tlds common questions
How do I schedule an interview on the podcast?
- If you do not already have a slot on my calendar, then you can pick a time slot that is convenient for your calendar here.
What should I do to prepare for the interview?
- Just be cool, calm, and relaxed. It’s nothing more than a chat between friends so don’t make it something more than it is.
- For most of the conversation, we will just go with the flow but I will for sure ask you these three questions:
- Can you give us a little background on your personal life, how you get started and your story? (this is where the conversation will start)
- Why did you start your current passion project, side hustle or business?
- What has been the biggest struggle and what did you do (or are you doing) to overcome it?
DO YOU HAVE A STUDIO THAT I CAN VISIT?
- I have a small home studio or room but, currently needs some improvements and renovation before I can allow a personal podcast session on it. If you want to help me on making that happen you can click here to support me monetarily, no biggie!
Do I need any special equipment for the podcast?
- Obviously audio quality is really important for a podcast, so if you have an external microphone that would be really great. If you don’t have one it’s not the end of the world.
- Be at your computer when we do the interview and not on your mobile phone. You can plug-in your mic or headphones into the computer and be ready to go.
- I use Zoom it’s an audio/video conference software most people use, that is over the internet, so make sure you have….. internet. Zoom cost nothing for you. You’ll just click the link included in your Calendar invite. (Note: the link will not immediately be available in your calendar event but I will be sure to add it before the scheduled time)
How long will the interview take?
- Somewhere between 30 minutes and 1 hour, or if you enjoyed sharing more, it can be longer.
Does it matter where I’m at for the recording?
- Yes, this matters a ton! It should be somewhere quiet to ensure there isn’t a lot of background noise. Sorry, Starbucks won’t work for this, neither will driving down the road in your car.
- If you have a fan or something that makes noise where you plan to do the interview, either move it or cut it off.
What do I do when it’s time for the interview?
- Go to the calendar invite and look at the notes/description. There you will find a Zoom link – click on that. (note: I add the Zoom link after you schedule the time slot, so if you do not see it immediately on the calendar invite, don’t worry, I’ll add it.)
What if there is a period of bad connection?
- No biggie, I can edit it out. If you didn’t hear something I asked because it cut out, just ask me to repeat.
What questions will you ask?
- Most of it will be free-flow and I will often try to dive into the details but there are a few that I will surely ask, including:
- Can you give us a little background on your personal life and your story? (this is where the conversation will start)
- Why did you start your current passion project, side hustle or business?
- What has been the biggest struggle and what did you do (or are you doing) to overcome it?
Can I cuss on the show?
- Sure you can.
Will there be any breaks?
- Yes, due to the limited bandwidth I have on my account, we’ll have a 8mins break after the 40mins mark of the conversation so, if you need to take a restroom break, no biggie, I can edit it out.
Is it ok to promote my widget?
- Absolutely, I’m sure it will come up in the discussion and I will also give you a chance at the end to plug your product/service.
How long before it will be live?
- It depends on how many episodes I have in the queue. Anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.
Any other miscellaneous stuff I should know?
- Place your mobile phone, tablet, etc on Do Not Disturb mode.
- Get some water before we start. Coffee is okay too.
- Cut off any computer applications that sync data as it impacts audio quality. Best thing to do is just exit anything that is not Zoom. Exit out of any other tabs you may have in your browser. This will help us as well to save more bandwidth during the interview.
- A video makes for a much better conversation but I’m not using anything video related for my podcast (as I want it purely on audio). If we do record with video, I often don’t use it for anything. If I do decide to use it, I’ll ask for your permission prior. Sometimes we have to cut off the video if we start to have internet bandwidth issues.
- If you have a habit of tinkering with things when you talk, please remove items that can make noise while we talk such as: paper, which people tend to shuffle around; pens, which people tend to click and open; mouse, which people tend to click; other items on your desk, which people tend to slide around. All these things get picked up by the microphone.
- If you’re thinking if you can get a copy of the podcast assets, yes for sure! I’ll send it via email which includes edited Mp3 of the final episode that has been published on my audio host (Soundcloud), and three sizes of social media graphics you could use to cross-promote our episode (It’s not required to promote it but, It’ll be very helpful for the podcast to be more discoverable in the ecosystem).
- I’ll send you as well after a week, on how you could leave a podcast review thru iTunes/Apple Podcasts, something I usually do to help the show ranked higher.
WHAT IF I HAVE A QUESTION THAT ISN’T LISTED HERE?
- That’s fine! Just hit me up by emailing [email protected] with the subject line “I want to learn more about the podcast” then expect to get answers within 24-48 hours.