"That's a GREAT question!" - 5 Steps to Awesome Podcast Interviews - Teacher: Juma Bannister

Hello, useful content creators, and welcome to this 49th episode of the useful content podcast. And you might be wondering, it's not a Thursday. Why is an episode being shipped? today. Well, there's a very good reason for that. You see, the 50th episode is a very special episode with a very special guest. And if you've been following me on Facebook and on LinkedIn, and you're a very eagle eyed person, you'll know exactly who that person is. And I didn't want to delay that episode any longer. And of course, in order to get to 50, you have to do 49 first. So I decided to drop two episodes this week in order to get to the 50th episode, that special episode, much faster. Now let's talk about today's show, which in itself It's a very special episode. So let's go back and do a little bit of history. If you count every guest I've interviewed, including the guests from the previous version of this show, when it wasn't really a podcast, it was called The Useful Content Creation Live Show, I would have interviewed 112 people. And so for this pre 50th episode, I found it fitting that we take a little bit of a look, a closer look at how I do these interviews and how I was able to become not in my words, but in the words of many of my guests, a great podcast host. But of course, you may be thinking, well, anyone can say that they are a great podcast host or they can say they're great at anything. But this is also coming on the heels of me discovering that I have the number one marketing podcast in Trinidad and Tobago, which was a surprise to me because I wasn't looking out for that. And also the feedback that I get from guests like this. That's a really good question. I love this question. Oh, excellent question, Juma yeah. Fascinating question, man. Yeah, that's a good question. I love that question. Well, that is a wonderful question. That's a really great question. Oh man, that's a great question. I've been like legitimately great question. No one has asked me that. Oh, that's a great question. Oh gosh, yeah, you caught me off guard with that one. that's a good point. Um, a good question. Great questions. You know, I love all the phenomenal questions that you're asking. I'm glad you asked that question. It's a good question. It's a good question. It's a really good question. That's a good one. That's a good question. Yeah, that's a good question. That's a great question and a great point. I love this question. You're hitting hard with the questions. That's a great question. That's a great question. Great. I love that question. Yeah, great question. That's another really good question. You're asking the hard questions here. Yeah. Great question. By the way, you're really good at this, man. This is a great podcast. Thanks. I appreciate. You know what you're doing. That was excellent, man. You did. You're a very, very good host, man. Yeah, man. Very, very good questions. So smooth with everything. I mean, it was great. And just even at the end, like when you're like coming in for landing, like, I don't know, little stuff like that, that matters. I think you're doing a fantastic job. Uh, thanks. I appreciate that Rich so much. So let's take a closer look at how I get responses like that, and let's make useful content. So there are five points I want to cover today, starting from the research phase of preparation, and I'm going to step through each stage of how I ask questions and engage with ~ ~my guest. So the first phase or the first thing to know is that I 100 percent research. So this is the single most important part of your preparation for an interview podcast. Usually by the time someone has been invited to my podcast, I've already consumed much of their content because generally the reason I Invite someone or I want them to come on is if I love their content and I find it to be very very valuable to me and so I extrapolate that if I love the content and it's very very valuable to me. It will also be valuable to people who like My content because I make my content for my audience is very tailored But there are some cases where someone is recommended to me, or someone approaches me to be on the podcast. And I might not have seen their content, I might not have engaged with it, I don't know who they are really and how they produce their content, and I have to go out. and I have to search and I have to find and see if they are a fit and if it's someone who I would be able to have a great conversation with on the podcast that will serve my audience. And this is where research comes in. the first thing I learned, even before I recorded my first interview, was the importance of this research. And when I say research, I don't mean just skimming through a guest's LinkedIn profile, or just skimming through their social media posts. I'm talking about, Deep, comprehensive research, or as deep as you could get given the timeframe you want to put into it. Now remember, this research is being done in context. I'm not trying to find out a ton of personal things about my guests. What I'm trying to do is I'm trying to get insight based on the point of view of the podcast in context, which is going to allow me to ask the best ~questions. ~questions. And my particular point of view is that content should be useful and you should use that content to build long term relationships with the people that