Welcome to my podcasting for companies page.

Here I want to talk about what makes a good podcast and why it’s important to have a journalist conduct the interviews for your channel.

 

In my opinion, good podcasts are all about good interviews.


What do I mean? The interviewer should be a conversationalist who genuinely listens, who is really curious about the subject, and who helps the source convey his or her ideas in a compelling way with good questions at the right moment.

What is strategic interviewing?

Like I say on my strategic interviewing page, good interviews are those in which the journalist finds out all the audience needs to know and does so in a way that leaves the interviewee feeling good and able to shine.

Strategic interviews are not attacks – neither frontal nor subtle. They are not for use in political theater. Ideally, they are conversations.

When an interview is strategic, that means it was conducted in a sophisticated way, was organized around story, and was motivated by a sincere desire to learn and/or help the subject clarify his thoughts.

A quest to understand? Or the interviewer's own stage?

5 interview pitfalls

  • The interviewer smiles a lot with a knowing, uppity look
  • The interviewer gives too much irrelevant information about him or herself
  • The interviewer’s questions are long and convoluted
  • The interviewer’s questions are designed to show his or her own knowledge of the topic instead of the ineterviewee’s
  • The interviewer’s questions are really statements masked as questions

Rhea's interview approach

One of my interviewing role models is Bill Moyers. I am a big fan of his work and techniques. 

In my interviews, I try to :

  • Interview in a structured way. Tailor my questions to my tentative story outline.
  • When someone is getting vague, I use a short interjection that is a question: 
    • Because?
    • Example, please?
    • What do you mean by that?
    • What does that mean? (Differs the above)
  • Repeat back to the source. “I understand you to say…. and then provide my own summary”

Rhea's Corporate Podcasting Services

Podcast & Radio Interviews

On-Camera Interviews

On-Stage / Event Interviews and Moderation

In-person interviews – Knowledge and Process Capture 

Takeaways from a recent podcasting course with Craig Kopp

Style tips

In your interviews:

  • Make flow happen. 
  • Get in performance mode.
  •       Understand that the interview is your story. 

Practical matters

  • 15-20 minutes is the sweet spot length for an audio interview. 
  • If you have a quality recording from the beginning, you won’t need fancy editing/cutting techniques
  • Leave in a few ums and ahs – we’re all human after all. 

Here are some high-level Q&A's I've written

Controlled Burns: Interview with Nassim Taleb

Sept 2013
CFA Institute

Paying Attention, Literally: Interview with Daniel Kahneman

April 2012
CFA Institute

Nobel laureates debate the merits of Bush and Kerry economic policies

September 2004
The Wall Street Journal

More Q&A's I wrote

In the Grip of Complexity: Interview with Roger Urwin, Global Head of Investment Content at Towers Watson

Nov. 2010
CFA Institute

Unsustainable Promises: Interview with Amlan Roy, head of global demographics and pension research at Credit Suisse

March 2010
CFA Institute

One City Can Make a Big Difference: Interview with Secretary General Gino Van Begin, head of ICLEI

Feb, 2015
UrbanDNA Magazine