Tag: podcast tools

How To Prepare Your Podcast Guest

Podcasters make sure you have prepared your guest for their interview.

Life happens, people get nervous, we as hosts can make the process smooth for our guest. This post will tell you how to make the interview process easy for your guest.

There’s a lot of information and downloads on how to be a great podcast guest . This post is about how to help put guests at ease and make sure they are ready to be on our show.

Step 1. Create an Email Template

Welcome your guest to the podcast and thank them for their time.

Summarise briefly what the show is about.

Personalise each email with the name of the guest(s) and add a few relevant sentences about why you think they would be a great guest.

Tell them what platform you’ll be using Skype, Squadcast, ZenCaster or Zoom.

Don’t forget to add the date, time and time zone.

Step 2. Date & Time (Time zone)

Schedule another email reminder – I use 10to8 which does this automatically.

Remind them what the date of the interview will be

Tell them at what time the interview will take place.

I want to add to this, tell them where you are based.

Do not assume guests know which cities are on Eastern time in the U.S, clocks going back in the UK or where you are in Australia. Tell them!

Podcast Maven

You can use a tool like time and date to ensure you are both on the same page.

Step 3 . Remind them that they MUST wear headphones!

Step 4 Connect A Little Early

In the first email ask them to connect 5 – 10 mins before the start of the interview.
This will give you time to explain the process to your guest, answer any questions and also catch any last minute tech issues.

This 5 minutes can make all the difference to putting your guest at ease and getting the best from your guest.

What do you do to prepare your guests? What tools do you use? Tell me below

The 5 Tools You Need To Kickstart Your Podcast

Launching a podcast is hard, but so worth the effort, to make the process easier here are 5 tools to kickstart your podcast.

 

  • Headliner.  This app will help you create short shareable audio clips with picture backgrounds that you can share on social media to promote your show.

 

Tip: Send a different audio clip to your guest and ask them to share it widely to promote their episode.

 

  • Auphonic. New podcasters often do everything themselves. Your audio doesn’t have to be perfect and this app will help you “even your sound out”. The first 2 hours are free, I think and their pricing is fair.

 

  • Canva. If you want to make excellent graphics but have the artistic ability of a one-year-old who eats crayons, this is the website for you. You will find templates that are sized for most social media platforms so that you can create social posts to go with your episodes. You can also put in your own dimensions, a lot of people create their cover podcast cover art with Canva.

 

  • Temi A transcript can help with the discoverability of your podcast. This service is automated and produces a “good enough” transcript of your podcast, for a good price. You will need to go back in a do minor corrections but it’s budget-friendly and easy to use.

 

Tip: Use the transcript to look for quotes to use in your social posts for the episode.

 

Speakpipe: I love this app! This app allows people to leave you a short and sweet voice message. You are using the medium of audio to reach your audience, let them contact you in the same way. You will get an email notification when you have received a voicemail.

 

Tip: Ask for your listeners to leave you a voice note with feedback, tips and questions. Also ask them to leave their name!!  Send them a shout-out in your next episode. Use their name. Make it personal. Make use of the medium that people prefer to use.

 

 

What apps make your podcasting life easier? Let me know.