Lately I’ve been asked alot how I got to interview so many great experts.
If you’ve never heard of me before, I’ve interviewed over 30 gurus and experts in all areas including, bestselling authors, movie stars, investors, business owners, speakers and more from all over the world. The beautiful thing is, when I first started nobody had ever heard of me. So, how did I manage to score so many high profile interviewees?
I’ll share some of my insights with you in this article.
First, start by practising with one of your friends. Watch Oprah. Watch Barbara Walters. Or any other well respected interviewer you like, and see how they seamlessly carry on a flowing conversation without really knowing much about the topic at all!
Once you’re confident you can start the following process
STEP 1: Shortlist some people you’d like to start interviewing. Start small to begin and work your way up. Trying to get Bill Gates for your first interview is not going to happen!
STEP 2: Create a private interview invitation page, where you have either shot a personal video or audio introducing yourself and what you do.
STEP 3: Sell them what THEY will get as part of the interview. I’ve never paid for my interviews but I give them a fully edited copy of the interview with master rights once it’s done. All they have to do is spend the time to record it, and they don’t have to worry about editing, rendering, mixing etc. It’s a pretty good deal!
STEP 4: When contacting them, cite something personal you’ve noticed about them, their site, their message. Blanket invitations will get you nowhere fast!
STEP 5: As you build up some momentum, use the combined pulling power of the people you’ve interviewed as credibility. When people see you’ve interviewed best selling authors, property tycoons, well known business leaders, they often feel honoured to be asked and can’t wait to be interviewed!
STEP 6: Do your homework! Research their message, their last few blog posts and some of their products. Write out every question you think would be valuable to ask then shortlist. The better prepared you are, the more content you’ll be able to get out of them!
STEP 7: Have Fun! Be yourself and be relaxed. My best interviews have come when I pretended I was having a ‘cup of coffee’ with that person. My worst ones came when I was too ’structured’ and stayed reading my questions.
Some other things you need to know
* To protect yourself, always make sure you record the agreement/permission to record (before or after the interview), or get written permission.
* You can use the phone and record onto your computer from there, but I prefer using skype (pamela for pc and call recorder for mac) and I also have a backup line - my mobile (if my internet cuts out) which I can record directly onto my mac (with wiretap studio).
* To edit the audios I use a fantastic free program that my good friends Gideon Shalwick and Yaro Starak also recommend, audacity.
* My microphone of choice is the rode podcaster mic. It gives studio quality sound and a although its not cheap, if you are serious about creating some quality products, it retails for around $250-$300.
I’ll be sharing more tips and strategies in the future on this topic, plus some of my best interviews. So check back often!
Happy interviewing!
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I attended Tony’s bigger, more detailed seminar “Date with Destiny”, over 6 days and nights at the Conrad Jupiters Casino on the Gold Coast. This was even more powerful than UPW, and allowed me to examine my rules for life and my rules for certain emotions. Tony’s endurance and energy was not human. It was supposedly his last trip ever to Australia, so I had to capitalise. It was worth every $ I spent (I bought a front row ticket).
