Episode 96
How to become a great podcast interviewer with Kendall Breitman
What makes a great podcast conversation?
Well, we all know the answer is nuanced, but after many years of producing podcasts I’ve certainly found the quality of the podcast has a lot to do with the quality of the questions being asked.
When I was thinking about who I could speak with to help podcasters craft better questions, Kendall Breitman came across my radar. A lot of you would know Kendall as the community manager for Riverside, but her role prior to Riverside was what piqued my interest.
Kendall knows implicitly how to craft quality questions, connect with your audience and build a sense of community around your show. She shared so much value in our recent conversation, and I’m delighted to share it with you all.
Podcast - Call Her Daddy
https://www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/
Riverside Conversation Creators Facebook Community
BAMBY MEDIA LINKS:
GEAR WE USE HERE AT BAMBY MEDIA:
Aputure Amaran 200d LED Video Light
Pre-Amp/Mixers we recommend
Transcript
Today we have Kendall Brightman
Speaker:on the podcast, who is
Speaker:Community Manager at Riverside.
Speaker:fm.
Speaker:Riverside is a software that I
Speaker:personally have been using in our
Speaker:business for quite a few years,
Speaker:probably since they sort of launched.
Speaker:Do you remember when you launched?
Speaker:Yeah, right before, right
Speaker:before the pandemic.
Speaker:So if you've been done for a
Speaker:few years, then yeah, probably
Speaker:you're one of the, one of the OGs.
Speaker:One of the OGs.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And, uh, we now recommend
Speaker:it to all our clients.
Speaker:In fact, a lot of our clients use it
Speaker:solely to record not only their guest
Speaker:episodes, but their solo episodes.
Speaker:And, uh, I was chatting to Kendall
Speaker:about some issue that we were having
Speaker:more generally earlier in the year.
Speaker:And.
Speaker:Kendall was such an interesting
Speaker:person just outside of what
Speaker:is happening in the business.
Speaker:So I felt like it was going to be
Speaker:a good conversation today, but I
Speaker:wanted it to focus on interview
Speaker:skills for people, for podcasters.
Speaker:And in order to get some context
Speaker:as to why we want to focus on
Speaker:interviews, I'd like you to describe
Speaker:briefly where you came from.
Speaker:So where were you before Riverside?
Speaker:And why does it make sense?
Speaker:about interviewing today.
Speaker:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker:So, as you said, currently community
Speaker:manager at Riverside, but my
Speaker:background's not in community managing.
Speaker:It's not even in marketing, actually.
Speaker:it's in political journalism.
Speaker:So I was a journalist.
Speaker:my background was with, uh, places like
Speaker:MSNBC and Bloomberg News and Politico.
Speaker:And for a while I was covering
Speaker:presidential politics and then
Speaker:congressional politics, but part
Speaker:of that was traveling around the
Speaker:country, meeting with presidential
Speaker:candidates, interviewing them, helping
Speaker:set up interviews with my bosses.
Speaker:my background, yeah, is really, is really
Speaker:in journalism and crafting interviews.
Speaker:So one of the things that I was
Speaker:saying when I actually pivoted over
Speaker:to marketing was like, what is more
Speaker:of a marketing campaign than the
Speaker:presidential election for the U.
Speaker:S.
Speaker:You know, like, everyone's
Speaker:positioning themselves.
Speaker:You're trying to, get
Speaker:questions out of people.
Speaker:They're trying to position themselves.
Speaker:So, yeah, it's, uh, it's a real craft.
Speaker:It's a real art to be
Speaker:interviewing people.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Isn't that interesting to
Speaker:come from where you've been?
Speaker:And so I think, obviously based on
Speaker:your history, I think one of the most
Speaker:common questions that I get from our
Speaker:clients when they're looking to improve.
Speaker:So they get to a certain level where,
Speaker:you know, they feel like they've got
Speaker:their solo episodes pretty down pat.
Speaker:They can do that fairly easily.
Speaker:They have started or they, their
Speaker:focus is on guests, having guests
Speaker:on their show and it's going okay.
Speaker:And they ask okay questions.
Speaker:I often sit there, and our
Speaker:editors often sit there going,
Speaker:Oh, if you just reframed that.
Speaker:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker:You could
Speaker:pull a really different
Speaker:answer out of that person.
Speaker:I think the question that I have for
Speaker:you then around that is, what makes
Speaker:a good question versus a eh one.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I think what makes a good
Speaker:question is It's not asking
Speaker:what everyone else is asking.
Speaker:Like, there are questions that
Speaker:somebody has been asked multiple
Speaker:times, and they will probably give
Speaker:you a pretty rehearsed answer.
Speaker:they're like, oh great, I've
Speaker:got that in my brain bank.
