Episode Summary
As tempting as it may be you cant just sit down at your computer and hit record for a podcast You need to prepare first if you want your guest to have an amazing experience
In this episode the Co-Founders of Motion and hosts of Recorded Content explain how having a pre-flight checklist can help you avoid potential problems during recording or within the post-production phase of your podcast
Tristan and Justin talk about their different preflight checklists Even though they have different lists they agree that running through a checklist can help make the guests time on the podcast a more enjoyable experience
Tristan reviews his proactive list to avoid tech issues and potentially embarrassing mistakes Justin even realizes he needs to make his checklist more proactive rather than reactive to avoid sounding like hes annoyed with the guest
Guest Profile
Name: Tristan Pelligrino
What he does: Tristan is the Co-Founder of Motion and leads the creative execution for all of the shows produced by the company
Company: Motion
Key Insights
- Your podcast reflects your company So you want your guest to have an enjoyable well-organized experience Tristan talks about the importance of ensuring your guest has a positive experience podcasting with you B2B podcasts are not just chit-chatty conversations over Zoom Your podcast is a reflection of your company and your companys brand
- To ensure your guests have a great experience inform them about what to expect Tristan explains that your guests may not know how a podcast works so its essential to give them an overview of the basics what the podcast is about what youll be discussing how the process works how long it takes to record what platform youll use and what equipment they will need If you can provide that picture for your guests it gets them excited It gives them an indication as to hey if I invest time in this recording session if I appear on this podcast I have a good idea of what its going to look and feel like afterward That contributes to just an overall positive experience
- If you want a successful recording session have a consistent pre-flight checklist Tristan observes a preflight checklist helps you eliminate potential embarrassments and headaches during recording or postproduction while Justin stresses that technical issues can be exhausting and if you encounter them its okay to reschedule for a different time
- The guest experience impacts the perception of your show and your company
Episode Highlights
You want your guest to have a positive experience
Basically if you think about your podcasting experience for your guests thats really an extension of your brand So as a podcaster you want guests to really have the best experience possible because thats what theyre going to be talking about in their LinkedIn posts Thats what theyll also mention to colleagues or other folks in the industry And this really starts to take hold when you start creating more and more episode and really start to get that library of content and those relationships in place If you have that positive guest experience all the way through its really just going to help you long-term Tristan says
Make sure you outline expectations for guests in more than one place
The way we do this is we create this guest guide document that encompasses all of these items How do you use SquadCast whats the show going to be about What the typical episodes are so on and so forth
Now a pointer here it is great that we send over this nice PDF that walks people through exactly how an episode is going to work and then you get a guest on your show and they spent no time reviewing it So I definitely recommend putting together that document making it very clear easy to understand butalso in the email that I send over with that as an attachment I say Please review this and I send in bold the things that are absolutely mandatory that somebody knows so that I know at least my odds are higher that theyll review that says Tristan
Being proactive with a preflight checklist sets yourself up for success
I just have something pulled up on my laptop I have bullet points I just go through one by one before I hit the record button Thats just my take on it You can have a handwritten note or whatever your system is in place thats the big thing
Be consistent with it and make sure that every time you hit the record button youre going through these things to set you up for success when you record states Tristan
Being reactive can be abrasive
Im a bit more reactive I think than proactive So I think thats something Im going to actually take away from this I have my checklist of things to troubleshoot when things arent working I think that can come off as me almost correcting the guest and saying You didnt do this correctly Let me help you troubleshoot
Instead of Your internet seems slow its Hey Im just going through my process and your internets speed seems like it might be a little slow Can we move your computer versus me telling them theyre almost doing it wrong Justin says
Its okay to reschedule if your preflight checklist reveals a problem
If you do have issues or technical complications the best thing to do is to reschedule and troubleshoot those offline because it becomes very difficult to get into a really good recording session and to have your mind right if youve spent 20 to 30 minutes troubleshooting an internet connection or a mic or a headphone issue
If youve gone through all of that and it hasnt worked out well then its very tough to have a positive conversation so its best to just figure out the problem then reschedule We know what the issue was We wont encounter that issue next time and well have a better state of mind once we hop on Tristan says
I dont care how much you love technology Its not fun trying to figure out why something isnt working especially when you are on the clock with an hour booked and were at half an hour So dont be afraid to say Hey were going to cut our losses today Its okay Lets pick this up next weekJust remember that all of this goes back to a great guest experience Justin adds
