Writing Engaging Content for Podcasts

In 2025, if your plan to put yourself out there more by taking on more podcasts, TV/radio interviews and speaking opportunities .. these tips are for you: Before the Interview 1. Ask for a question guide or topic outline beforehand Understanding the themes or questions allows you to prepare key points without sounding overly rehearsed. Do not memorise a script or read off a script. 2. Research the interviewer’s style Watch or listen to past interviews to gauge their tone, pace, and questioning style so you can align your delivery. 3. Prepare a “bridge statement” If the interviewer veers off track, a bridge statement like, “What’s also important to mention is…” can steer the conversation back to your key points. 4. Craft a three-part answer framework Structure your responses with: A clear headline (e.g., “The main issue is…”) Supporting details (a statistic, example, or anecdote) A concluding statement (e.g., “And that’s why this is so important.”). 5. Anticipate tricky questions and prepare “graceful pivots” Practice answers to challenging questions and learn to pivot to your strengths or key message if needed. During the Interview 6. Use the “pause and think” technique If you’re unsure of an answer, pause briefly to collect your thoughts instead of rushing into a response. It shows poise. 7. Engage the host with questions of your own Show curiosity by occasionally asking the interviewer’s perspective. It creates a conversational tone and can shift the dynamic. 8. Anchor your answers with a story or example Humans connect with stories. For every abstract idea you share, anchor it with a real-world example to make it memorable. 9. Be strategic with transitions Use phrases like, “That reminds me of…” or “To add to that…” to seamlessly transition to your key points. 10. Avoid filler words or hedging phrases Words like “just,” “kind of,” or “I think” dilute your authority. Instead, use confident language like “In my experience” or “What we know is…” After the Interview 11. Follow up with any additional insights If you didn’t get to fully explain a key point, follow up with the interviewer via email with concise additional thoughts. 12. Analyse your tone and pace from the recording Listening back can reveal areas to refine, like speaking too quickly or missing opportunities to pause for impact. 13. Thank the interviewer publicly A LinkedIn post or tweet acknowledging the interviewer and audience adds goodwill and extends the reach of the interview. 14. Prepare your own takeaways Write down 1-2 personal lessons learned from the interview process and refine your preparation strategy for the next one.

A client preparing for an important podcast confessed he's a bit "wordy." I complimented him for recognizing what could be a fatal flaw and said, "That's why you're going to keep your remarks to 2 minutes and answer every question with an EXAMPLE instead of an EXPLANATION. Explanations are INFObesity. Examples are INTRIGUING." He agreed but said, "I don't know HOW to tell a short story." I told him, "The key is to put us in the S.C.E.N.E. Here's how: S = SENSORY DETAIL: Start with WHERE to put us THERE. Think of a real-life situation that illustrates your point. What did it look like? Smell like? Feel like? Sound like? C = CHARACTERS: Describe the individual(s) involved so we know their MOOD. We don't need to know they have brown hair. The question is, are they sad, mad? Excited? Frustrated? E = EXPERIENCE IT: Re-enact what happened so we can SEE what you're SAYING. If YOU see and feel what you saw and felt then, WE will too. N =NARRATIVE: If you don't have dialogue, it’s not a story, it's a listicle of events. Use comma/quotes of exactly what was said so it's ALIVE and we feel part of the conversation. E = EPIPHANY: What is the lesson-learned, shift, or AHA where everything comes together and the point suddenly makes sense? If the podcaster asks, "WHY did you write this book?" don't TELL him why you wrote the book. Put us in the S.C.E.N.E. of when and where you realized people were getting outdated badvice, and decided to share your recent research and evolutionary results so they could thrive instead of suffer needlessly. And keep each response to under 2 minutes. If you do, this becomes a rock-and-roll interview from start to finish. You will be infinitely more interesting and people will be motivated to keep listening. #podcasts #storytelling #speaking #samhorn #presenting

