For podcast guest voice, warm up your throat with tea or water, shower beforehand, and vary pitch, volume, pauses and speed. For body language, use your hands, stand if you can, and on camera keep head, hands and body moving naturally about two and a half feet from the screen. Then record a practice run.
Podcast guests need both voice and body language, even when the show is audio only. Your voice is what listeners hear, and the way you hold and move your body changes that voice. More and more I find that podcasts are recorded over Zoom or Skype and a version gets posted on YouTube, which means there are two chances to be seen. For me, being seen is the full equation. Start with the voice.
How do you get your voice ready for a podcast?
When I wake up my voice is gravelly. If you are doing a morning interview, have some tea or coffee. Some media trainers warn that coffee makes you jittery, and that is a fair point, but if coffee is part of your normal routine, have your coffee. Take a shower too. If I think an interview is audio only and it is early, and I say I will shower afterward, that is not a good call. Even at 10 a.m. I do not sound like myself. I sound like I woke up five seconds ago.
Keep water nearby. Your throat may get dry, and between questions you can sneak a little sip. Not much, because you do not want the host to hear you drinking, and a glass is quieter than a plastic bottle. I also hydrate before the interview, a bit more than usual, so my mouth does not get dry and I feel pretty good throughout.
If your voice is fatigued, the answer is sleep, water and tea. I speak for a living and mine tires by the end of the day, and after a week of conference speaking there is no way I can stay up late or drink alcohol and still sound right. Know yourself. For more, see how to warm up your voice before an interview.
How do you make your voice more interesting?
Play with four things:
- Highs and lows. Hit certain words. Your voice should sound a little musical. It is easy to add enthusiasm just by playing with pitch, and the alternative is a flat monotone.
- Volume. When I say "I have a little secret to share with your people, are you ready?" I lean toward the microphone and get quieter. People lean in too.
- Pauses. We say um and uh to tell the other person we have more coming and are not finished. That is useful, but we abuse it and say it every other second. A pause does the same job and is far more powerful.
- Speed. Speed up, slow down. It is more interesting to listen to somebody who does.
To find out whether you are an um offender, record yourself. Do a mock interview on any subject and play it back. If you want to go further, open the recording in an audio editor where the ums show up as visual blobs. Highlight and delete each one, like deleting a word in a document. It is so annoying for the five or ten minutes you do it that your subconscious hears it from then on, and you stop saying it. Then hear the same sentences without them. I wrote about this in how to stop saying um in interviews.
One caution. If you say um or like once or twice, it is not the end of the world. Give lots of value.
Does body language matter if no one can see you?
Yes, because body language changes your voice. When I talk in a monotone I put my hands down, and it is much easier to be less expressive when I do. People everywhere gesture when they talk, from every background and country. So use your hands even on an audio only podcast. It makes you more interesting.
I have a standing desk, and for podcasts I raise it all the way and stand. It adds flavor and color to my voice. I also find it easier to speak for a long period standing. Sitting for more than an hour keeps all the energy in one spot instead of throughout your body, so move.
What should you do with your body on camera?
Three elements: head, hands, body. If I only move my head and everything else is locked down, I look like a bobblehead. If I move my head and body and lock my hands down, something still looks weird. As soon as the hands come in, you look more interesting, and you are not inventing special gestures.
On a webcam, find the zone. If your hands are too close to the screen they throw off the color and look enormous. I sit about two feet from the computer, and my hands work at about two and a half feet. Keep your hands in the middle of your body in the frame. For where to look, see where to look during a media interview, and for more on this, body language in a media interview.
Be intentional about the space behind you. I like to show I am a real human, so there is a picture of my family behind me and some images that might get a host to ask about them. If you happen to be in a magazine and it shows, you may get asked about it, which is a gift. Add the right lighting, or a backdrop you pull behind you. Standing and moving around is probably the best option of all.
Add a little mystery or surprise if it fits your personality. On one podcast I arrived unshaven, then pulled out an electric shaver and shaved as we talked. The hosts laughed. Then I put on makeup, and they said I went from tired to media ready. That matched me. Your interview has to match you.
How do you practice before the real interview?
Everyone says sure, I will practice, and then we are busy people and we do not. Here is why you should. If your first draft is the real, recorded interview that you plan to share with the world, it will not be your best version. Five minutes is worth it.
- Hand a friend, spouse or colleague a list of questions. Have them interview you.
- Record it, on the video device in your pocket or just as audio.
- Draw a line down the center of a page. On one side write what works. On the other write what you want to improve. Do more of the first and push the second over.
- Be a fair critic, not a harsh one. If you got the main information out and you look pretty good, you will only look better.
You do not have to look like a movie star. It is better if you look like a real person, as long as they can see you. If it is a pure podcast, it has to come through in your voice. That is what practice shows you. For a way to rehearse your messages as well, see what to say on a podcast as a guest.