Elon Musk. Mark Zuckerberg. Jeff Bezos. What do they all have in common?
They’ve all made appearances on podcasts, doing long-form interviews. That's a rapidly growing new media format that has doubled in popularity since 2016.
Many of our PR clients can see that growth and have specifically asked us to get them podcast interviews. Absolutely, that is something we do. (We've actually booked 4 this week for different clients and it's only Wednesday.)
So let’s say you’re thinking of going on a show for the first time. What’s next? How are you going to approach these interviews? Here are some things to keep in mind for your next podcast interview.
A lesson from the 2024 US presidential race. Before doing a podcast interview, gauge your interview skills
Love him or hate him, Donald Trump made waves by appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast. By contrast, Kamala Harris was invited on the show, but she declined.
Why did one attend the world’s biggest podcast while the other didn’t? Some say Harris’s campaigners didn’t like Rogan’s show. But there could’ve been another reason. It could’ve been a smart strategic choice.
When Donald Trump’s teleprompter broke at a rally in Michigan, he took it as an opportunity to make punchlines about Joe Biden.
“Isn’t it nice to have somebody that doesn’t need the teleprompter?” he said. Trump was comfortable going off-the-cuff
When Kamala Harris was asked to respond to Americans who felt left out by her economic plan, she started shaking her head and put together a long, rambling answer.
The New York Times held it up as an example of ‘language that is sometimes derided as “word salad” but might be better described as a meringue.’
Harris may have given Rogan the cold shoulder because she simply knew her strengths and weaknesses. She won the presidential debate, but even left-leaning news organizations like The Times noted her weakness in one-on-one interviews. That problem would get amplified in a 2-hour podcast. .
Some may say she missed out, but it’s possible Harris just made a smart choice.
The takehome? Know yourself. If you want to be in a podcast, be prepared and willing to improvise and talk in an uncontrolled environment.
If you don’t think you can do this, hold off for now. Try taking some media training, which is one of the things we offer in our PR services package.
Don’t make X/Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino’s mistake. Memorize key facts and stats before a podcast interview
“It’s been a day, so I brought my card.”
With that, the new CEO at X, formerly known as Twitter, pulled out a white sheet, presumably filled with notes. A few minutes later, she pulled out her phone.
These weren’t the most confidence-inspiring moments of Linda Yaccarino. She was giving an interview after having recently just taken over as the head of X, formerly known as Twitter.
Yaccarino was in an admittedly tough spot. Prior to her appearance, an ex-Twitter exec spoke at the same conference earlier that day. And he made scathing remarks about X that clearly rattled her.
But the question she’d been asked was about X’s user numbers and its profitability. These are basic stats and facts of business every CEO is expected to know. The result was a strange, unnatural conversation that a Fortune journalist called one of the worst interviews he’d ever seen.
The lesson? Do your homework. You’re not expected to know everything, but you should know some key facts about your business and the subject of conversation.
And if a host asks something you can’t answer, a memorized grab-bag of stats or facts allows you to use bridging techniques — a method of responding to the question you wish the reporter had asked.
How can the stories of Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and Taylor Swift help you during a podcast interview?
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started Apple out of a garage. To build the Apple I, the company’s first product, Jobs sold his Volkswagen Bus, and Wozniak pawned off his HP 65 calculator. Now Apple is one of the most valuable companies in the world.
Before Elon Musk became the richest man on earth, he was a gawky nerd who was regularly bullied at school. Once, he was beaten so badly he was still getting corrective surgery for the incident years after. Musk doesn’t get beaten up anymore. He chums around with world leaders and sends rockets into space.
Taylor Swift used to be an awkward kid with strange hair. People didn’t even like her in high school. But she didn’t let that stop her. She took vocal lessons and picked up a guitar. Now she’s a gorgeous superstar who just made $2 billion off her latest tour.
Know what these stories all have in common? They’re all variations of the zero-to-hero tale.
The hero starts off as a nobody. They answer a call to action, overcome adversity and, bam — look at them now.
It may seem cliche, but it’s very effective. It can even prop up a house of cards. Case in point?
Theranos was a medtech company falsely valued at $10 billion. But one story that sold its legend was a compelling tale from its founder, Elizabeth Holmes. She said her traumatic fear of needles sidelined her ambition to become a doctor. But that roadblock inspired her to create blood-testing technology that worked with just a tiny prick of a finger.
No, we’re not saying you should deceive people. But the zero-to-hero arc is a really useful, powerful way of talking about your story.
So when podcast hosts start asking you general questions about yourself, keep it in your back pocket.
Everyone has experiences that can fit into this arc, and we’d encourage you to try and find them.
Looking to get on a podcast? Need help preparing for a media interview? We’re ready to help. Contact the Mind Meld PR agency today.