Speaker:Like, I'm just going to tell
Speaker:you exactly what I've told this
Speaker:person and that person, right?
Speaker:But when you have a, like, a good
Speaker:question, it allows for somebody to
Speaker:actually, like, dig inside of themselves
Speaker:and come up with an authentic new
Speaker:answer that they haven't given before.
Speaker:an example of a question that I like to
Speaker:turn a question into a better question.
Speaker:So for one could be what
Speaker:makes a good podcast?
Speaker:Okay, so you're saying that and then
Speaker:you're like, okay, well, a good podcast
Speaker:is this and that, but to kind of flip it
Speaker:and change it to say like, what do you
Speaker:think most podcasters are getting wrong?
Speaker:You know, because yeah, like that
Speaker:kind of question could be like,
Speaker:that's also a great social clip.
Speaker:If that's something that you're
Speaker:focusing on, like, if you're saying
Speaker:that kind of thing, it makes somebody
Speaker:say, okay, I know it's a good question,
Speaker:but like, what are people doing wrong?
Speaker:Then they start to think, and then
Speaker:you want to really get to a point
Speaker:where somebody's like, wow, I've
Speaker:never been asked that question.
Speaker:Wow, I really love that question.
Speaker:It's because you're actually getting
Speaker:something out of them and they feel like
Speaker:they're kind of exposing a new part of
Speaker:themselves to you in a way that they can
Speaker:like really open up to you as a host.
Speaker:So I would say that that's one thing.
Speaker:I would also say that the ability to go
Speaker:off of the, the script of your questions,
Speaker:also makes a good interviewer and, it
Speaker:yields great questions, even though it's
Speaker:pretty, it's pretty scary to do that
Speaker:because you're like, I hope this goes
Speaker:in a direction that I want it to go.
Speaker:And I hope that like my question
Speaker:isn't five minutes long because I'm
Speaker:forming it in my brain actively.
Speaker:But those kinds of things, I
Speaker:mean, that makes people more
Speaker:connected to you as a host.
Speaker:It makes people understand
Speaker:where you're thinking.
Speaker:So I would say, um, flipping the
Speaker:questions, trying to ask them
Speaker:something new, and then, second
Speaker:point that has now left my brain.
Speaker:Yeah, I think making someone
Speaker:think more deeply about the answer
Speaker:that they're trying to give you.
Speaker:Is going to be something that
Speaker:immediately opens you up.
Speaker:I think the scary thing that you
Speaker:were talking about that second point
Speaker:of like having a script and having
Speaker:these questions that you want.
Speaker:That was the
Speaker:second point.
Speaker:Yeah, you
Speaker:got it.
Speaker:Having these questions that you
Speaker:have already like rehearsed,
Speaker:you already kind of know them
Speaker:and then going away from that.
Speaker:You feel like maybe you might lose track
Speaker:they might not give you an answer that
Speaker:is any good, or you just get scared
Speaker:to connect with someone more deeply.
Speaker:It's so good to experience that when
Speaker:you're interviewing someone, to feel
Speaker:like they could give you any answer.
Speaker:And you're just gonna run with it.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:that takes time, I feel.
Speaker:Because, so I suggest that to people.
Speaker:I suggest, like, kind of going off of
Speaker:script and asking the follow up questions
Speaker:when you start to feel more comfortable.
Speaker:It's okay.
Speaker:I think when you first start
Speaker:out to come in with your list of
Speaker:questions and kind of stick to that.
Speaker:I mean, as long as it doesn't break
Speaker:conversation, you know, like you can kind
Speaker:of tell when you have an interviewer and
Speaker:they come with their list because it kind
Speaker:of takes a left turn, takes a right turn.
Speaker:Like they'll go right from answering
Speaker:the one question and they're
Speaker:like, okay, next question is, and
Speaker:it kind of breaks up the flow.
Speaker:But I think that when you're starting
Speaker:out, that can be important just
Speaker:for getting your confidence up.
Speaker:And then you listen back to those
Speaker:interviews and you're like, Ooh, I could
Speaker:have asked this follow up question, or
Speaker:I could have said that and then kind
Speaker:of building off of yourself from there.
Speaker:So I'm not saying it's a day one
Speaker:process to say like, go off your
Speaker:script, who cares about your questions?
Speaker:Ask all the follow ups, like, that's
Speaker:something that will come with time.
Speaker:But that should be the goal.
Speaker:Yeah, that is very
Speaker:important to to make sure.
Speaker:Make people aware that it's okay
Speaker:if you don't feel comfy to begin
Speaker:with, just start there, but do have
Speaker:that overall goal to get there.
Speaker:I think Kendall's made a really good
Speaker:point there is saying listen back.
Speaker:Mm hmm to what you've done.
