78: What to Do When You're Not Happy With an Interview
If you conduct enough podcast interviews, it’s bound to happen that you’re going to have a dud.
But, how do you know when to release an interview that isn’t your favorite and when to scrap it altogether.
And, if you do decide not to release the episode, how do you handle that with the guest who gave you some of their valuable time?
Take a listen to this quick episode to hear the answer to these questions and more!
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Transcript
Welcome to podcasting for coaches. I'm Britany Felix and I'm a podcast launch consultant who specializes in helping coaches and consultants utilize the power of podcasting as a way to build brand awareness and generate new leads for their business. I realize not every new coach or consultant can afford to hire someone to help launch their show. So I created this podcast as a way to guide you through the process of launching and utilizing your very own podcast to help you grow your business and reach a new audience of adoring followers and potential clients. If you're ready to get your voice and podcast out into the world, head over to podcasting for coaches.com. To learn more. Today's topic is one that I actually get asked about fairly often from my own clients, and I see posted in podcasting Facebook communities on a fairly regular basis. If you conduct enough interviews, it is bound to happen that you're going to have a dud, whether you are off your game, when you recorded it, whether your guess was off their game, whether they were just overly promotional, and really their whole objective and they made it super obvious was to sell themselves or sell their product or services. for whatever reasons, something about the interview just doesn't click, and you're wondering what to do next. Here are some things that I want you to keep in mind when you're determining what to do with this interview. The very first thing, the thing that should be at the forefront of this decision is Will your audience get something out of it? Will it be a valuable use of their time to listen to this episode? If the answer is a resounding no, then that's your answer for whether or not you should use this episode. Now, if no was something that did come into your mind, first, I want you to also really try to think about it objectively. Just because it doesn't resonate with you, or just because you're not super crazy about it doesn't mean your audience is going to feel the same way. I've seen posted several times in comment threads for these types of posts and Facebook communities where someone has said, You know, I really didn't like this interview, but I put it out anyways, because I felt obligated to. And it actually ended up being one of my audience's favorites. So really, really, really try to put all of your own opinions about the episode aside and think about it in the mind of your listener. Think about it as if you were them? Will this be a valuable use of your time as a listener? Will you get resources out of it? will it give you a new perspective? If the answer to any of those questions is yes, then maybe you should still release it, even though you're not completely crazy about it. Because again, every decision you make on the podcast should be with your audience in mind. If it serves them, it will end up serving you because you're going to be keeping your audience happy and satisfied. So let's say that you have decided flat out No, my audience won't like this. Either. This person was super sleazy, or super boring. It was like pulling teeth getting answers out of them, I just don't want to release it, I don't feel comfortable putting my name on this thing. I totally get that. And I have done that myself. So far on this particular podcast, I haven't had to scrap an interview. Because while there have been some more, I wasn't super in love with it, I knew my audience was going to get something from it, I knew you were going to get something valuable out of it. So I still put it out. However, on my original podcast, living unconventionally, that went for nearly 200 episodes, I absolutely had some duds, and I just didn't release them, because they just were not enjoyable to listen to at all. So if that is the case for you, let's talk about a couple of ways that you can handle this. One thing that I want you to think of is maybe the entire interview doesn't have to be scrapped, maybe you can do something a little bit different. And this will actually be a little bit more work for you. So you'll have to decide whether or not it's worth it. But say the overall The interview was not that great. However, there were a couple of valuable nuggets. So maybe in this 45 minute interview, there are little pieces here and there that are gold, but you really don't want to make your audience and through all the rest of the junk. In these situations, you can kind of do a little bit of a different format where you pull those clips that are amazing. And then maybe you record a little segment of why you love this information. Or you follow up on it yourself. So maybe they you know said something about Instagram and how to use it the right way. And you really liked the tip that they gave, maybe you or your editor pull that clip out, and then you record a segment of here's why I really liked this tip or, hey, guess what we implemented this, and here's how well it went for us. So you can do those sorts of things. That way you can still salvage the interview. And it's not a