matter to your business. So I am researching through that specific lens. And when you do your research on your guests for your own podcast or live show, you should research them based on your point of view, on the point of view you created for your podcast, so that the research you gather is in alignment with what your listeners expect and what the goals of the podcast. is. Now it's important to note here that I create these questions as I go through the research. As soon as I discover something interesting, something that stands out, something that I believe is key to how my guest, will develop useful content, I create a question about it. So I don't search for hours and hours and then gather everything and analyze. As soon as something stands out to me, I assume that it's going to stand out to the people who I want to make the podcast for. So I immediately turn that into a point of discussion by structuring it as a question. For example, when I was preparing to interview Mark Schaeffer, and I was doing research on him, I knew we were going to talk about his book, Belonging to the Brand, which centers around small online communities being the future of marketing. And I knew that Mark had formed his own online community because I happened to be a part ~of it. ~of that community. So I also knew that, of course, he would have had personal experiences in challenges of building a community. And in his book, he talks about the redistribution of power from the leaders of the community to the community members. And I knew that this would have possibly, ~uh, ~been something he experienced and that he would have a unique take on this. So I asked this question, one of the things that stands out to me is that you talk about in the book, of power. Uh, to the community, right? And you, you kind of touch on that then, but how does that actually work? How do you take as a leader of a community? Cause I know one of the challenges with business owners is that they're running a business. They have to dedicate all this time to actually building their business. And then they have this flourishing community on the other side. Let's suppose it's, it's gaining traction. It's getting more people. So they have to find this balance and inside of that, they're thinking about what kind of, I don't want to lose the people, but at the same time, I want my business to be successful. How do you take that responsibility is on you as a community leader and then give that to the people. and asking this question got this response. Well, that is, it's a wonderful question because it's something I continue to learn about. Because it's so different leading a community compared to what we learned in college about management and marketing and leadership So let's now take a closer look at research and some of the components inside of doing your own research for your podcast. So the first thing I seek to do is understand the guest's background. So I look into their professional history and I try to zero in on any pivotal moments. That might have shaped who they are. I'm looking in this type of research for transitions or major changes in their professional life and their career that could influence how they approach their point of view, their business and their content. ~ ~And sometimes while looking in these places, you discover that the guest has had Personal changes or personal challenges that has influenced their career and how they create, and you probably want to ask them about that as well. Doing this type of background research gives a foundation upon which to build the conversation and a basis to formulate really great questions. ~ ~ So the second thing in research is exploring their work and their impact. Now, whether it's books they've written, ~uh, ~talks they've given, or significant projects they've led, or even how they build their business, I try to absorb as much of their work as I can. as possible, as much as their perspective as possible. Now, there's one thing to note here. I've heard other people say that you shouldn't listen to interviews that the person has done, like other people who have interviewed them. But, uh, in my experience, ~I, ~I disagree with that. And, uh, here's why. Because I think there are two main things about listening to other interviews they've done with other people, and these two things can teach you some things, right? The first thing is that you learn how the guests think of themselves. They often say small things about themselves that you can miss, but these things end up being so interesting that you can use them to formulate new questions. And these things ~that, ~that they say in other interviews can be key to helping you ask ~the right questions. ~The right questions. And the second thing is what are the significant followups that the interviewer missed out on that you can now include in your line of questions. So you're looking for things that haven't been asked or touched. on before. And if you look at other interviews, you can easily identify and say, well, ~or ~they should have really gone here and gone down this road. And then you can formulate your questions in order to fit what was missing out of those other interviews. If you want to do that to enhance what you ask. All right, so I know I wasn't numbering these before, but this is the third sub point on the research. And the third sub point is identify key themes and patterns. So as I go through