Speaker:That is really key to anyone that excels
Speaker:in anything if you look at professional
Speaker:athletes, for example, you know, they
Speaker:Record everything they do and then they
Speaker:watch themselves to the point like ad
Speaker:nauseum probably To establish what they
Speaker:did wrong and then work on it or what
Speaker:they could improve on maybe wrong is
Speaker:the wrong word So just think about that
Speaker:for a second and Next time you have an
Speaker:edit that is being presented to you,
Speaker:or maybe you're editing it yourself.
Speaker:Listen back to it, not with the audio
Speaker:production, how does it sound hat on, it
Speaker:should be what's the overall flow, and
Speaker:could I have asked a different question?
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:Yeah, as painful as it is to sometimes
Speaker:hear your voice when you listen back,
Speaker:you're like, I feel like sometimes
Speaker:I'm cringing, being like, oh my god.
Speaker:Gosh, this is what I sound
Speaker:like, but still, I glean a lot
Speaker:of really great tips out of it.
Speaker:Like, every time that I interview
Speaker:somebody or that I do an interview,
Speaker:I feel like I, once I listen back,
Speaker:I feel more confident that I can go
Speaker:into the next one and build upon them.
Speaker:What made you leave?
Speaker:where you were then.
Speaker:Why did you decide to do that?
Speaker:It sounds like it was a
Speaker:pretty great role for you.
Speaker:So it was a really, it
Speaker:was a really cool role.
Speaker:So I did a few roles.
Speaker:I would say that my favorite
Speaker:one was when I was at Bloomberg.
Speaker:We were, as I was saying, like kind
Speaker:of living out of a suitcase covering
Speaker:the 2016 presidential election.
Speaker:And what was cool is we were also
Speaker:working for a Showtime documentary
Speaker:series, called The Circus.
Speaker:And so instead of going to the normal
Speaker:campaign rallies and then kind of,
Speaker:you know, going from one to the other.
Speaker:we would get on the campaign buses
Speaker:with the presidential candidates
Speaker:and it was just very behind the
Speaker:scenes, an incredible experience
Speaker:that kind of felt once in a lifetime.
Speaker:Then, to be honest, I met my wife,
Speaker:and she lived abroad and basically
Speaker:I just had to re establish, like, I
Speaker:couldn't move to another country and
Speaker:cover their politics because it was
Speaker:by definition foreign to me, you know?
Speaker:So I had gone from like, really learning
Speaker:all this American political, like,
Speaker:the American political system and all
Speaker:of the, the politics behind it, to
Speaker:be honest, and so kind of going into
Speaker:something else, I was like, okay,
Speaker:maybe I'll, Go to there's a there's
Speaker:a joke in journalism that everyone
Speaker:kind of funnels into marketing and PR.
Speaker:Guilty.
Speaker:So I was like, okay, maybe
Speaker:I want to do some marketing.
Speaker:I'll just do some marketing
Speaker:and do some writing.
Speaker:I started doing writing, I realized
Speaker:that it really wasn't for me.
Speaker:I love to write.
Speaker:I did not like the process of marketing
Speaker:writing and like the Going over specific
Speaker:words making like editing the same
Speaker:page kind of over and over again It
Speaker:just kind of took something that I
Speaker:loved and made it a bit too technical.
Speaker:So instead I Ended up talking to
Speaker:Riverside and they had reached out
Speaker:about a community manager job And what
Speaker:I realized was that what I loved about
Speaker:journalism was wasn't specifically the
Speaker:fact that I was writing, it was actually
Speaker:the fact that I was talking to a bunch
Speaker:of different voters or hearing a bunch
Speaker:of different people talk about a topic
Speaker:and figuring out what's the story.
Speaker:And I feel like that's really the
Speaker:role of a community manager, speaking
Speaker:with a bunch of different people,
Speaker:understanding their needs and
Speaker:saying, okay, what's the story here?
Speaker:How do we deliver that?
Speaker:How do we make sure that
Speaker:people can get that?
Speaker:And so that's kind of how I ended up
Speaker:making a pivot from, from journalism
Speaker:into, into community managing.
Speaker:And so it all really stemmed from
Speaker:Just meeting the love of your life,
Speaker:really, which is kind of cool.
Speaker:Yeah, which was wild.
Speaker:It was, it was cool.
Speaker:It turned out cool, because we
Speaker:got married and we're happy.
Speaker:But like, I will say that a lot of my
Speaker:friends, when I was like, I'm going
Speaker:to quit NBC and move across the world,
Speaker:they're like, what are you doing?
Speaker:But, you know, it was, uh.
Speaker:Especially when you
Speaker:get a job like that, like when you get
Speaker:a role like that, and it's a position
Speaker:that is probably really sought after, to
Speaker:then jump ship is a huge leap of faith.
