This is how to do podcast research and find podcasts guests
In November 2019, I hosted an event for the Toronto Women’s Podcasting Network that covered how to do podcast research, how to find guests for your podcast, and how to conduct a well-researched interview with your guests.
Okay, so I was actually sick that day… the amazing Elena Hudgins Lyle took over my hosting duties and moderated our incredible panel of three women in podcasting: Annelise Neilson (producer for Gravy Train), Pippa Johnstone (writer and host of Word Bomb), and Erin Hynes (writer and host of our podcast Alpaca My Bags).
I wasn’t there to viciously take notes from our meeting, but because Erin a lovely (and organized) person, she sent me her notes and answers to my questions I had sent to the women ahead of the event.
Erin is a wealth of knowledge, with experience in research that extends beyond just podcast research - she has experience conducting research from doing her Master of Arts, and from her professional career. Because Erin and I have an indie approach to the podcasting world, I thought she’d be able to provide from valuable insight on podcasting research to fellow D.I.Y. podcasters.
Recording with Erin Hynes for Alpaca My Bags with our guest, Andrew Drury. We chatted over Google Hangouts about extreme tourism.
Alpaca My Bags is a podcast that looks at travel and tourism through a critical lens. The podcast explores travel related issues like disability and travel, dark tourism, traveling as a trans black woman, sustainable tourism and much more. We feel that when handling issues that relate to social responsibility, its important to do proper research - both on the subject itself, and to ensure you find a guest who can speak on the subject with authority.
Here’s what Erin says about how she does her podcast research.
“The way I research our episodes changes a little bit depending on the topic. First, I will think a little bit about the topic for an episode and to develop it, I’ll do some general googling to see what related topics and what people come up. From there, I look into the people that are best suited for the episode, and start reaching out to them.”
Erin and I both agree that she isn’t always the right person to discuss a topic, and that it is important to find right person to speak from experience and expertise.
A lot of our downtime and research consists of finding the perfect guests.
”I look for people by Googling the topic and seeing who’s written on it, and I also search via hashtags on Instagram and sometimes Twitter. It’s important to me to see that the potential guest is passionate and has a unique voice - by voice I mean the way they communicate on social media. When I find someone that I think is a good fit, I usually reach out by email. Once someone has agreed to do an episode with us, I’ll develop the show notes.
To develop podcast show notes I research the guest and their background, and collect relevant information about the topic as well as questions to ask. Some episodes require more research than others, it depends on how accessible the topic is. This tells me how much I will need to contextualize for listeners as the host.”
Read the blog transcription of one of my favourite episodes of Alpaca My Bags podcast, "Indigenous tourism in Canada is lacking, and here's why"”
Researching a guest before they come on can be risky, because there are so many seemlingly trustworthy sources on the internet that can in reality, completely screw you over.
I asked Erin what her favourite podcast research tools are.
“Lots of people turn to Wikipedia for their podcast research and while I do as well sometimes, it’s important to know it isn’t the most trusted source haha. We invited Peppermint from Rupauls Drag Race, and Wiki said her actual (non-stage) name was Agnes. Well, that wasn’t true… We found out mid-recording.
One trick for Wiki is to scroll down to the bottom where they list the sources for a particular topic. Usually you can find valuable links to actual dependable sources there. Aside from that, for my podcast research I rely on trusted journalism sites or organizations versus Wiki. I look for resources that point to actual studies so that all of the information share in the podcast episode can be linked in the show notes and verified.“
The age old question: Do you send your questions to a podcast guest ahead of time or surprise them?
“Alpaca My Bags isn’t in investigative journalism format. We aren’t trying to get “juice” out of our guests, and so I always send questions in advance. I think that this helps guests to feel more comfortable with the interview.
I’m also aware of the power dynamics of podcasting. As the interviewer and person recording, I’m in a position of power - both in that I am the interviewer, “extracting” information, and sometimes also because of my identity as a white woman. I want to be mindful of these dynamics when interviewing, for example, people of colour or people who identify as LGBTQ+.
Sending in advance gives guests the opportunity to set boundaries for the conversation, especially since many of the conversations we have on Alpaca My Bags can revolve around tough and personal topics. On that same note, we like to send the episode to the guest before it goes live in case they’d like anything removed.”
Erin the midst of a remote interview with Ryan McMahon, for the episode of Alpaca My Bags that focuses on Indigenous tourism.
When interviewing guests on a podcast, most hosts are aiming to tell a story. But I’ve found that sometimes the best story is the one that your guest will lightly touch on, often unexpectedly, instead of the one you might be digging for.
I asked Erin, when you’re doing podcast research do you go into it already knowing what angle you’d like the episode to go, or do you actively try to stay flexible and let the research and your findings weave the narrative?
“For Alpaca My Bags it’s pretty flexible and can differ between episodes. For some, I know the angle I’m taking from the get go - for example, our episode on trans travel was clearly going to focus on asserting how different it is to travel with a trans identity. When researching that episode, my goal was to make sure I was well informed and had data I could share with our listeners, to contextualize the interview.
And our episode on wildlife tourism was clearly going to take the angle of encouraging listeners to avoid wildlife tourism. But for other episodes it can be up in the air, and the conversation with the guest will guide the angle.”
I’ve been to a lot of podcasting meet-ups and panels lately and I keep hearing (and feeling) the same thing: Podcasts are so often underestimated when it comes to the time invested in making one well. Not only does Alpaca My Bags require production hours, but it requires solid podcast research to back up the conversations that are had.
Erin described how much times she puts into researching a podcast episode before she sits down to record.
“It definitely varies, but the average per episode is probably around 2-3 hours total. It varies depending on the depth of the topic, how much I know about it already. Some episodes I can bust out really quickly because I’m so into the research. In other cases it takes longer for me to settle on the right guest, and that can add a lot of time to the research process.”
So, what are some hot tips for approaching podcast research and podcast interviews?
“When it comes to researching for a podcast, I think its important to remind your listeners that you aren’t perfect, and keep lines of communication open. We’ve had listeners reach out to correct my research before, and I think its important to be gracious and receptive to this because in the end that shows that your listeners care, and are really engaging with the content you’re creating.
For interviewing - be flexible. Some episodes go exactly the way I imagined and other’s don’t. I think it’s important to be open minded, especially when you’re chatting with guests, because you can’t ever really predict what direction a conversation with a podcast guest will go. As the interviewer on Alpaca My Bags I think of myself as a sort of guide - it’s my job to be flexible, in balance with making sure the conversation stays on track, AND is valuable for listeners.
When inviting guests on the podcast, don’t give up on nudging them. If you don’t hear back after one email, send a follow up. If they’ve shown even an ounce of interest, its worth it to be persistent. Like some of their Tweets, comment on their Instagram posts - this nudging might motivate them to respond to you. But, be respectful as well. I always finish emails to guests with ‘If you’re not interested I completely understand, please just reply ‘no thanks.’’
This gives them an easy out if they aren’t interested, and then you won’t waste any more of your time pursuing them.”
It’s been impressive and enlightening to work with Erin on this podcast and watch the way she develops an episode concept, writes a narrative through the interview and hones in on an important point for our listeners to take away.
We work as a team to make sure we get the most out of our interviews for our listeners and that our guests feel that the conversation was valuable to them. These are factors that we hyper-focus on for each episode… and maybe even to a fault if it doesn’t go right!
Do you have any tips for podcast research and finding guests? Let me know in the comments.
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