02 – Podcast Interview Process

Why?

It's important that all of our podcast interviews are consistent and high quality. This process will help you record your podcast interview and upload it for editing.

All of our podcast episodes are video recordings of Skype calls.

What You Will Need

You will need access to

• Skype
• Call recorder by Ecamm (http://www.ecamm.com/mac/callrecorder/)
• A Rode NT USB Microphone (https://www.amazon.com/Rode-NT-USB-USB-Condenser-Microphone/dp/B00KQPGRRE)
• A Rode PSA1 boom arm (https://www.amazon.com/RODE-Swivel-Mount-Studio-Microphone/dp/B001D7UYBO/ref=pd_bxgy_267_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=3NBS1W0EV3V42Y9TP7GW)
• A Logitech C920 USB Camera (https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Widescreen-Calling-Recording-Desktop/dp/B006JH8T3S/ref=sr_1_1?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1478564378&sr=8-1&keywords=c920+logitech)
• Google Drive installed on your machine and synced up (https://www.google.com/drive/download/)

If you do not have access to these resources, please contact Troy to request access.

Technical Considerations

This process is triggered by a Zap in Zapier when the guest books an appointment with you in your calendar for the recording of the interview.

The research for your guest should have been uploaded to the research folder in Google Drive at least three days before your interview.

Make sure you read the research and become familiar with your guest and what they are currently working on. Also make sure you are familiar with any major milestones they have achieved, awards they have received or events coming up in the near future.

Check Skype Settings

Before the scheduled time of your interview make sure your Skype preferences are set for the correct audio and video settings.

• the microphone should be set to your Rode NT USB
• make sure the checkbox "automatically adjust microphone settings" is ticked
• the speakers should be set to your headphones and the volume should be somewhere between 80% and 100% (use this volume slider to adjust the volume of your guests voice if they are too quiet or too loud)
• the camera should be set to the Logitech C920 (also known as the HD Pro Webcam C920)

The Interview

At the scheduled time of your interview type the following into Skype:

"Hi {Guest Name}, are you ready to rock?"

Wait for their response in the affirmative and then video call your guest.

Introduce yourself to your guest and thank them for their time. Feel free to engage in a little pre-show banter to build some rapport.

When you are ready to record the interview hit the record button on the Call Recorder window and make sure the audio metres are registering for the input (your microphone) and the output (your guests microphone).

Once you have determined that the audio is recording correctly, leave a three second gap of silence, clap your hands in front of the camera and begin your interview using the format outlined below.

It is a good idea to tell your guest you're going to clap for the edit before you do it.

This makes it easier for our editor to find the start of the interview and lineup the audio and video in postproduction.

Podcast Interview Format

So what's the process for interviewing our podcast guests? Let's keep it consistent!

Here's Troy's video, if you want the format directly from him!
https://www.facebook.com/troydean73/videos/10154051702658325

Here's the outline :

Intriguing outtake from Interview

See "the golden nugget" below.

Coach Intro + Reason to listen

EG: "Hi I'm Cath Hughes, one of the coaches at WP Elevation and a WordPress consultant based in Sydney, Australia. In this episode of the WP Elevation podcast, I had the pleasure of sitting down with [Guest Name] and talking about [topic of conversation]. I hope you can stay with us..."

Music Intro

Nothing for the coach to do here.

Sponsor Message

Usually sponsored by WP Elevation, VUM or one of our sponsors. Nothing for the coach to do here.

Interview

5-minute bracket:

• Welcome to the podcast
• Who are you?
• Why is this important now? What should listeners be paying attention now?

15-minute bracket:

• Announce the download which we're going to be giving away as part of it. (shortlink)
  Ex: for "Copywriting for search engines", we might say "hey, on our website at wpelevation.com/shortlink, you'll be able to download the checklist that Kate is going to talk to about right now."
• Takeaways - here, we unpack the download with 3, 5, or 7 key points in the conversation. We want the most value, as long as the whole thing doesn't take any longer than 15 minutes.

5-minute bracket:

Recap the main points from the interview.

Call to Action

EG: "Go to wpelevation.com/shortlink, download the checklist, subscribe to the podcast, and leave us some comments on what you'd like to see next."

Shortlink Note: Every episode will have a shortlink that the coach will know in advance, so each coach will know which link to promote. We use "Pretty Link Lite" to make sure the podcast links redirect nicely.

Sign Off

"Hey I look forward to speaking to you in the next podcast. Until then, go elevate!"

Music Outro

Nothing for the coach to do here.

Record Intro

Record a short video introduction for the podcast episode using Screenflow (Mac) or Camtasia (PC).

Your introduction should entice the listener or viewer to invest their time and engage in the full interview. You need to give your audience a reason to tune in.

Use the attached format as a starting point.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fdBqkKobN5wJh1f99s3oJMJ5kNgH5CycmbN8TqBwio0/edit?usp=sharing

Begin the introduction with three seconds of silence and a clap and leave three seconds of silence and clap at the end of the introduction.

Record Outro

Record a separate short "outro" or ending for the podcast episode to thank your audience for tuning in and to tell them what they should do next.

Again, use the attached format as a starting point and leave three seconds of silence and a clap at the beginning and end of your outro recording.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/10EccgMF6yZ4-76T2vmLclpy7JTIHs5pmaM-XxOGwUYY/edit?usp=sharing

Each episode of the podcast should begin with a very brief snippet of the interview as a way of intriguing your audience and hooking them in to watch the full episode.

Here is an example: http://www.wpelevation.com/2016/09/episode-107-mike-killen/

Leave some instructions below for the editor to tell them the timestamp in the interview that you would like to use for your intriguing introduction.

EG: Use the snippet from 17:15 to 17:37.

Feel free to leave any other instructions for the editor below.

Split Files and Rename

When you have finished recording the interview, it will automatically be saved in your Movies > Saved Calls folder.

Open the Split Movie Tracks app that comes with Call Recorder and drag the saved interview onto the app to split the movie tracks into two video files and two audio files.

The files will be namedWith the guest's name, a time and date stamp and appended with a track number. This is what the track numbers represent:

• (Track 1) - your audio
• (Track 2) - your guest's audio
• (Track 3) - your video
• (Track 4) - your guest's video

Rename the files following this format (let's assume the guest in this case is Michael Gerber and the host is Troy):

• Michael_Gerber_Troy_Audio
• Michael_Gerber_Michael_Audio
• Michael_Gerber_Troy_Video
• Michael_Gerber_Michael_Video

Watch the video below for a walk through.

Compress and Upload

Compress the four files from the previous step along with your intro and ending into one zip file with the guest's name (eg: "Michael_Gerber.zip") and upload it to the recordings folder in Google Drive:

EG: Drive > WP Elevation > Podcast > Recordings.

You will know this process is complete when you have uploaded a zip file name correctly to the recordings folder in Google Drive.

Completing this checklist will automatically upload your instructions as a text file into Google Drive and trigger a new checklist for the editor to download the interview and begin post-production.

Now go elevate!