Speaker:Yeah, but I mean, to look back, like, no
Speaker:pun intended, Hindsight's 2020, in the
Speaker:way that like 2020 elections in the U.
Speaker:S.
Speaker:was terrible.
Speaker:I would have, if I would
Speaker:have stayed in the U.
Speaker:S.
Speaker:covering politics to watch,
Speaker:like, Joe Biden on Zoom,
Speaker:like, there were no campaigns.
Speaker:There was nothing going on.
Speaker:I would have been, like, beside myself.
Speaker:So really, like, everything,
Speaker:everything aligned.
Speaker:But, it was definitely a leap of
Speaker:faith, and a, crazy one at that
Speaker:that just turned out to have worked
Speaker:well, but could have gone south.
Speaker:I'm glad that it didn't.
Speaker:So if we think about the thing and,
Speaker:you know, asking good questions and
Speaker:trying to get the best out of the
Speaker:person that you're interviewing.
Speaker:Is there any podcast that you listen
Speaker:to that you feel like the person does
Speaker:that really well or you find yourself
Speaker:getting really sucked in without
Speaker:realizing that it's actually the question
Speaker:that has helped form the conversation?
Speaker:the actual flow of that podcast.
Speaker:I am not usually such a huge fan
Speaker:of like the pop culture podcasts.
Speaker:I will say that I think that
Speaker:Call Her Daddy, I really think
Speaker:that her interview style is.
Speaker:Great, because she comes in with this
Speaker:like level of curiosity, you could tell
Speaker:that she's done her research, but it
Speaker:really does feel like a conversation.
Speaker:And she does a lot of
Speaker:time setting things.
Speaker:So she'll go, take me
Speaker:back to this moment.
Speaker:What did you feel when
Speaker:this was all happening?
Speaker:And then they'll like tell
Speaker:how they were feeling.
Speaker:She's like, I want to stop you there.
Speaker:Didn't you think about
Speaker:this, that and this?
Speaker:Like, you can tell that she did a
Speaker:research, but that she didn't come
Speaker:in with this huge list of questions.
Speaker:It feels more like she came in.
Speaker:with a list of topics that she wanted
Speaker:to hear more about, and then really
Speaker:wanted dig into that, to dive into that.
Speaker:So I would say that I admire her
Speaker:interviews for their level of,
Speaker:like, research and curiosity.
Speaker:She doesn't over research.
Speaker:Like if she had a question that she's
Speaker:like, I wonder how they felt there.
Speaker:Some, some interviewers would be like,
Speaker:okay, let's see what they've said.
Speaker:And they'd go, I've heard that
Speaker:you felt X, Y, and Z, but what
Speaker:do you have to say about that?
Speaker:For her, it's just like, she leads with
Speaker:a genuine curiosity that I, that I really
Speaker:admire and that it's fun to listen to.
Speaker:I would also say from the Riverside
Speaker:community, I was speaking with,
Speaker:uh, somebody from our community.
Speaker:His name's Matt Gilhooly.
Speaker:He's the host of the Life Shift podcast.
Speaker:And the podcast is all about like
Speaker:pivotal moments that change your life.
Speaker:It's like your life was different
Speaker:one day than it was to the next.
Speaker:it was based off of, um, his experience
Speaker:with, uh, the death of his mother.
Speaker:when he goes into those interviews,
Speaker:what I love about them is he really just
Speaker:like, I've spoken with him about this.
Speaker:He just focuses on listening.
Speaker:He really just like, listens to what
Speaker:his guest is saying and reacts on that.
Speaker:He goes in knowing what like, the
Speaker:outline of what the story is, but he, He
Speaker:tries to go in with as little research
Speaker:as possible to be able to direct the
Speaker:conversation and then genuinely react.
Speaker:I wouldn't, I don't know if I would
Speaker:say as little research as possible,
Speaker:but he tries to leave a lot open so
Speaker:that he can learn actively during the
Speaker:recording, which I think is great.
Speaker:And he gave me a really great, tip
Speaker:last time that I spoke with him.
Speaker:He said that his interview started
Speaker:getting better when he allowed
Speaker:himself to forget the follow up.
Speaker:We were talking about how, like, in the
Speaker:corporate world, your currency, a lot
Speaker:of the time, is what you're going to
Speaker:say next, how you're going to respond.
Speaker:You, like, you, he was saying, like,
Speaker:I'm waiting for my moment to be
Speaker:able to tell my, my grand idea or
Speaker:my thought after the person wraps
Speaker:up, but I'm not listening to them.
