One of the most rewarding things I do in my business is interview successful bloggers and entrepreneurs from all over the world.
It’s one of the best ways I’ve found to create high-value content for my audience.
But the truth is – doing interviews can be an overwhelming concept for many bloggers.
In this episode, my goal is to simplify the process so that you can learn to record and post killer interviews.
Listen to This Episode
Why Conduct Interviews
Interviews are awesome. I love them for a number of reasons:
Reason #1: Meet and connect with new people.
I get to meet and connect with new people and learn from the experiences of others. The truth is; I live in a very small town in Michigan and don’t often connect with entrepreneurs in person. Using the power of the internet, I’m able to connect with people, regardless of their geographic location.
Reason #2: Create awesome content from the interview itself.
You can create awesome content without having to come up with the content yourself. If your interviewee is good at what he does, there’s so much that your audience can learn from him, and you don’t have to stress about the details; because the details are in his mind. It’s your job to draw the ideas out.
Reason #3: More exposure from credible interview guests.
You can leverage the credibility of your interview guests for more exposure. When people hear insightful interviews from successful individuals, they are more likely to share. Also, some of your guests will share their interviews with their audience, and that can result in additional exposure for your show.
What Equipment Do You Need?
Conducting interviews are easier today than before. You no longer need tons of expensive equipment to make them happen. Your needs are limited to:
A computer. You can use a desktop or laptop, Mac or PC.
A Microphone. A simple USB microphone can go a long way when it comes to the quality of your audio. Please do NOT ever rely on the built-in microphone for an interview. A great affordable mic to start with is the Audio Technica ATR2100 USB. Just plug it in and start talking.
Earphones. This is very important and often overlooked. When you’re recording a call on your computer, with the audio coming through your computer speakers, the audio can loop through your microphone and cause an echo. You don’t want that. This is why it’s best for you and your guest to use some kind of earphone or headset.
Skype. I’ve tried a number of different programs for recording interviews and have found that NONE of them deliver the audio quality that Skype does. You want to make sure you have a relatively strong connection, but once you do, you can achieve near perfect audio quality.
Recording software. One of the cool things about Skype is that you can have software add-ons that work with Skype to record your calls. If you’re on a Mac, the one I recommend is Ecamm Callrecorder. If you’re on a PC, then I’d recommend Pamela. Once you start a call, click record and that’s it. When you’re finished, click stop. It’s that simple.
Editing Software. I don’t edit my interviews because I like them to be as raw as when I initially recorded. Yes, I make mistakes, but that’s real life, so I share it all. If you need to edit your interviews, you can use Audacity. It’s a free audio editing program that’s available on both PC and Mac.
Scheduling Your Interview
If you’re reaching out to people for interviews, chances are they’re relatively busy. Because of this, there can be lots of back and forth when trying to schedule a time slot. This is a huge time waster.
Since I respect the time of my potential interviewee, there are a few things I do to minimize the amount of time it takes to schedule the interview.
First, I send a short email letting her know who I am and why I’d like to interview her. I place the focus on the interviewee and let her know that I’d love to have her on my show and give her the opportunity to talk about XYZ (the thing she is known for).
I also show my interviewee an example of a past interview so that she can get a feel for what the show is about.
Once she agrees to the interview, I send her my Scheduling Page. On that page, she can choose from a list of available times – no back and forth, just a simple selection.
After choosing a date and time, my interviewee enters her details, and the interview is setup.
I use Acuity Scheduling to make that all happen. I love it because it not only sets up the appointment, but it also gathers her information (i.e. Skype ID, phone number in case we have a problem connecting on Skype and anything else I need), sends reminder emails and adds the interview to my Google calendar. It’s a beautiful tool.
Preparing for the interview
I’ve been interviewed on shows where the host has no idea who I am, what I do, or even which direction they want the interview to go.
In my opinion, that’s very unprofessional and can make the guest feel uncomfortable. Since an interviewee agrees to spend time with me, at my request, I want to make it worthwhile for him.

