Five no-fluff ways to open a podcast interview with Tristan Pelligrino

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Episode Summary

Hosting a podcast is not as easy as it sounds, and it definitely takes a lot of preparation and skill to conduct a good podcast interview.

But one of the most challenging parts of an interview is starting the conversation and building momentum right from the beginning.

In this episode of the Recorded Content podcast, our host Tristan Pelligrino talks about the importance of a podcast introduction. He shares five useful examples of how to start your interview and bring out the best in each guest.

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Key Insights

Episode Highlights

#1 Ask your guests about their recent social media posts

“Ask your guest what sparked the post or ask them when they started to form that opinion. By starting off a conversation with a post from your guest, you demonstrate that you’ve done the research and have paid attention to what they share online. This builds rapport right away while also sparking a conversation from the start.”

#2 Get your guest to connect the dots

“The second example is about getting your guests to connect the dots with something in their background or their work experience. Maybe you start off the interview by asking about why they made a particular career switch, like maybe they started out in education and suddenly switch to copywriting, or you could ask about why they jumped from a Fortune 500 company to a Series A startup.”

#3 Go through their comments history

“By going through comments, you get a chance to see what they agree with, and also, you get an understanding of what some of their alternative viewpoints might be. And when you go through their comment history, you can craft a question about their opinion. You can establish context for your viewers or listeners of your show and give a glimpse into the way your guest thinks. This is all good background information for your audience, and it adds texture to your conversation.”

#4 Listen to your guest’s previous podcast appearances

“The fourth example is listening to your guest’s appearance on another podcast and then asking a follow-up question the host may not have asked in that episode; this shows a deeper level of research. It clearly shows you’ve spent time reading and listening to their other podcast appearances.”

#5 Get straight to the point

“The last example that comes to mind involves cutting straight to the point. If there’s a topic you want to discuss with your guests, then you can choose to jump right into the conflict. Right up front, just get your guest’s perspective and then go deeper and deeper to uncover why they feel a certain way.”