The Benefits of Podcasts by Kathleen Kaska

Two years ago, I was asked to host a podcast for a local business. Excited to take on something new, I prepared by joining Toastmasters to improve my speaking skills, signing up for a one-day class to learn the mechanics of podcasting, and taking a Creative Life class on conducting podcast interviews. Always a big fan of NPR’s This American Life, I was happily surprised when that class was being taught by Alex Blumberg, NPR’s producer and the show’s interviewer. Just like his broadcasts, he had me hanging on every word. Saying his lessons were invaluable is an understatement.

 

Using what I learned, we recorded and aired our first two episodes. One listener commented that they sounded like NPR interviews. When I heard that, I knew that class had been worth it. Then we got COVID-ed (metaphorically) while I was in the process of interviewing my third guest, so the company pulled the plug on the podcasts. Needless to say, I was disappointed because I loved being a podcast host. Even though that project fell through, the lessons I learned about podcasting benefited me also as an interviewee. Since many writers use this medium to promote their books, learning the nuances of podcast interviews is just as valuable to podcast guests.

Here are some tips:

1. Be authentic. Don’t be afraid to look like an idiot. Laugh at yourself.

2. Pause before punch lines, emotional moments, and important revelations.

3. As interviewer, don’t ask yes-and-no type questions. Instead, ask questions that delve into the subject. For example:

“Tell me about the day you realized . . .”

“What were the steps that got you there?”

“How did that, or they, make you feel?”

And my favorite question-preface (used when the interviewee is not sure how to proceed, is hesitant, or unsure of what to reveal): “I noticed in your voice . . .”

4. Interview people with direct experience, rather than “experts.” It’s more interesting to interview the passenger of a plane that’s been hijacked than the airline’s official.

5. Once you’ve chosen your topic and who you want to interview, create a two-statement hook to grab your listeners’ attention. Example: “This is a story about a family who sold everything to buy a boat and sail around the world. Then the father, “abandoned ship,” returned home, and left the mother and three children to fend for themselves.

6. Conduct a short pre-interview to get to know your interviewee and decide on a course of action.

Keeping this in mind, as interviewee, rather than giving synopses of all your books, talk about an interesting story behind the reason you write, how you developed your characters, or why you chose your setting. Your listeners are more likely to stay engaged until the end. And by discussing the interview ahead of time and giving thought to what you want to cover, you will help the podcast host move the interview in the direction you want to go.

 

Here are two podcasters I highly recommend: Laurel McHargue’s Alligator Preserve Podcast ( https://leadvillelaurel.com/). Laurel has hosted me twice, on February 18, 2021, and on February 10, 2019. The links to each follow. Take a look and see how I improved in the second interview, which occurred after taking Blumberg’s class. You don’t even have to watch the entire interview to notice the change.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/wkqtbNjBDcM

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf1MpsDeh60

Also, there’s Linda McHenry’s The Writer’s Voice: (https://lindamchenry.com/the-writers-voice-podcast/).

You can find my interview (Episode 36, on January 27, 2021) by clicking on “Listen to All Episodes.”  

 

Awarding-winner author Kathleen Kaska writes mysteries, mysteries trivia, nonfiction, blogs, stage plays, travel articles, essays, and poems. Her latest release, The Sherlock Holmes Quiz Book, was reissued by Rowman and Littlefield (Lyons Press). Kathleen writes the Sydney Lockhart Mystery Series and the Kate Caraway Animal-Rights Mystery Series. Her first two Lockhart mysteries, Murder at the Arlington and Murder at the Luther, were selected as bonus-books for the Pulpwood Queen Book Group, the country's largest book group.

When she is not writing, she spends much of her time with her husband traveling the back roads and byways around the country, looking for new venues for her mysteries and bird watching along the Texas coast and beyond. Her passion for birds led to the publication The Man Who Saved the Whooping Crane: The Robert Porter Allen Story (University Press of Florida). Her collection of blog posts for Cave Art Press was published under the title, Do You Have a Catharsis Handy? Five-Minute Writing Tips. Catharsis was the winner of the Chanticleer International Book Award in the nonfiction Instruction and Insights category.

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