Speaker:while they're speaking
Speaker:because I'm like, Oh, I have
Speaker:something that I want to share.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So I think that that was like,
Speaker:really helpful for me was his idea
Speaker:of giving yourself permission to
Speaker:forget the follow up, let the guest
Speaker:finish the rest of their answer while
Speaker:you're sitting there being like,
Speaker:Oh my God, what was that follow up?
Speaker:Because you're, you're
Speaker:not going to remember it.
Speaker:And then you're not going to be able to
Speaker:think of another follow up because you
Speaker:didn't listen to what they were saying.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Like, let it go in one ear out,
Speaker:like, let it, or not in linear at
Speaker:the other, let like the thought kind
Speaker:of get out of your head to clear it
Speaker:so that you can create the next one.
Speaker:it makes me think about in person
Speaker:conversations that we have with
Speaker:people and with our friends
Speaker:and maybe with our mothers and
Speaker:people that know us really well.
Speaker:There are some people that do that.
Speaker:All the time as in they're actually
Speaker:never listening to you where you say
Speaker:something and It's like all they're
Speaker:doing is it's just a holding pattern
Speaker:until they can then speak again.
Speaker:Yeah So you don't actually thought yes,
Speaker:that's right.
Speaker:You don't feel like you've actually had
Speaker:any real connection with the person It's
Speaker:just They've said something to you, then
Speaker:you've said something else, then they've
Speaker:gone back to what they were going to say.
Speaker:So actually listening to people is huge.
Speaker:And I think one of the only ways to
Speaker:do that really effectively, as you've
Speaker:said, is forgetting or not having this
Speaker:big list of questions that you're going
Speaker:to ask and keep referring to them.
Speaker:Because as soon as you do that, it
Speaker:takes you away from actually doing it.
Speaker:The person that's in front of
Speaker:you, but I will say something.
Speaker:It's, it's much harder to do that when
Speaker:you're not physically with someone.
Speaker:You and me here on Riverside.
Speaker:I mean, Riverside's great, but it's like,
Speaker:I have to look at my camera to make sure
Speaker:that my eyes are looking at the camera
Speaker:at the person when we're doing the video
Speaker:edit, but I also want to look at you,
Speaker:but you're not actually there, you know?
Speaker:So I'm listening to you, but
Speaker:I'm not looking at you as
Speaker:much as I would in person.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So there's that.
Speaker:layer of complexity that You don't
Speaker:expect to have, like, it's a, it's a
Speaker:harder thing to get over, I think, when
Speaker:you're interviewing someone to connect
Speaker:with them without maybe not looking at
Speaker:them because you're trying to focus.
Speaker:I completely, yeah, I completely agree.
Speaker:I would say for me, I have like
Speaker:some Experience doing it just
Speaker:from like being on tv and you
Speaker:look at the camera and just go.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Yep back to you You know, but I would
Speaker:say that if that is something that's
Speaker:like getting in the way of your of
Speaker:your podcast for anyone Give yourself
Speaker:permission to, like, look away and
Speaker:look at the person on the screen.
Speaker:Like, I know that people want to
Speaker:look at the camera, and that's great,
Speaker:your audience wants to hear like, a
Speaker:great interview out of you, and if
Speaker:that means taking your eyes away from
Speaker:the, the camera that you have, like,
Speaker:the webcam that you have positioned
Speaker:and looking at your screen, people
Speaker:will forgive that, you know, like,
Speaker:it's not gonna make or break for me.
Speaker:is what I, what I feel.
Speaker:So I think that if that's gonna be
Speaker:enough that like, I was speaking with
Speaker:another podcast the other day and he
Speaker:said that he had this really great, he
Speaker:was talking about business and he saw
Speaker:this bobblehead over the shoulder of,
Speaker:uh, of one of his guests and he mentioned
Speaker:this bobblehead and it lit the fire.
Speaker:the guest up.
Speaker:He wouldn't have gotten that unless
Speaker:he was able to look at the screen
Speaker:and actually like observe the person.
Speaker:And that yielded this really
Speaker:incredible moment in his interview.
Speaker:People want to hear a great interview.
Speaker:They're not going to be like,
Speaker:Oh my gosh, I hate this podcast
Speaker:because Kendall wasn't looking
Speaker:at her camera the whole time.
Speaker:You know, like that's not what's
Speaker:going to make or break it.
Speaker:Your questions are so That should
Speaker:be where you're leading from.
Speaker:And then as you continue to
Speaker:build yourself up, you can be
Speaker:looking at the camera more.
Speaker:But that's something that you can kind
Speaker:of continue to build up over time.
Speaker:There's also something, I think it was
Speaker:for Huberman Lab podcast, maybe, quite
Speaker:a while back, but he was talking about
Speaker:To really listen, you, shouldn't be
Speaker:looking at the person, which I found odd.
