What I have learned from being on 30+ podcasts this year.

Photo by Jonathan Farber on Unsplash

In 2020, I have been on over 30 podcasts or radio/youtube shows speaking about Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Social Media’s weaponization of AI, and the future of Higher Education.

I find being a podcast guest to be intellectually engaging, fun, and an excellent way to get a message out. Here are my notes on what I have learned in hopes it might be of help to you!

Motivations for podcasters vary greatly:

• Some people are producing a podcast as a way to engage their clients or potential clients.
• Some people are trying to contribute to the world or spark a conversation about an important topic.
• A surprising number of people are podcasting as a hobby so they can talk with interesting people. These sometimes make the best hosts since they have a high personal interest in learning from you.
• Many young male podcasters want to be the next Joe Rogen (which is funny since Rogen is two years older than me).

Not all podcast recordings get published.

• Only about 60% of the podcasts I have recorded have been published.
• Why? I suspect that after the recording, some podcasters thought I was not a good fit for their audience but were too nice to say so directly.
• However, many others are just starting their podcast ventures and discover that producing a podcast is a lot of work, and so they just abandoned the effort before getting around to publishing my episode.

It is best if you are ready to guide the conversation.

• Most podcasters do homework about you and your areas of expertise and will at least have a few starter questions to get the conversation going.
• However, a few podcasters (especially new ones) will not prepare well, and do you almost have to be ready to interview them or yourself: “So Joe, I bet you are wondering how….”

Getting rid of filler words is a must.

• When I first talked with Mark Struczewski (aka Mr. Productivity) about appearing on his podcast, Mark was very clear that if I had the same number of “umms, ahhs,” when we recorded his podcast, he would not…