I do two things to prepare for interviews:
I first have my guest fill out my Learning With Leslie Guest Info Form. Through this form, I learn the basic details about my guest and his blog/business. He can also provide a picture he’d like me to use.
Then I have my assistant use the information on the form to run additional research on my guest. In that research document, my assistant writes as much relevant information about that person as possible. The goal is for me to to spend a few minutes before the call getting to know who the person is and deciding the kinds of questions I’d like to ask. In the past, I’d do that research myself.
Here’s an example of the research conducted for my interview with Paula Pant.
Preparing Questions
Now that you know more about the person, you want to compile a list of target questions.
Depending on the type of interviewer you are and the type of guests you’re having on your show, it’s a good idea to have a list of questions and also provide those questions to your guest in advance so that they can prepare.
I don’t personally create a list of questions, but I’m very comfortable with interviews and my guests are usually used to being interviewed.
I do not recommend this for most people. Interviewing is a skill that takes time to acquire. It’s better to be prepared than to get halfway through an interview only to realize that you’re not sure where to go next. It’s awkward for you and even more awkward for your guest.
Structure of My Interviews

This is how the beginning of my show is generally laid out:
Podcast Introduction
- Introduce show
- Brief guest biography
- The purpose of the interview
Interview (Introduction)
- Hook
- Guest background information
I usually ask my guests for a brief bio and use that information to write out my podcast intro. Because this is such an important thing to me, I read that introduction word for word so that I don’t forget any important details in the heat of the moment.
Remind your audience of the purpose for conducting the interview. You can do this by stating what you hope your audience will learn or gain from the interview.
If you listen to a lot of interviews, you may notice that MANY interviews tend to start out with the same question. It’s usually something along the lines of: “Can you share with the listeners how you got started with XYZ?”
PLEASE, for the love of all that is good, do not do this! Here are some great tips that can help you really stand out.
Ninja Tips For Your Hook
Start in the middle of the story. Get directly to the action by either talking about something exciting that individual is doing, results they have achieved, or something fun and exciting.
Ancient Greek story tellers like Homer and Sophocles started this tradition. They would start their stories in the middle of the drama and quickly hook their audience’s attention.
Guest Background Information
Once you have YOUR audience’s attention, then and only then should you go back and “fill in the details”. Here is where you provide some brief background on your guest.
Your introduction is an important part of the interview. You want to paint him in the best possible light as well as mention details that are important to him.
During The Skype Call
What happens during the actual call is critical. Here are a few tips that can help you conduct an awesome interview:

At the beginning of the call, greet your guest and make her feel welcome. Ask her how she’s doing, start a conversation, but respect her time. Her time is valuable, so don’t spend too much of it on irrelevant banter.
Improving
My first interview sucked. I wasn’t prepared and the result wasn’t great. But I did it and I’m so glad I did.
However, I knew I wanted to improve. So, how’d I get better? I watched, listened and studied other successful
interviewers. I looked at the way they sat, how they asked questions, what they did to make their guests feel comfortable enough to reveal juicy details.
Here are some people I highly recommend you check out:
- Oprah Winfrey – Oprah is the queen of interviews. I LOVE the way she captures the raw emotion of the person she’s interviewing, regardless of the topic up for discussion. She uses great conversational techniques to guide her guest into opening up.
- Larry King – I think Larry King is a master at listening. He asks a question and just shuts up. Sometimes his silent pauses are incredibly poignant.
- Andrew Warner – Andrew hosts a popular podcast for entrepreneurs called Mixergy. I love the way he pulls information out of people to the point where they reveal much more than they expected.
There are many other excellent interviewers out there, but these are some of my favorites. Check them out and learn.
How About You?
Have you done any interviews? If so, share a link below. If not, is this something you’re considering doing in the future?