Speaker:I was like, what are you talking about?
Speaker:how can that be?
Speaker:But apparently the research around
Speaker:it is you actually listen more deeply
Speaker:if you are not looking at the person.
Speaker:So I've, I've been trialing that myself.
Speaker:Like, am I more in tune
Speaker:with what someone's saying
Speaker:if I'm not looking at them?
Speaker:And.
Speaker:I probably am.
Speaker:And when you think about when you're on
Speaker:landline back in the day on, on the phone
Speaker:with someone, You were really listening
Speaker:because there was nothing to look at.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:As well.
Speaker:And so maybe that actually would really
Speaker:help people to just go, you know what,
Speaker:I'm actually not going to look at them
Speaker:because I want to really listen to them.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I mean, I think that everybody has a
Speaker:different style that works for them.
Speaker:I think that there are definitely tips,
Speaker:like listening is the biggest tip that
Speaker:I have for being a better interviewer.
Speaker:And it's funny because it's kind of
Speaker:okay, obvious, like, yeah, you have
Speaker:to listen to have a good interview.
Speaker:But half of it is.
Speaker:When you think about interviewing,
Speaker:a lot of the time it's
Speaker:about the talking, you know?
Speaker:So you don't actually think that the
Speaker:moment that you be quiet is actually the
Speaker:most important part of your interview.
Speaker:A hundred percent.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:The last question I think I'd like
Speaker:to ask you is around research.
Speaker:And a lot of the time that seems
Speaker:to be a barrier for people to
Speaker:go, well, I don't know how.
Speaker:Like, I don't know how
Speaker:to research a person.
Speaker:Like, what should I be looking for?
Speaker:First is kind of like I would
Speaker:say like, research yourself.
Speaker:Like, what is your goal?
Speaker:Like, why are you bringing
Speaker:this person to the show?
Speaker:What do you want out of this?
Speaker:And that should be kind of your driver.
Speaker:Is the goal because you think This person
Speaker:is a great podcast host and you want to
Speaker:know how they became this podcast host.
Speaker:And then you can lead with
Speaker:that curiosity, like I
Speaker:was talking about before.
Speaker:So I think first is
Speaker:establishing your goal.
Speaker:Like, why did you bring that
Speaker:person to the conversation?
Speaker:The conversation can go to a completely
Speaker:different place, but like, being
Speaker:driven by your why and what's making
Speaker:you curious enough to bring somebody.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:show.
Speaker:Then I would say that what I would
Speaker:do, when I was a journalist is I
Speaker:would look at their past interviews.
Speaker:a lot of it with, as far as news
Speaker:is I would find moments that they
Speaker:weren't asked to follow up and think
Speaker:about what my follow up would be.
Speaker:So if it's like, if I'm sitting there
Speaker:watching a news anchor and they didn't
Speaker:ask to follow up, I'm like, Oh my God.
Speaker:low hanging fruit, why
Speaker:didn't they ask that?
Speaker:And you can take that question and
Speaker:say, I saw that you were on a podcast
Speaker:that said X, Y, and Z, but I'm actually
Speaker:wondering what you think about this.
Speaker:It makes somebody feel flattered
Speaker:that you've, like, really listened
Speaker:to what they've said, but also
Speaker:it pushes them a bit further.
Speaker:so I recommend doing that.
Speaker:I also recommend looking for moments,
Speaker:like I will go on Twitter, I'll
Speaker:go on Facebook, or LinkedIn, or
Speaker:Instagram, and I'll try to find
Speaker:things that they're talking about
Speaker:that aren't related to my goal.
Speaker:So I know that sounds counterintuitive,
Speaker:but if the guy that I'm going to be,
Speaker:interviewing is posting all the time
Speaker:about baseball, I'll And I want to talk
Speaker:to him about business or something, then
Speaker:having those moments where I like, can
Speaker:throw a baseball reference or like, I
Speaker:hear your baseball fans tell me about
Speaker:this, like, even if I cut that out of
Speaker:the interview later, it's relax that
Speaker:person, like it brings them to something
Speaker:that they feel comfortable with.
Speaker:So including in your research, like
Speaker:a little bit, that's about them,
Speaker:rather than about their position or
Speaker:the reason that you're having them on.
Speaker:I know those two points sound
Speaker:counterintuitive, but you want to
Speaker:have your goal, but your goal should
Speaker:always also be to kind of have them
Speaker:bring their walls down a little bit.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:I would also say that a big thing
Speaker:that I love to do, it's called the
Speaker:green, like a green room conversation.
Speaker:So when I was in, journalism, we would
Speaker:do like, I was in television news.
Speaker:We would have a green room as
Speaker:most news organizations do.
Speaker:And that's where the guests
Speaker:would sit before they'd go on.
