make sure it's the best it can be. I understand that sometimes you have to do things according to a guest's availability, and you might want to go home and not get stuck staying late in a production studio waiting to interview someone, but if the interview's worth airing, that might be the better way to go than to wing it on the air and discover in real time that it's not working. In that case....

5. If an interview is not what you'd hoped it would be, do not prolong the listeners' agony, or yours. If you're on the radio, end the interview whenever you feel like it's gone on long enough. Don't worry about hurting anyone's feelings; just politely thank the guest and move on. (Always prepare more than enough material to fill the time in case an interview, or anything else, falls flat.) For podcasts, if you tape the episode and you realize it kinda sucks, you're not obligated to release it unless you (unwisely) made promises that you would. It's your show, your audience, your decision. If something doesn't work, don't try to force the issue. Dump it and move on. And one more for the podcast crowd...

6. Does the world need your interviews? I wish more podcasters would consider that before starting Yet Another Interview Podcast. A day doesn't go by for me without several press releases in my inbox touting interview podcasts, often listing upcoming guests whose names are less than guaranteed audience draws. Most of these press releases fail to make a good case for these shows' existence. It's an easy trap to fall into, and you can see it when there are waves when everyone who's ever been on a reality show, or every pro wrestler in existence, launch podcasts interviewing other reality show contestants or pro wrestlers. They tend to start big, then wither away when people realize the interviews are largely boring and self-indulgent. The really good ones survive; there aren't many really good ones.

But you're one of the good ones, right? Excellent. I look forward to being on your show.

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When you're not doing interviews, you need material, and that's when you should consult All Access News-Talk-Sports' Talk Topics show prep section. Hey, some of the topics might even inspire you to -- horrors! -- book an interview. Check it out every day by clicking here, and you can also follow the Talk Topics Twitter feed at @talktopics and find every story individually linked to the appropriate item.

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Incidentally, I'm kinda glad that I won't be seeing you at this year's NAB Show and Radio Show, now that they've been cancelled. I still think it's too soon for big, crowded, sweaty conventions. Maybe next year, but for now, I'm still good with virtual gatherings. There's no fear of viruses, I don't have to strain to hear people on panels, there's no Walk of Death from one end of the Las Vegas Convention Center to the other, I don't have to ride a shuttle bus anywhere, I don't have to wear a badge, and there's a bathroom close by. Seems like a winning situation to me.

Perry Michael Simon
Vice President/Editor, News-Talk-Sports and Podcast
AllAccess.com
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