In an interview, the question should never be: ‘What was the highlight of your career?’ If you’re making the guest do all the heavy lifting with broad, uninspiring questions, you’re going to get broad and uninspiring answers. Across 200 long-form interviews on the Between Two Beers podcast, we’ve developed a formula to create more engaging chats. It’s not reinventing the wheel, but it is putting in the work. We go wide to go narrow. In our prep, we listen to other podcasts our guests have been on, read news articles, scan their social media and talk to their friends, colleagues and family. And then we narrow in. Six pages of notes become one. Our goal is to uncover the most interesting parts of their stories, and ask about them in the most insightul way. Instead of asking Ryan Nelsen about what his time was like as captain of Blackburn Rovers in the English Premier League, we asked what the culture was like that allowed Turkish star Tugay to smoke in the toilets at halftime. Instead of asking Raelene Castle how she got her start in sports administration - we asked how many phone calls she made in the 60 minutes after she heard on the radio that the Netball NZ CEO had resigned. And instead of asking Dame Susan Devoy for some 'good stories from the road', we asked her why she once peed in a trophy 😂 . The magic happens in interviews when the subject is engaged and if you show up having done the work – you’ll be amazed at what comes back at you.

Most podcast episodes die the moment you hit publish. Recording a great conversation is valuable, but most podcasters treat it like a one-time content event. Common problem. You publish the full episode, share it once across your channels, maybe send it to your email list. Then you move on to recording the next one. I watched a podcaster do this after a phenomenal guest interview. She published the 90-minute episode. Posted the link on LinkedIn and Instagram. Then nothing. A week later, that episode might as well not exist. Your episodes contain 10-15 pieces of high-performing content. You just need a system to extract them. We do this: → Pull 8-10 short clips from each episode targeting different audience segments and pain points. → Write carousels from the episode's biggest insights, then drive listeners back to the full show. → Turn your guest's strongest quotes into standalone graphics and schedule a 14-day content series around the same themes. → Turn one episode into 30 days of audience-building content that drives listens, builds authority, and attracts sponsors. If you're recording episodes but only posting them once, you're leaving 90% of your growth potential on the table. This is the distribution system we build for podcasters who want every episode to work harder. Which part of your podcast process feels most wasted right now - recording, editing, or distribution? Drop it in the comments and let’s unpack it.

Here's how I used AI to make a podcast interview unique and highly relevant to my audience. A step by step walkthrough of my process. If your guest has been interviewed a hundred times before, how do you ask them something new? That was my challenge before interviewing Joe Pulizzi. I already speak to Joe from time to time. I've interviewed him before. I’ve heard his takes. We share audience and they hear him often. So I needed fresh questions—ones that matter to my podcast audience. Enter AI. This is how I used Perplexity AI to: ✅ Research what Joe has already been asked before ✅ Identify content gaps my audience would care about ✅ Generate original, thought-provoking questions But AI doesn’t replace the human touch. It just gives you a smarter starting point. I still refined the list, added my perspective, and removed any obvious questions - keeping only the most relevant and engaging ones. Now, my interview won’t be just another repeat—it’ll be a real conversation with new questions that you wouldn't have heard on another show. #contentmarketing #podcast

