Lesson 1) Editing can turn a disaster into a gem

I was so embarrassed about my first interview "ahs" and "ums". Also the delay was strong (Germany to Texas), so I had lots of false starts. I almost thought I had sabotaged the interview.

(queue advertising voice)
But Audacity makes editing fast and easy.

The result was not horrible.

Lesson 2) Interviewing is freaking hard

You know how some interviews feel like a casual cocktail party with no prep?

Turns out that some people (like me), probably need years to master this art. I tried asking impromptu questions, but I tripped over my words like a klutz. I am now amazed at naturally flowing interviews.

It's magic.

And totally get why top podcasters interview onsite (Being natural with a delay? Not so easy.)

So, only prepared questions for me until I get the hang of this.

Lesson 3) Solo podcasts are unbelievably freaking hard

My wife forces me to do a podcast even if I have no guest.

It hasn't been easy to find guests for my podcast with 8 subscribers. So, if I have no interview, I am enslaved to spend all Friday recording a solo show.

For 30 minutes of content, I need about:

• 2 hours to prepare,
• 2 hours to record,
• 2 hours to edit, and
• 2 hours of rehearsing with my dog on my morning walk.

Basically I need 4x more time to do a solo show which is 1/2 the length of an interview.

Lesson 4) Time travel is 2x faster when interviewing

Interviewing is a time machine.

I noticed both times my guests were getting tired. Why? Because they had been talking for 40 minutes straight. And I had only gotten through 1/2 my questions.

Poor guests :-(

So, I had to triage the final questions and let some juicy questions die in the waiting room.

Not sure what to do about that yet.

Ideas?

Lesson 5) Post-interview is awkward without a plan

This introvert is spent after talking for an hour.

What is this nonsense coming out of my mouth? I end up in a cringe-fest that leaves my guest logically speechless. It's high school all over again.

Okay, maybe a bit exagerrated, but for people like me, a plan is necessary.

Topics I should cover:

• Points that resonated with me
• Special requests for the show notes
• Edit requests

Tech lessons

• Don't use Wifi on an interview. Delays kill natural interactions. So figure out hot to connect to the internet with a cable. (I had to spend 17.99 for a USB A to C cable)
• Use a digital recorder to backup the recording. I accidentally recorded my first solo podcast with my computer mic. The digital recording save me.
• Zoom permits you to let your guest record the interview from their end. I always have drops because of bandwidth, so recording from their end give you a clean recording. Make sure the recording settings is set to record each person separately.