Mary-Lynn Foster
Mary-Lynn has spent 19 years in the radio broadcasting industry, and has had the joy of hosting every shift, in many formats, in five markets. At one time, she co-hosted mornings and hosted mid-days on one station, while simultaneously serving as the Production Director for all five stations in my employer’s group.
Currently, Mary-Lynn is building her own brand in new media, and tapping into her own entrepreneurial spirit as the Vice President and Executive Producer of Bigg Success (biggsucces.com).
Podcast and Blog Interviewing Tips
I have been conducting interviews for 19 years, from when I was a radio show host, to being the co-host on The Bigg Success Show. Over the course of my interviewing years, I have talked with celebrities, news makers, officials, authors, bloggers, experts and more.
An interview is a great way to give your listeners or readers a treat! It is important to keep your audience in mind while conducting an interview, since you are their voice. Here are some tips to ensure your next interview is a home run.
Looking for an interview
- Make sure the interview topic will resonate with your audience. How can you make the topic fit your format.
- Look for timely interviews to increase your chances of getting it…i.e. your interviewee has a new book coming out, or has launched a new program.
Requesting an interview
- Keep your interview request short and sweet. Tell them who you are, why you are seeking them out, what topic(s) you would like to talk about, tell them how much time you’ll need, suggest some times.
- When suggesting times, keep time zone’s in mind. I usually suggest times and capitalize CENTRAL.
Preparing for the interview
- Is there a recent study or news story that ties into your interview topic that you can get your interviewee’s take on?
- Have a couple solid questions on your topic prepared. Have a couple light-hearted, personal questions to ask as well. It’s always good to bring out your interviewee’s personality.
- Create a checklist for your interview that includes: time, number to call, your guests introduction, and your questions.
- Do you know the correct pronunciation for your guests name? Be sure to ask before you begin the interview.
During the interview
- Have a conversation. If you don’t get to ask all of your prepared questions, that’s fine!
- Listen attentively. Your interviewee’s answers will provide you with great follow-up questions.
- You’ve done your homework, so just relax and have a conversation!
If you don’t understand a point your interviewee has made, chances are your audience will not either, so don’t be afraid to ask him / her to elaborate. - Be careful that YOU aren’t telling the story. Let your interviewee tell the story. Katie Couric did a great with this in her recent 60 minutes interview with Captain “Sully” Sullenberger. She knew he’d said the words “brace for impact.” But during the interview, she said “when you were about to land in the Hudson River, you said only 3 words to your crew and passengers, what were they?”
- Thank your guest for being on your show / blog.
Follow up
- Provide your guest with the link once you have posted their interview, and thank him / her again.
That’s it! Now let’s talk about it. What questions can I answer for you? What tips do you have to offer?
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I always wonder how much communication should take place between the interviewer and person being interviewed before the interview. Too much and you loose spontanaity, but you don’t want to catch them off guard do you?
or I shouldn’t say off guard, I should say ‘ask them a question that they can’t answer or wouldn’t answer well’.
Good question, Vicky. Anytime you can have a little dialogue before the interview is great. It lets you each feel each other out a bit. It’s always best to keep it short, and save it for the interview!
Another thing you can do, is provide your guest with the questions you would like to ask, so they can be prepared.
Would that be about 5 or 6 bullet points of topics so they have some idea?
Sometimes, your guest is shy, and it’s hard to get them to communicate. For example, TV on The Radio last night with Stephen Colbert. But Stephan had done his homework, and after getting short answers about their current album, he started having fun with the title of a previous release “Return to Cookie Mountain”. He asked…”why would you leave cookie mountain” which got his guests to loosen up a little!
It seems laughter is the universal language isn’t it?
Vicky, I would first provide 3-5 topic ideas to your guest when asking for the interview. When they choose one, you could follow up with 2-3 questions that you will be asking during the interview.
Yes! Laughter is great, that’s always the sign you are going to have a nice interview. It lets you know your guest is comfortable with you, and it lets your guest know you are comfortable with them.
I like that, let them decide and give them multiple choices… That makes a lot of sense 🙂
But make sure when you are giving topic ideas that they are congruent with what YOUR audience will be interested in. Should your guest come back with a topic that is not in your format’s best interest, let your guest know. Just say, “our demographic is largely made up of_______, would you mind if we focused more on________?”
It’s hard sometimes to keep people on track, do you have any suggestions for phrases to use to draw them back without seeming pushy or rude?
I know some people struggle with saying ummm.. ah.. or other little fillers. I think a lot of people struggle with this, any recommendations or possible solutions?