Speaker:What we would do is we'd have a
Speaker:producer come in and just talk
Speaker:with them before they went on set.
Speaker:Because if you're sitting there and
Speaker:you're quiet, you're going on your
Speaker:phone, you're texting, whatever, and
Speaker:then you go on to a news set, like,
Speaker:that is such a switch in your brain
Speaker:and you have to suddenly turn it on.
Speaker:If you are having a conversation that's
Speaker:fun and engaging and light, and then
Speaker:they're like, alright, you're on, like,
Speaker:you immediately go on happier, more
Speaker:excited to talk, you're feeling better.
Speaker:more comfortable with
Speaker:the crew and the staff.
Speaker:So I would always recommend
Speaker:meeting with people maybe like
Speaker:five, 10 minutes before, or like,
Speaker:let's say that a conversation
Speaker:starts at nine, go on at nine.
Speaker:I usually will have my, Riverside
Speaker:studio already recording.
Speaker:And.
Speaker:And then we'll just kind of start
Speaker:talking and then I'll let them know
Speaker:when the interview really starts.
Speaker:But it's just it's not about like, let's
Speaker:here's what we're going to talk about.
Speaker:Here's what I'm going to ask you.
Speaker:Of course, we'll mention that.
Speaker:But it's also like, how's your day going?
Speaker:Oh, my God, and like, kind of lead
Speaker:off the vibe you want, like, Oh,
Speaker:my God, I had a crazy morning.
Speaker:Like, if you want somebody to be
Speaker:authentic in themselves, then like
Speaker:you lead that way and be that way.
Speaker:So I would say that that's also really
Speaker:important for for the interview.
Speaker:But as far as research, I would say
Speaker:looking at their social media and
Speaker:past interviews, and then I would say
Speaker:knowing your goals and kind of crafting
Speaker:your interview around those goals.
Speaker:And my last tip that I will give what I
Speaker:used to do is we used to put questions
Speaker:on one side of a piece of paper, and then
Speaker:we'd draw a line in the middle of it.
Speaker:And then on the other side
Speaker:of the piece of paper, we'd
Speaker:do like the push questions.
Speaker:So for example, it could be,
Speaker:what makes a good podcast?
Speaker:And the push question could be, what do
Speaker:you think podcasters are doing wrong?
Speaker:So take the questions that are just
Speaker:like, tell me about your life growing up.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Tell me about your childhood.
Speaker:Yeah,
Speaker:to be how do you think your
Speaker:hometown may like changed you?
Speaker:Like what about your hometown
Speaker:still still sits with you today?
Speaker:just trying to make a small pivot 90
Speaker:degrees, you know, and And trying to
Speaker:push those on, on one side of the paper
Speaker:and the other is really, really helpful.
Speaker:It's essentially the same question
Speaker:too, you know, but it's just a totally
Speaker:different frame that you're putting it
Speaker:in that then breaks down the barrier
Speaker:of that person answering it in a
Speaker:way that they've always answered it.
Speaker:Because when you think about the
Speaker:amount of podcasts that maybe
Speaker:if it's a really good guest that
Speaker:they've been on, And they're always
Speaker:getting asked the same things.
Speaker:As Kendall said, part of your research
Speaker:is going back and listening to
Speaker:what people have asked them before.
Speaker:And if you want to ask kind of
Speaker:the same question, how can you ask
Speaker:it differently to get a better,
Speaker:hopefully, response out of it?
Speaker:I also really like that thought
Speaker:on, having the green room.
Speaker:certainly from my experience as a podcast
Speaker:producer, been doing this for over a
Speaker:decade, the amount of conversations that
Speaker:I've listened to is in the thousands.
Speaker:Some of the best stuff comes from
Speaker:before, when they've hit record,
Speaker:but they haven't actually started.
Speaker:Some of the best stuff is there.
Speaker:Or at the very end of the
Speaker:episode, when they go, cool,
Speaker:okay, that wraps the episode.
Speaker:And then they don't stop
Speaker:recording and they keep talking.
Speaker:I'm still listening all the way through
Speaker:that going, Oh, that's actually a
Speaker:really good question and answer.
Speaker:And I'll obviously always ask the client,
Speaker:like, Hey, this was actually really good.
Speaker:Is it okay if we put this in?
Speaker:And I think it comes back to that
Speaker:feeling of relaxing, like feeling
Speaker:like you can just Be comfortable.
Speaker:And as soon as you're comfortable, then
Speaker:you ask much better questions and you get
Speaker:much better responses from your, like the
Speaker:people that you're interviewing as well.
Speaker:So those are, those are
Speaker:extremely good tips.
