How do you write a podcast episode with multiple guests?

Debate style episodes do work well! The clash of different opinions attracts attention with the chance of having a heated conversation... Even thought we don't want it to happen (maybe...?), people are still curious about the chance of it.

I agree that it’s a good idea to invite differing view points onto an episode. I’d recommend finding guests who would converse well together and would hesitate to bring on naysayers for the opposing opinion, just to have it. Having a respectful, and interesting, conversation is best—I suppose unless you truly are going for a gringe factor. It’s up to the host or co-hosts to wrangle in dominate voices and to make sure that everyone has good air time.

Eine Sache, die ich hilfreich fand, war mögliche Fragen an die unterschiedlichen Gäste vorher aufzuschreiben und in Gedanken bereits die Reaktionen der anderen Gäste auf mögliche Antworten zu antizipieren. Einfacher ist es, zu Beginn die Fragen zu notieren und mit farbigen Stiften oder digitalen Tools Querverbindungen zwischen Fragen und dazu passenden Gästen zu ziehen. Diese Visualisierung kann während der Aufnahme eine gute Hilfe sein.

Get guests who have something to say. It's tougher than it seems. There are a lot of knowledgeable people out there who you'd never want to be caught in the corner with at a cocktail party. Also (and this part will harder for the inexperienced ear), really listen to the guests before you put them on the same show. Do your bests not to book guests with the same pitch and rhythm to their speech.

The first time we had multiple guests, who were friends, we relied on everyone to be self disciplined and that was a disaster. As Hosts we would ask questions, they would reply together, chiming on one another and asking questions to one another. The time after, we had a much more structured approach and a better briefing call. We had questions for every host and ask them not to answer questions thay were not dedicated to them to avoid confusion. Having said when we felt there was interest we did ask follow up questions so that everybody could then their opinion. This second episode was much more fluid and it was much easier to edit the podcast eventually.

I always have my guests send me their bios which I’ll read in their introduction. I’ve found that that works pretty good as an ice breaker. It’s amazing how most guests are surprised at all they’ve accomplished and when they hear it being read their reactions are pretty great.

I suggest thoroughly verifying the information, sharing it with the guest before the interview, and then confirming it during the interview to ensure we accurately represent their current role and respect their preferences. Additionally, you can gather valuable information from their LinkedIn profile and past podcast interviews to craft a brief and precise biography.

READ THEIR BIOS BEFORE SHOWTIME! Even if you wrote them. Read the bio out loud before you read it to the world. Trust me on this.

Starting an episode with a lengthy background or introduction to the guests company is not needed. It’s overly done and therefore becomes repetitive—I would go as far to say there’s a percentage of listeners who probably skip ahead (something to confirm through Apple Podcasts stats). Better to give a welcoming line, maybe a one or two sentence summary as to why the audience should care about who they are, and then let their answers speak for themselves for their experience. Get to the meat asap!

When I do intros, I want them to be short--1/2 sentences at most because I don't think an audience wants to sit and listen to lengthy intros. They want to get to the subject of the show. As for writing bios, I'll edit down what someone sends but write the entire thing? This has to be AI.

Identify the expertise of every guest and frame (atleast the initial questions) in a way that it gives them the comfort of talking about their areas of expertise and hence be able to add value. This can be a huge ice breaker and then it's all about flowing from there. The initial comfort and mindfulness is necessary to set the pace for the rest of the conversation

You should definitely give the guest a heads-up on the questions and topics. This way, if they don't like how the interview is going, they won't just cancel the episode out of the blue, and you won't have to waste time reworking everything.

For multiple guest episodes and single guest episodes, I write questions that I share with the guest prior but I am clear we are conversational at the Mitlin Money Mindset. My goal is for the listener to enJOY the conversation and for them to come away with tangible takeaways

Eine Herausforderung , die sich dadurch lösen lässt, ist die Aufnahme einer Solo-Episode. Hier hilft ein Skript und unterschiedliche Segmente mit Jingles und Musik, um für Abwechslung zu sorgen. Im Interviewformat sollten Fragen vorher aufgeschrieben werden. Tipp: Man sollte die 3 wichtigsten Fragen hervorheben, damit diese nicht im Gespräch untergehen und vergessen werden. Der Rest ergibt sich je nach Gesprächsverlauf.

I usually have cards with written questions, but here’s what happens sometimes. I’ll ask a question and based on their answer I may go away from the card and ask another question that goes a little deeper into the original question. The guest may say something which prompts me to in lack of a better way of putting it do a sidebar. It makes for a very interesting discussion.

I host a podcast called A/V Marketing where I interview a range of guests on various topics, but then I use 3-4 minute clips from each interview and curate them into a "stitched together" episode that features a monologue by me, clips from guests, and segues in-between. Each episode focuses on a topic, rather than a guest. While it takes a bit longer to produce, I believe this adds more value to my listeners.

I'm not sure I agree with this. It doesn't take much to "script" a transition. Nobody get's mad watching an interview where the interviewer says, "Hold that thought we need to go to commercial" and that's pretty abrupt. Instead think about how much TIME you want to spend on each segment. Remember, there's no clock to run out here. Your show can be as long as you want it to be and you're likely to edit it down to less time than it took to record. Worry more about the subject and less about the transitions.

Angela‘s point ist really valid, since many people listen to an interview because of the guest. But when building an audience, the individual tone and voice of the host is what sets the podcast apart from the competition and helps building community.

An interview style podcast should focus mostly on the guests, but it’s refreshing and appropriate for the hosts to add in their own stories and opinions when applicable! This can add an extra layer to hone in on points and helps connect the dots for the listeners. Hosts should be audience advocates first, and not self-indulgent characters.

My podcasts are taped live so if I have multiple guests it’s basically a round table discussion with a certain topic which can transition into another area based on an answer. I like to keep my discussions free flowing because you get so many amazing insights by allowing your guests to really dive in and discuss. That’s a formula that’s worked well for me.

Interesting split here between Angela and Jan-Eric. I would suggest that if you get on guests you're genuinely interested in that the problem solves itself. You're going to want to listen to them as the host, you're going to ask your most thoughtful questions, and you're going to give them space to answer. If you're interested it's interesting.

With a lively show this part can be frustrating. People talk over one another, sentences start and stop, there are call-backs to earlier points. Don't get too hung up on the editing. If the spirit of the conversation is a good one the audience will forgive you.

If you're going to record separate guest perspectives for your podcast and stitch them together, consider building a guest-topic matrix. This makes it easy to isolate clips that you can pull from your episodes. Also, chopping up one interview and using clips across multiple episodes gives you reason to tag your guests on social media over a longer period of time rather than a fleeting moment.