While we are moving towards a more digital and remote working world, interviewing people for your podcast, in person, can still be the most rewarding experience for both you and your audience. In-person interviewing allows you to create a greater emotional response that improves the quality of the information that is being presented.

But setting up a chance to interview people in person is not always easy and potential guests can sometimes be reluctant. Therefore, we want to share our tips on how you can setup more in-person interviews that are going to be a success.

1. Check Suitability

Okay, so you’ve got lots of guests lined up for podcast interviews but not all of these guests are going to be suitable for you to see you in person for an interview. So you need to qualify your guests for suitability. There are several reason why they might not be suitable, including:

• They live too far away.
• They are too busy to spend time travelling to a meeting.
• They are incapable of travelling to a meeting.

Once you’ve put aside those you can’t interview in person, you should concentrate your efforts on those that are possible.

2. Create Reasons Why

There are many benefits for you and your hosts as to why they should meet you in person to record your podcast. There might be reasons that are specific for your business or podcast, for why they should meet up with you.

Remember that the majority of guests know that it is a cost to appear on your podcast. They have to travel to you for a podcast recording and the time taken to record is time they aren’t earning money or taking orders. So by creating good, emotional reasons why they should join you in person is very important.

3. Location

While you may be more comfortable recording your podcast in your office or on-site recording studio, being stuck in one location can sometimes mean that you are limiting who will meet you to record an episode. By looking for other places where you can record a podcast, you can expand the number of people who can become in-person guests and appeal to other guests by demonstrating flexibility.

Ensure that chosen locations are perfect for sound quality and ease of access.

4. Equipment

In relation to the above point, you need to consider the equipment you are using. If you use large equipment that is difficult to move, you’ll are less likely to be flexible and move yourself to another location to secure a potential guest appearing in-person.

There are numerous pieces of equipment available on the market that are small enough to be portable but can also offer the highest of recording quality.

5. Plan, Plan, Plan

Finally, you need to ensure that you make everything easy for your guest by planning every little detail for them. Your plan should be highly detailed and inform both you and guest of what is required from both of you to make the session a success. Here are some things you might need to consider:

• How to transport gear to the location.
• Setting up the gear for the location.
• Talking to the guest prior to recording.
• Recording time.
• Leaving the podcast.
• Editing and release schedule.

Conclusion

There is nothing better than interviewing a podcast guest in-person. It creates an emotional experience for both you and your audience. This will help you and your guest achieve more and promotes a better podcast.

How do you get guests to be interviewed in-person? What are your best tips?

Let us know in the comments below.

Take Action:

• Decide who can meet you in-person.
• Create a list of reasons why it is better for both of you.
• Invite more people to become guests in-person.