Speaker:And then the other one, which I just
Speaker:wanted to hit on as well was when you
Speaker:were talking about that green room
Speaker:and pumping people up and, I even just
Speaker:remembered, because I was quite famous
Speaker:for a while, I was on Australian Idol
Speaker:here in Australia and got all the, got
Speaker:all the way to the top 12, like top 10.
Speaker:I lived in Sydney.
Speaker:I'm googling this
Speaker:immediately after.
Speaker:Please don't.
Speaker:Opens
Speaker:new tab.
Speaker:Yeah,
Speaker:yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker:But the, The thought I had there was
Speaker:that exact situation where because
Speaker:you'd be coming onto the stage just
Speaker:before knowing that there were a
Speaker:heap of people in the audience.
Speaker:And then as well as that, there
Speaker:were millions of people that were
Speaker:tuning in to watch live beforehand.
Speaker:Like you had your quiet time.
Speaker:Where you were just alone with your
Speaker:thoughts and maybe thinking about what
Speaker:you were going to sing or whatever.
Speaker:But before you got on, just before,
Speaker:the team was always really hyped up.
Speaker:So there'd be the producers,
Speaker:there'd be make up artists,
Speaker:there'd be everyone to to there.
Speaker:Getting everyone in a space where you
Speaker:felt like that energy was matching what
Speaker:you were actually about to step into.
Speaker:And that's something for
Speaker:podcasters to take away as well,
Speaker:to go, how can I hype myself up?
Speaker:Not with caffeine, perhaps, because
Speaker:you might go a bit too far, but how
Speaker:can I hype myself up, get myself to an
Speaker:energy that is going to connect well.
Speaker:Yeah, I mean, even if you think about
Speaker:people like, uh, I was gonna say people
Speaker:in sports such as how sporty I am.
Speaker:Athletes is the word.
Speaker:Um, so even if you think about
Speaker:that, like the locker room, like
Speaker:the speech that coaches make before,
Speaker:like you really, it's about mindset.
Speaker:And so you need to go in with the right
Speaker:mindset, but it's also about Making sure
Speaker:that your guest has the right mindset.
Speaker:And so you can make the best list of
Speaker:questions, but if you aren't making your
Speaker:guests feel comfortable, you're still not
Speaker:going to get the best interview possible.
Speaker:So it's just as important to craft great
Speaker:questions as it is to make your guests
Speaker:feel like they can have a comfortable
Speaker:and authentic conversation with you.
Speaker:Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker:All the good things.
Speaker:This has been such a good conversation.
Speaker:I've had a wonderful
Speaker:time chatting with you.
Speaker:Me
Speaker:too.
Speaker:If
Speaker:anyone wants to check out
Speaker:Riverside, then I will put a
Speaker:link in the show notes for that.
Speaker:We are an affiliate of Riverside,
Speaker:so just know that as well.
Speaker:If you click on anything and purchase,
Speaker:then you will be giving us a little
Speaker:kickback, which is always lovely.
Speaker:And, uh, any final thoughts?
Speaker:I would just say as far as Riverside
Speaker:we also as community manager, I
Speaker:lead a community of like thousands
Speaker:of creators who are helping each
Speaker:other become better podcast hosts.
Speaker:That's really what I feel like the
Speaker:community is geared towards is asking
Speaker:each other questions, being able to, you
Speaker:know, bounce ideas off of each other.
Speaker:So if that is something that you're
Speaker:interested in and really want to tap
Speaker:into that, then I'll send you over a
Speaker:link for the, for the Facebook community.
Speaker:And we'd love to have you there.
Speaker:And it's just a really
Speaker:supportive community where we
Speaker:talk about things like this.
Speaker:So would be happy to have you there.
Speaker:Great.
Speaker:Okay, cool.
Speaker:Yeah, we'll definitely include
Speaker:the link to that as well.
Speaker:Thank you so much for joining me here
Speaker:on Pump Up Your Pod today and guys,
Speaker:I hope you have really enjoyed this.
Speaker:I hope that you feel like you can take
Speaker:some really good insights away from
Speaker:this and think about the questions
Speaker:you're going to ask in future.
Speaker:Write down the boring version.
Speaker:And then put a line in the middle, and
Speaker:then what's the better version of that?
Speaker:What's the, uh, I'm gonna really
Speaker:get them with this question.
Speaker:And keep your goal in
Speaker:mind when you're doing it.
Speaker:When you see that boring question,
Speaker:you're like, what is the answer
Speaker:that I want to get from this?
Speaker:Like, the hometown one.
Speaker:Oh, I want to hear how they
Speaker:changed, like how, how their
Speaker:hometown made them who they are.
Speaker:Then why don't you ask them, you know?
Speaker:Why did this place make you who you are?
Speaker:Rather than tell me about your childhood.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:Keep those goals in mind.