the person's content, I note recurring themes and patterns in their work or their philosophy. And this helps me find angles that might not have been explored. before in other interviews. And this is really important because when you see patterns, you can ask them about those patterns. And how did they arrive at this way of thinking? What about this stood out to them? Why did they adopt this and take this on as the way they run their business or create content or the way they seek to speak to their audience? And that could be a great talking point ~ ~And the fourth sub point I want to bring up is finding the unexpected. Now this is always very entertaining and interesting. I also look for unusual or surprising facts that can add an element of surprise to the conversation. ~So, um, ~some people might know this person, there's someone called Nardwar, it's the human serviette. Some people just call him Nardwar. He's a Canadian celebrity journalist and musician. And if you think about what Nardwar does, he tries to find some of the most unique things about this person that people haven't heard before. So his research sometimes gets pretty personal and it leads to people saying like, how did you find that out about me? Where did you find that? Uh, but it also leads the memorable moments in the interview for the person being interviewed and also for the audience because the audience came to find out more about that person. And I think this is a very good thing to do when you're looking to find out unique things that are very interesting about them that you can surface and ask questions about. Now remember, these things have to be within the realm of your point of view and the overall purpose of the podcast. You don't want to go veering off into territory that doesn't align with what your audience expects. So even if you find something interesting, make sure that it aligns with the purpose of the podcast. And the last point and the fifth point I want to make inside of this research section is streamlining the research process. Because I had a process to get to where I am, at the beginning I used to do at least 10 hours of research for every guest. Now I've fine tuned my approach to be able to spend about two to four hours per guest without compromising the depth of the research, but making my preparation a lot more efficient. So here's how I actually do that. So I'm looking at their most popular social media platforms, because most of the content you're going to find about them is going to be public content. I look at their most recent long form piece of content that they released. I listened to that on 1. 5 speed. And then I look at three to four pieces of their most recent short form content. Then I go back to their first ever publicly released piece of a long form content. I look at that as well. And then I tried to find some other pieces of content in between that have titles that are relevant to my podcast. And I listened to those. And those pieces of content would include, uh, interviews done by other persons. And I generally try to keep the research within the last two years or so, because content is dynamic. It's a dynamic topic that always changes, and people's perspective on things inside of that realm changes. And you find that most times people are more excited to talk about recent things and what they've been doing recently with their content. of course, then I go and I read their personal website, their business websites, so that I can get information about what they do, what services they offer and all those different things. If I hadn't gotten that before, and then I go and I scan their social media to see if there's anything interesting that stands out. to me. And so that's the way I go about the research. There are some things inside of there that is missing, could go into more detail, but generally that's how I approach my research. Okay, the second big point after doing research is, and this is during the interview, is I let them talk. I let them talk. So one of the most important aspects of a great interview ~It's ~It's giving your guests the space to express themselves fully. So my philosophy is simple, just let them talk. Uh, just let them finish what they're saying. So, uh, one of the things I do is that when I finish a podcast, I go back and I observe the waveform I edit in the script and I look at the waveform. And, um, any waveform, my voice is one color, let's say red, and the guest's voice is another color, let's say green. The guest voice should dominate about 80 percent of that conversation or should take up 80 percent of the waveform. This visual cue really helps me ensure that I'm giving them enough room to share their thoughts. So the second thing I try to do is avoid interrupting the guest and I know sometimes it becomes very tempting when a guest says something interesting for you to jump in and reply to what they are saying. But I have learned to hold back. So I wait for them to finish their point completely. And this often leads to deeper insights as they expand on their thoughts. And that expanding on your thoughts is connected to the next one. The third thing, which is encouraging storytelling. So when guests talk more, they tend to share more stories and stories are what resonate most with listeners. And of course we know that the podcast is very practical, but when you build stories into the practical things that you share, it