complete waste of your time. But again, you don't make your audience sit through all of the rest of it. So going beyond that if it's just flat out a no period, not releasing it not good in any shape, way or form. There are a couple of ways that you can handle this. Two of them are ways that maybe you're going to be comfortable with. And maybe you're not, I'm going to throw them out there. And you can determine whether or not you want to use these methods. One is, just don't tell your guests anything and hope that they never contact you again. I know that that may seem a little bit sketchy to some people listening. But honestly, I've had this happen, I was not the greatest with my very first show. And I had interviews that were just duds, and I just never released them. And I never said anything to the guest. And they honestly never contacted me ever again to find out what happened to their episode. No drama, they're easy, simple, requires no action takes no time. Now, if they do contact you, you can give them the same response as one of the other methods for handling this, which is, again, you can kind of go a sketchy way and say, Oh, I'm so sorry, I lost the interviewer. My computer crashed, or somehow it didn't save or we had some kind of a technical glitch, and it was unusable. You can say that. And that gives you an out, however, you then run the risk of the person being like, Oh, no, that's such a bummer. I really enjoyed this conversation. Why don't we do it again. And then you're kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place, because you have to provide a reason for why you don't want to do this interview again, even though they're being super nice and offering up their time again. So if you want to avoid that situation altogether, if you want to avoid any awkwardness of that kind, you just got to be upfront with them. And that is basically just sending them an email saying that you're not going to be able to use the interview. Now some of the language that I like to use, and I use the same language for when I'm turning down a guest for my show, is that upon further review, unfortunately, I had to make the decision that I was not going to be able to use the interview, because I did not feel that it would 100% serve my audience the way that it should. every guest in every interview needs to be an absolute perfect fit for them, they are my first priority, and I cannot give them something that I don't feel is the absolute best use of their time. That's kind of a nice way of saying it. And again, you can word this in however you want. But I basically put it down to that I am really respecting and valuing my audience's time and they are my priority, not the guest. Now, I have done this in the past both with guests and with interviews that were duds. And I've gotten mixed reactions, honestly, uh, you will get the people who are super offensive about it, it's usually the guests that you deny coming on the show in the first place that get really defensive about it, and kind of aggressive in the reply. And in that case, I'm actually kind of thankful because then it just reaffirms my decision that they were not the right person for my show. But if you have someone who was a guest, and they are upset, you know, you can apologize. But again, just make sure that you're making it very clear that it just was not the best use of your audience's time, but thank them for their time, and let them know that you really do appreciate that. And honestly, if they're still upset after that, they're just going to be upset, and there's not really much that you can do. I know some people get a little bit concerned about burning bridges here because sometimes these guests are referred to them by people that they know. Or maybe there's someone that's pretty big in the niche that they're in, and they don't want to really make things awkward or upset anyone else who might be involved. But honestly, at that point, you just have to be a big girl, and deal with whatever the consequences are. If there is Fallout, if they start bad mouthing you, if they go tell the person that has a mutual friend who referred them bad things, you have to evaluate whether or not you want to be associated with that person to begin with. There's only so much that you can do, you can thank them for their time, you can show them that you're appreciative of that. But that your priority is to putting out the absolute best content, and that your audience is getting the most valuable use of their time. So I hope that helps give you at least a couple of ways on how to handle this depending on your comfort level with what you want to respond with, or not respond in some situations. But I can't say this enough, do what's best for your audience. If it's not going to be valuable for them. Do not release that episode, you are not obligated to your guest, you are obligated to your audience. That's gonna wrap it up for today. Thank you so much for joining me and I will see you back here next week. Have a fantastic week. And that wraps up another episode of podcasting for coaches. If you'd like to connect with me further, you can do so on Instagram at podcasting for coaches. If you know it's time to finally get serious about starting your podcast, go to podcasting for coaches calm and click on the work with me tab in the main menu to learn more about my one on one launch consultation packages or my self paced online course. And I look forward to seeing the podcasts that you create and put out into the world.