Resources Mentioned
- Equipment needed:
- Audio Technica ATR2100 USB – recommended microphone
- Skype – recommended for making calls specially for those with good internet connection
- Recording software:
- Ecamm Callrecorder – recommended for Mac users
- Pamela – recommended for PC users
- Editing software:
- Audacity – an open source software available to both PC and Mac users
- Scheduling interviews
- Acuity Scheduling – automates scheduling and re-scheduling
- Samples:
- BecomeaBlogger.com/schedule – My scheduling page available for anyone who wants to conduct a Skype Call with me.
- Learning With Leslie Guest Info Form – This is where I collect my guest's basic info that my virtual assistant also uses to do more research about the guest.
- Example of a research – This is an example of a research done before I did an interview with Paula Pant.
- Interview with Paula Pant – The interview I did using the research created.
- My first interview
- People worth listening to and learning interview styles from:
Infographic
Transcript
Some people just love being able to read along with interviews, or they might just prefer to skip the audio completely and just read through the transcript. Hey, if that’s what floats your boat, it is all good. Here’s the transcript just for you
Thank you so much Leslie for this brilliant post. I have 4 interviews scheduled with online entrepreneurs over Skype this week. As this is going to be my first experience doing interviews for my upcoming book, I was quite terrified. But your post has given me some directions. I promise not to ask “How did it all start?” as the first question 🙂
Awesomeness. Glad to know it helped Jyotsna.
Hi Leslie,
Thank you sooooo much for this information. It’s exactly what I need. I have an interview coming up for my podcast and I’m SUPER nervous because this will be my first one. I’m thinking about everything that could go wrong and how to better prepare myself.
I had planned on coming here to search for a post on how to do an interview and then I saw your email today. I’m so nervous about this interview but the information you’ve provided here will help me to better prepare and shake those first time interview jitters.
Thanks Leslie!
Oh, I know the feeling. On the bright side, the more interviews you do, the better you get at it, so just keep doing them.
Hi Leslie,
I also wanted to ask you… is that a plugin or webform that you use to collect information on your guest info form? Something like that would be useful on my site.
Thanks!
Yes, I use Formidable Pro – https://formidablepro.com/
Hi Leslie,
I just recorded a sample audio with Skype and Pamela and my audio isn’t coming out as crisp as I’d like it to on both sides. I’m recording in stereo. Your audio sounds great! Any tips?
Thanks
Hi Scarlet, that’s hard to answer without knowing exactly what equipment you are using. Can you let me know what you’re using? Then I can give some tips.
Hi Leslie,
I’m using a Yeti Blue microphone and that’s about it as far as equipment goes.
Do you have an example of what it sounds like? There are so many things that can go wrong. However, some general tips would be make sure you’re close enough to the mic. Also, make sure you’re in a relatively quiet area. I’m on a Mac, so I’ve never actually used Pamela, but I’ve heard it works well.
Hey Leslie,
Awesome show as always. As a long time blogger, podcaster and outdoor communicator I’m always on the lookout for quality tips and tools to use for my outdoor podcast show. Podcasting has developed into a full time career for a lot of people. Just checking ITunes is proof of that covering every niche out there. With over 400 interviews in 8 eight years Im still tweaking each show for quality and content. How did you make that info graphic page or is that part of the theme page you have?? Oh and what is that theme?
I would like to do video interviews so that is the next progressional step.
Thanks again for great content you can actually use and afford.
Cheers
Peter
Host of Hunt Talk on RippleOutdoors.com
Glad you got value from it. For the infographics, my assistant makes them using http://www.canva.com.
Your content (posts, podcasts, general sharing, etc.) has been superb over the past 6 months or so. Maybe it’s my retired state and ability to focus on what I want to do. This post has provided me all of what I need to conduct a dream portion of my business. I will use it to set things in motion over the next few months before I take a break. I will be looking at the “university” once I return from Greece in Sept. I can’t start it now because I promised the wife I would relax and enjoy the country versus bringing work with me. It will be a first in 38 years, so I must hold true. I will continue reading your emails though. Thanks for making a difference …
You are very much welcome Nate. Thanks for the feedback. Glad you’re getting value from the content.