definitely connects with the audience more. So I encourage my guests to go into greater detail so we can provide a greater experience for the audience. Okay, so this is the fourth or the fifth one under this topic. I can't remember, I'm losing track, but creating a comfortable space is very important. So my goal in the interview is to make the guest feel as comfortable as possible. Comfortable enough to open up and see what they really want to say. When they see that, I'm genuinely interested in what they have to say. This often leads to more authentic and engaging conversations. Pretty pretty simple. The next point, which is the fifth point, I believe, is learning from each interview. So, of course, we know every guest will be different and each conversation teaches me something new about when to step back and let things flow and not to try too hard to control the conversation. So that is also important to know. The next big point to the top level point in how I do interviews is I listen carefully. So many of us would have heard about active listening before, and active listening is a skill that can make or break an interview. So when my guests start speaking, ~my job, ~my only job, is to truly listen. So this starts with being present in the moment. Instead of focusing on my research, or instead of focusing on my notes or the next question I'm seeking to ask, when the guest is speaking, I completely tune in to what The are saying this presence helps me pick up on subtle nuances that others may miss. And then another thing I'm doing is looking for the golden nugget or this key thing that the guest is going to say. So I'm always on the hunt for that one statement, that one idea or that one insight that stands out. And would resonate most with the guest. and with my audience. This statement often becomes the cornerstone for different segments of our conversation because during our conversation you can have multiple of these. So you're looking for each one and you can form a part of the conversation around these golden nuggets or these cornerstone points or topics. The next thing that I love to do is read body language. Now this is very hard if you don't have like a teleprompter with a screen behind it or you can't see a guest. I know many people look off to the side to see a different screen when they're interviewing their guests but if you do have a teleprompter screen that you can see your guests you can look at them, eye to eye or if every now and again do you have a system where you look off to see the expression of a guest before looking back at your main screen you can really track this down very well and an alternative to this if you can't look at the guest Listen carefully to their voice, the intonation of their voice. Do they go up high? Do they go down low? And I track that and I say, Okay, if the guest's voice sounds like this, I may want to target this piece of response and go further in. to it. So I definitely look at the body language and listen to the sound of how my guest is speaking. And of course, doing that can provide additional context or clues as to what they might want to talk more about, or what they are very, very passionate about. That's why it's important to pay attention to the body language and to listen carefully. Another thing that I seek to do in the interview is I always let curiosity lead. My goal is to stay curious and let that curiosity guide me through the conversation rather than sticking rigidly to a script or some pre designated questions. If somebody says something interesting and I find that to be very interesting, I'm not going to skip over it because I have another question that I want to ask. I'm going to pursue that until it reveals something interesting. It doesn't always work, but a lot of times it gets some really nice responses from the guest. And lastly, another thing that I always seek to do is build rapport. So truly listening, when you do listen, it builds trust and it builds rapport, which leads to a deeper. more meaningful dialogue. So you want to respond to what they're saying. You want to make sure that it's conversational and you don't want to talk at the guest. You want to have a conversation with the guest. So that is very, very important to remember. So the next big thing, the next big topic in doing these interviews that I think is very important is that when people give a response, you want to repeat the main points back to them. You want to say or echo what they've said to you. And I found this particular technique extremely effective. This not only affirms their perspective, but allows me to go deeper into their thought process. So let's take a closer look at how this works. So the first thing I would do is confirm my understanding by summarizing or paraphrasing what the guest said. has said this to them it shows that I'm engaged ~and ~I'm listening and I understand their point of view or sometimes it could be in the form of a clarifying question. And so that does give them a chance to clarify or expand if needed, which adds extra dimension and value to the conversation.