Paolo Kernahan

I LOVE A good podcast. Know any? Ouch! Lately, I’ve been finding it hard to keep these podcasts down. There’s one basic shortcoming endemic among many of them. For several practitioners of this “updated” format, their interview skills are…dodgy.

It’s deeply frustrating to arrive at the cul-de-sac of a two-hour podcast having endured a succession of circles spun enthusiastically by the host while learning nothing from a drawn-out, uninspired, rudderless conversation.

Podcasts are (were?) a great way to make sense of issues impacting our lives. Some discussions help you appreciate how a particular topic might directly veer into your lane of life without your ever having considered it. "How climate change affects your grocery bills." "Cumulative effect of commuter stress on your mental and physical health." My beef is that many podcasters don’t apply sufficient rigour to their content. The result is usually a meandering mess.

Podcasting became a thing back in 2004. Since then it's morphed into a multibillion-dollar industry among companies like Spotify, Sirius and others capitalising on increasing audience interest. True crime, cryptocurrency, cryptozoology, gaming, politics (leftwing, rightwing, wingnut), sport, culture – the chatterverse is infinite. In the realm of podcasts, the quality spectrum stretches in either direction beyond view. There’s a flower for every bee and, as human nature demands, a dung heap for every fly.

If you’re a podcaster and want to improve the quality of your content and enhance your longevity, there are a few adjustments that can make your output rewarding for listeners and yourself. It would be worth your while given that attention is a particularly scarce commodity nowadays.

Having come from a conventional media background myself, hosting different morning talk shows for several years, my experience has taught me that the principles of a good interview are like a clean black T-shirt – it works with everything.

The best interviewers draft questions based on what viewers and listeners would most likely want to know. This preparation helps bake in audience relatability, receptivity and retention. Research on chosen topics will also identify other areas of inquiry the audience might not have considered but would nonetheless be interested in.

One cardinal sin of the interview format is answering your own question. Many podcasters’ questions are so long and ill-formed they eat away at time, squander attention and often work in answers – even if incorrect. Keep your questions concise. Your task is to extract information and insights from the guest. I get that the podcast is often meant to be conversational in tone, but conversations can be boring. That’s why at parties and social gatherings we make our excuses to escape the clutches of dry, bloviating chatter.

The best interviews transport the audience. There isn’t always a resolution, but there’s a conclusion which means there must be a structure and flow to the exchange that follows a path keeping the audie