Ten Commandments of Guest Interviews

Have you ever seen an amateur try to do the work of an expert? Imagine a surgeon inviting an average person to try their hand with a scalpel, or a World Cup soccer team bringing a fan down to the pitch to play goalie.

Interviews on a radio show or podcast can be like that. Great shows can be not-so-great when they turn over the program to guests who are unschooled on how to be entertaining, and most interviews are a low spot in PPM.

Actors, musicians, authors, local business owners, and charity representatives are good at what they do, but most are not good at what you do — creating entertaining audio content.

There are successful shows that specialize in interviews like The Breakfast Club, The Howard Stern Show on Sirius XM, and NPR’s Fresh Air with Terri Gross. These hosts, producers, and staffs work long hours in preparation to assure that each interview results in killer content.

If your show does not have that kind of time and resources, you can still create entertaining guest segments with my very facetiously named Ten Commandments of Guest Interviews.

1. Sky-high guest filter. Think of reasons not to have a guest on. An ideal guest is universally familiar to listeners — you do not have to explain who they are. They are relevant to your audience and they have a reputation for being entertaining. If you get an offer to interview people like Tom Hanks, Taylor Swift, or Samuel L Jackson, say yes.
2. Guests must bring stories. If your sales department sold a package to Bob’s Hardware Store and you must now interview Bob, the owner (yes, this kind of thing still happens) work with the seller to pre-prompt the guest for stories. Is there an interesting story behind the origin of the store? What is the biggest home improvement disaster you ever saw? Give us an extreme example of difficult customer behavior.
3. Record and edit. Never do live interviews. Play selectively edited clips of the interview on air and podcast and you might post the unedited version elsewhere. Don’t rush to air it. Veteran interviewer Steve Inskeep of NPR News says “There is no story that is not improved by holding it for a day.”
4. Make guests feel safe. Fresh Air’s Terry Gross tells all guests:

• As you talk, if you want to stop and restate what you are saying — do so.  Interviews are taped so we can edit and make you look good.
   
• If I ask something that is too personal let me know and I will move on.

5. Tease great interviews.  Practice horizontal teasing for the segment at the same time the day before, repetitive teasing up to airtime, and tease with clips of the interview to help build interest.
 
6. Start strong. Once you have the interview recorded, find the most provocative, interesting moment and that is what you open the segment with. Dramatic audio of an actor or musician’s work is another great way to begin an interview.
 
7. Make guests part of the show. Think of Jimmy Kimmel’s Mean Tweetssegment or the pranks that Ellen Degeneres played on guests. Consider a gimmick like The Breakfast Club Bowl where guests pick an embarrassing question they have to answer. (You can clear the questions with guests before airtime to avoid any real embarrassment.) Or, ask guests to play a game, like Spit or Swallow with Kyle and Jackie O of KIIS Sydney: Guests either “spit” an answer to provocative questions or they swallow things like a fish eye, raw kidney, or a pickle smoothie. Here is a harsh truth: Some guests are best when they contribute briefly to a show topic or game – and then they are quickly escorted out.

• Also: if you have a multiple-host show, all hosts participate in the interview. Do not abandon your winning cast chemistry for a guest.
  
  8. Ask open questions. Instead of yes/no binary questions, probe and get personal with open-ended questions that get your guest talking. Ask about their life, challenges, family, setbacks, and mistakes.

9. Keep your questions short. In the days ahead, notice the television, radio, and podcast hosts who are clearly more interested in talking than listening. Also, notice hosts who allow the guests to ramble on without guidance. Keep the word count balance between host(s) and guests approximately even.

10. Deemphasize weak guest content.

• Public service/charity interviews are best on social media videos.Sherman and Tingle at 971 The Drive in Chicago brought in a representative from Illinois Heart Rescue and videotaped an entertaining CPR demonstration on a mannequin on the studio floor. Animal rescue groups get better adoption results with video of cute puppies and kittens on social.
   
• Separate segments for client interviews. Do not replace entertainment content in place at the front of commercials for paid infomercial conversations. Move those to the back side of stop sets.
   
• Kill poor interviews. When a guest segment does not meet the show’s standards, shelve it. At NPR’s Fresh Air, they sometimes contact the guest and politely inform them that the interview will never air.

Photo by Jason Goodman on Unsplash