~ So ~the next thing I've learned to do is ask open ended questions. So my questions end up being why, how, and what So once I've confirmed the point of what they're saying, I usually follow up with questions that start with Why? How? Or What? ~Uh, ~as opposed to binary questions, which is like yes or no questions. And these open ended questions encourage the guest to go deeper. to go deeper. And what this often leads to is making the audience more a part of the conversation. When I repeat a point back, it serves as a quick recap for listeners who might need a moment to process what was just said, and the next point is that it allows me to bridge the gap to the next topic. And so repeating the points can also naturally serve as a transition to related topics or questions creating a seamless flow in the conversation between me and the guest. So the final big part, the big topic of how I do these interviews is I follow the thread. Now, what does that mean? It means that when you identify a strong point, when a guest mentions something intriguing, I zero in on that point and continue asking questions along those lines until it's fully explored. And in order to do that well, you have to think about it as layering the conversation. By staying on a single point, by staying on a single topic and peeling back the layers like an onion, we can get to the heart of the matter, often revealing something profound or unique. And in so doing, you avoid surface level conversations. This approach prevents the interview from becoming a list of rapid fire questions with stunted responses. It becomes a deep look into the guest experiences and insights and allows you to say and share things that have never been shared before. And the only thing I would add to that, the only caution I would add to that is knowing when to move on. So it's essential to recognize when a thread has been fully explored and exhausted, and that's when I would pivot back to my research and move on to the next topic that fits naturally. in the flow. And if you do this, this creates a cohesive narrative. This technique helps in weaving things together throughout the interview, making it more engaging and valuable for the listeners. And that's everything. Those are the five top level practices and a lot of sub points that has helped me become a great podcaster. Podcast hosts from doing the research all the way through to active listening, following the conversation, wherever it leads, these methods have helped shape my approach to interviewing and have been a real key in developing the podcast to the point that it has been and giving these insightful and meaningful shows and dialogues with guests. So whether you are a podcaster, you're thinking about getting into podcasting or you're just somebody who is interested in how these things work. I hope that these tips were very helpful and if they were, and I'm going to start asking more for this these days, if they will, please subscribe to the podcast on Apple podcasts or Spotify or wherever you get your podcast, leave a review, share this episode with someone who you think might benefit from it. Thank you for joining me today on the Useful Content Podcast, Useful Content Classroom, Dismissed. And we're clear. Oh, oh my. ~I, ~this, y'all don't know this. I did a script for this one, right? And I've been trying to follow the script. But because I know the topic. I'm going off on a tangent and adding things in and the teleprompter the script is going up and uh, you know, I had to stop so many times plus the ac is too low So I have to have it off and then sometimes people get noisy outside and I have to stop and start So doing a solo podcast like this and then my chair my chair is so against me My chair is you know, when those office chairs don't work well anymore and they keep on sliding down So i'm at different levels Those who are watching the video podcast, you can actually see I'm at different levels during the podcast. I keep on pulling the chair up and then it slides back down. Oh, the challenges of this sometimes. Some things are to deal with the content and some things are just the environment and how things are going. So this room is getting very hot. I'm going to put the AC back on right now, even though it's really loud. There's a section earlier in this recording where I forgot to take the AC off. Hopefully that doesn't mess things up ~and uh, ~and yes, I hope you enjoy what I shared. Doing interviews has been a joy for me. I hope it's been a joy for you listening to me talk to people about how they make useful content and how they help you create the content that you want to create. And uh, I hope to do this is right before episode um, 50. And I hope to get to 100. I hope to get to 100. And I'm just going to say this right now, at the end of this podcast, for all those who stayed this far. The person who I want to interview the most is David C. Baker. David C. Baker is an author. He runs a really great business. He's a speaker. Well, he doesn't refer to himself as a speaker. He's somebody who is good at something who speaks. He's a person who I will want to get on the hundred episode of useful content podcast. I've asked him once and he said no because he said he's cut all his interviews down by 75 percent and I haven't, I don't know. I don't know if he'll change his mind at some point. But I have a long time to think about it because it's going to take at least a year to get there, so maybe he'll change his mind. I don't know. But he's the, he's episode 100, ideal for episode 100. Episode 50 ain't no slouch either. That's coming up later this week, so enjoy that as well. I don't usually record on a Sunday, but today is one of those days. Thanks guys for joining, and I'll see you soon.