Why I’m Over the Podcast Guest Format, Part 1
First in an ongoing microblog series that I'll finish...whenever I feel like it.
Before I start, this isn’t to throw shade at anyone. There are countless highly successful podcasts (far more than myself) that do this. It works for them.
But personally, as a creator and a listener: I’m totally over it.
The overwhelming majority of business podcasts follow the “this week’s guest” format. Why?
Because it’s easy. You simply:
Make a list of questions
Invite a new guest
Ask away.
Rinse and repeat.
The problem? That’s also what it sounds like. Stock questions with surface level answers and no real elaboration, chemistry, or depth.
That’s why a lot of people roll their eyes when a business type says “I’m starting a podcast!”
Lol of course you are. But we’ve seen that movie before.
The truth? Interviewing people is hard as shit. I mean REALLY interviewing people. Any ‘good’ interview you’ve ever heard has 4 things:
An interviewer who knows their guest’s subject matter
Research into their guest’s ideas
Guests who are fluent communicators (also rare)
The interviewing skill to go DEEP
It takes time, effort, and *range*.
To be continued…
You can follow me on LinkedIn here or join the discussion on this LinkedIn post here.