Focus on the True Expert in Your Podcast
If you are someone who falls in the category of being a guru, a thought leader, or if you’ve created great content in the form of books or other material, you probably do possess the ability to just open up a microphone and instantly command attention. For the rest of us, however, being interviewed by a host or sidekick places the emphasis or spotlight on our knowledge and expertise.
Think of the great Johnny Carson who still needed Ed McMahon as his sidekick; in other words, you need a host, someone who knows their job is to make you stand out. Your host becomes someone who can ask questions, ask for clarification of a subject, or ask you to give an example of what you’re talking about. That back and forth banter makes things much easier for listeners to understand and a host serves as a listener’s voice.
Another common problem with conducting a solo podcast is you may run out of subject matter. I’ve seen podcasters resort to bringing in guests in an effort to sidestep this problem, but this doesn’t always work as planned. Instead, it shines the spotlight on your guest; they become the expert and you become the host.
In my years of podcasting, I have brought in guests myself, but it was because I wanted to put them center stage so to speak – I wanted to know what they knew and I was content to step back and become the interviewer. If that is what you are attempting to do, that’s great, but it’s important to make sure that you really mean to shift focus off of yourself. If your goal is to demonstrate and share your expertise, bringing in guests can only be counter-productive and this is why Shortcut Content believes each interview should be done with you as the guest speaker.
Many of our clients are bona-fide experts; they know their subject inside and out, but they have never actually tried to communicate that knowledge. Our interviewers are trained to help you open the door and really share what you know. An interview will boost your confidence in your ability to share your knowledge and helps you sidestep another common problem where we tend to stand in judgment of deciding what people really want to hear.
A good interviewer is simply there to serve as your guide and all you need to do is talk.