Looking for places to find interviewees? This blog is ripe with opportunity, especially with the “12 Hours of Conversation”. In one place, I can find links to learn more about some of the participants here today, I can get their bios, I can find topics in the comments they are leaving. It’s one-stop shopping for interview ideas!
@Kathryn this can be difficult, and I’ve run into it time and time again. When you notice it steering in a direction you don’t want to go, stop them as soon as you can, then politely say, “now let me go back to something you said earlier” or “let’s switch gears, because my audience asks me this all the time…” then use your question to get them back on track!
Thanks Mary- Lynn – I think you’re right doing it quickly is key especially when there’s a time limit! It’s amazing how you can get caught up in what they’re saying and lose valuable time by not bringing them back!
@VickyH, well the 1st part is admitting you have a crutch word. Mine is “you know.” We did a show about this very thing with some tips: http://biggsuccess.com/2008/12/05/how-to-stop-using-a-crutch-word/
Sometimes our tongue gets ahead of our brain. Sometimes we need to think of a word. These are reasons we use our crutches. Practice, practice, practice will make them go away.
Kathryn I agree! What’s nice about not doing the show live, is that you can edit out what doesn’t fit. We always tell our guests up front that our show is around 5 minutes in length, and that we may edit some of the interview to make it fit our format.
I agree, I found the same when I took a Speech class. The more prepared I felt and my confidence at knowing the content showed in my speaking.
Who were some of the most fun, interesting people you interviewed?
VickyH what interviewing tips would you add?
Vicky, here are some of my favorites
Musicians
Cyndi Lauper
Ziggy Marley
Bruce Hornsby
Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick
Phi Ehart, drummer for Kansas
Joan Jett
Ronnie Dunn of Brooks and Dunn
Clint Black
Shirley King (right there in the Chicago area, “daughter of the blues” B.B.King and a FANTASTIC live act!! Can you tell I’m a fan?)
Celebs
Seth Godin
Bill Nye the Science Guy
Dr. Phil
Carolyn Kepcher and Bill Rancic of The Apprentice
Tina Wesson – winner of Survivor 2
Tracey Ullman – “The Tracey Ullman Show”, co-author of “Knit 2 Together”
News Makers
Congressman Dennis Kucinich
Miss America Erika Harold
Pat Summit, Head Coach for the Tennessee Lady Vols
I would say ‘be conversational’. Don’t break off subjects, try to transition and let the interviewee speak and tell their story.
Hi Mary-Lynn,
What do you think the biggest mistake most bloggers make when they get a microphone and a question put them?
That’s a great tip, Vicky. Last night after President Obama made his address about the stimulus package, one of the reporters asked about A-Rod and his steriod use. I think that is an example of a BAD transition!
Do you ever feel intimidated preparing to interview a celebrity?
@Liz, I think sometimes the mistake is talking too much, but it takes practice to be an interviewee too!
@Todd, yes. Mostly my nerves are that the interview will actually happen. Last minute cancellations are common with celebrities!
Do you prefer audio/video interviews or just audio? Why?
@Todd, I think the key is to not think of them as a celebrity, but rather as just another a person. That way you won’t feel intimidated.
@VickyH I prefer audio interviews, and have my BIGG Studio set up for radio broadcast quality phone interviews. But a GOOD interview is enjoyable in any format – audio, video or written form.
How do you approach someone who is famous for an interview?
One thing we’ve done, thanks to a suggestion by LIZ, has added a little flair to our written interviews. We do and audio and written version of every show on Bigg Success. To see what I mean, check out this:
http://biggsuccess.com/2008/10/29/seth-godin-on-tribes-part-i/
Mary-Lynn, any tips for doing interviews via email?
@VickyH – the same way you approach any interview. That’s where my tips above on “looking for an interview” and “requesting an interview” will come in handy. With celebrities, you will be making that interview request to their publicist. Keep in mind that celebs get countless requests. So the more timely and ‘to the point’ you can be, will help you get that interview.
Mary-Lynn, thanks for all this! It’s great! 🙂
Mary-Lynn,
You could be teaching a university level class on all of this. Wow! for all that you brought.
I love the idea of having both an audio version as well as a text version!
@Glenda, really its the same as an audio interview. You provide the questions. Since in email, there isn’t a 2-way dialogue, I would add a few general questions at the bottom like:
“Why have you succeeded in a field where so many others have failed”
or
“How hard do you push yourself”
This will get you some personality answers that you can use.
Liz, Vicky, Easton, Kathryn, Todd, Glenda…thank you! It’s been a pleasure and please reach out anytime!
VickyH, a text version is a must! For people who are deaf or don’t understand your accent, and its searchable.