Excellent post Leslie, it comes to me in the right moment, I’m trying to start my podcasts with an interview.
Thanks
See – I knew you’d be looking for it so I wrote it 🙂
Hi Leslie,
Thank you for a really excellent, value-packed article. Truly inspirational. I LOVE interviewing people and it’s wonderful to see everything you need to think about turned into a simple, doable process.
Many thanks
You are very much welcome Annie 🙂
Leslie,
What do you use to create your info graphics. They’re always very well done.
Thanks,
Lyn
My Assistant uses http://www.canva.com to make them.
Man Leslie, great content. Thank you! I have been thinking on how to do a couple of these technical things, like recording the interview and if I should edit it or not. I like your approach. BTW, your podcasts and videocasts are greatly done.
thanks again, I will hold on to this info for a little while until I master this thing 🙂
Alex
Awesome. Thanks for the feedback Alex. Glad you’re enjoying my content.
Hi Leslie,
First I want to say how much I enjoy your podcasts and your website. Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge. I had the privilege of getting to meet you at Blogging Concentrated last year in Grand Rapids, lucky me. 🙂
Here’s a link to the last interview I did. I need to do more. Would love your feedback.
http://www.sailawaygirl.com/pam-wall-interview-sailing-sail-away-girl/
Thank you,
Elizabeth
But of course I remember you 🙂 How are the plans for your big journey coming?
That’s an interesting take on an interview, where you interview her and write up an article on what she’s doing. That’s something I’m considering doing with people in the Become A Blogger community. I think you did it well.
I am listening to the podcast on becoming an interviewer and that Is what I have been waiting for, this teaining inis right on time as I am in a business that requires that I intrrview different entreprenuers in this business for their stories for documentation and to simplify the task for those who need to start a home base business and are afraid can see that if I can do it that they can also with minimal stress.
Wow Allie, sounds like you’re in the perfect position to do this. You should definitely give it a go 🙂
Hi Leslie. I currently do my podcast and import it into Audacity. From there I import my intro and outro music. It takes me a while to edit the parts of the music I need. I want to be able to play my intro and outro music while I’m recording my podcast as well as be able to fade my music in and out while recording my podcast. This would be very helpful and it would save me a lot of time. What equipment do I need in order to make this happen? Thanks.
Hi Scarlet. I have an entire video and podcast on how to do it. You can watch it here.
Hi Leslie,
Great show as always. I loved the Ninja tip – it makes perfect sense as we need to remember for the listener it is that great radio station – WIIFM – What’s In It For Me – and by getting them excited about the content and something they can learn right away keeps them involved in the episode.
You asked about our interviews – I do them a bit differently, I introduce the topic with an overview of the subject – then do the interview and then do a wrap up – here is one I did on the importance of Child Safety Seats – http://highwaytosafety.com/22
Wishing you a wonderful day. Keep up the great work.
David
That’s also a great format David. It’s all about what works best for you and your audience.
Hi Leslie! Awesome post! I’m thinking about doing a podcast interview series myself and wasn’t sure how to start it. I’m realizing too that interviewing is an art that I need to build. Great topic!
Thank you, Leslie! That was extremely helpful!
You are very much welcome 🙂
I’m confused. How would a microphone help me capture the caller’s voice better? That’s the part I’m most worried about after all. On my end, I can make sure my environment is distraction-free and noise-free but on the caller’s end (I intend to call people in other countries via Skype and do podcast interviews), I can’t guarantee sound fidelity. How do you resolve this issue?
Thanks for this great post. I arrived here via Google looking for a recommendation for earphones for interviewing. I have not solved this problem of having the right earphones. Any recommendation would be most appreciated. What do you use for earphones? I’ve been using my iPhone earbuds which are not an ideal solution for a number of reasons – not the least of which is the cord is too short.
I got these and they work PERFECTLY, especially for video interviews. You can’t even tell they’re in and the audio quality is great.