When it comes to starting your interview podcast episode, a lot of people are split on what is the best way to begin.
The honest answer is there is no RIGHT way, but either way can work for your podcast.
As I repeatedly say, a podcasting is fluid and can be and do whatever you want it to, so don’t get bogged down in worrying that you are making the ‘wrong’ choice.
There is never really a ‘wrong’ choice, but when it comes to deciding whether or not to have a pre recorded or ‘live’ introduction there are a few factors to keep in mind, so let’s run through them.
Live Introduction
- Allows for more creativity: Just starting your podcast by introducing your guest immediately in the recording while they are there does allow for the opportunity to include your guest more and maybe get something fun and creative from them right at the start. This can be especially helpful because a long monologue of an introduction on its own can be a little dull for some listeners.
- Grabs the attention of fans of the guest: If you have a big guest, a lot of listeners for that episode could be listening purely because that guest shared a link. If that’s the case you do not want listeners waiting through minutes of you monologuing with an intro as they wait to see if the guest is actually even in the episode. The more skipping and waiting you expect your listener to do, the more likely you are to have them give up and stop listening.
- It may seem more natural: If you are doing the introduction directly to the guest, having that person in front of you can make it easier to sound ‘natural’ and conversational’ when doing a large amount of monologuing. This can avert the danger of a pre recorded introduction where you run the risk of sounding like you are ‘reading’.
Pre Recorded Introduction
- Allows you to properly ‘sell’ the upcoming episode: Because you have already recorded the episode, you know what is going to come up and can promote it properly. You can ‘hook’ or ‘forward sell’ an interesting fact or story the guest is going to share, making listeners more likely to listen to hear that.
- Allows you to do the best, most precise intro: Some people can feel a bit nervous doing a full introduction and explanation in front of a live guest. Having an ‘audience’ can make you nervous and likely to stumble or rush things. When you pre record the introduction you can try it multiple times to get it right.
- You can use grabs from the episode: One way to make listeners interested is to play a short, interesting grab from the upcoming episode. This can both make things more interesting, and also counteract the chance of listeners switching off from just hearing you doing an introduction by yourself for a few minutes.
These are just some of the main factors and please keep in mind that it really comes down to the individual. Someone comfortable doing an introduction in front of their guest might be more comfortable doing that and they might be even more inclined to do so if they do not sound very natural when reading scripts on their own.
Whatever the choice is, just go with what you like and don’t look back!