As a non-fiction writer, your source material is *the* limiting factor on your writing. Through 104 content interviews, I've refined a system to gather insights SMEs don’t even realize they have. Here's the workflow in a nutshell: Step 1: Topic Research The goal is to source topics that are hyper-relevant to what your interviewee's ICP cares about right now. Part of this should be a standing, inter-interview routine. Outside of that, newsletters, podcasts, and other thought leaders are great places to turn. Step 2: Question Development Once I've compiled a list of high-signal, strategically aligned topics, I start building out post briefs and corresponding questions that will help draw out the source material we need. Having a clear vision for the final piece of content is critical here so that you can ensure the questions are hyper-targeted at the anecdotes, stats, data, etc. needed to create something really compelling. Step 3: Draft the Agenda Next, I’ll put together an agenda to help guide the conversation. I find this helps me and the interviewee stay on topic and pace. Being intentional in what order you slot topics is also surprisingly impactful, as thematic continuity and flow can be as advantageous as the opposite is detrimental. Step 4: “Anything Top of Mind?” I like to start every interview (after any chit-chat, of course) with anything that's top of mind for the interviewee. These ideas almost always make for good content, and it's also a good way to get them warmed up and into the interviewing flow. Step 5: Ask the Questions (and Follow-Ups) Of course, you want to get through as many (optimally all) of the questions you prepare. But it’s just as important to ask follow-up questions where relevant. The curse of knowledge often keeps SMEs from realizing just how interesting, unique, or compelling an anecdote may be. It’s our job as writers to sniff those out and gather all the specifics needed to create compelling content about them. Step 6: Fall into Rabbit Holes As important as the agenda is, you can’t be beholden to it. It's not uncommon for the most interesting or compelling bits to come from asides. And while determining what tangents are worth following is a bit of an art, a bias in this direction is generally best. It typically leads to better source material and a much more conversational (and thus enjoyable) interview experience. Step 7: “Anything else?” I always wrap by asking if there are any outstanding thoughts they want to get down before we wrap. Around 25% of the time, some great bit comes from this. And even when it doesn’t, it never hurts to ask. P.S. I'm happy to share the AI SOP I use to assist with steps 1-3 if it’s helpful. Just comment “SOP” below, and I'll send you a DM.

Most founders want to get a podcast interview because they want to feel like Joe Rogan. They want the cool mic, the dark studio, and the "platform." That is an ego play. And most use it wastefully. If you are measuring a podcast by listeners or downloads, you’ve already lost. The real power of a 40-minute interview isn't just the "show." It’s the Raw Material. One hour of me talking is not one piece of content. If you’re smart, it’s fuel for your entire content machine for the next three weeks. Here is the Moburst math for one single 40-minute recording: 1. The Social Snippets You don’t share the full link and pray people watch. You chop that discussion into 10 high-impact vertical videos. 30 to 60 seconds each. Punchy, captioned, and straight to the point. That’s two weeks of daily social posts from one conversation, which would be shared over the coming quarter as great high-end video materials. 2. The SEO Engine We take the transcript and pipe it into an LLM. It doesn’t just "summarize." It extracts the unique data points, the spicy takes, and the original frameworks I mentioned. From that, we build two deep-dive blog posts. Not generic AI fluff but content based on my actual quotes and my actual thoughts. That helps you win with SEO and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization). 3. Thought Leadership on Autopilot That same transcript becomes 5 distinct LinkedIn posts. Different angles. Different hooks. One hour of recorded discussion fuels the "Thought Leader" presence that people think takes all day to manage. The logic is simple: Stop trying to create. Start Documenting. You spend one hour having a great conversation, and the AI handles the amplification. It hits your social pages, it fuels your SEO, and it keeps you top-of-mind across every platform while you’re busy actually running your company. Don't build a show. Build a Content Factory. #GrowthHacking #ContentStrategy #Podcasting #AI #ThoughtLeadership #Moburst #NoBS

Google AI Studio and Gemini are my go-to tools when it comes to transcribing podcast interviews and formatting them so they’re worthy of a blog post and newsletter. Here is my exact workflow, with the prompts I used for my most recent podcast. I upload the MP3 to Google AI Studio, which excels at handling audio files. My prompt: "The attached file is an interview for a podcast called A History of Marketing between Andrew Mitrak and Sergio Zyman, Chief Marketing Officer of Coca Cola. It is about the history of New Coke, the Cola Wars in the 1980s and early 1990s. Please generate a clean transcript and remove "um" and other filler words and accidentally repeated words but otherwise be as accurate as possible." Providing context in the prompt (names, topic) makes for much more accurate output. I review the transcript in Google Docs using its error-checking features. I then upload this version of the transcript to my YouTube video, which is a big improvement over its auto-subtitles. Next, I use the Gemini App. I attach a PDF of journalistic transcribing instructions and use this prompt followed by the full text of the transcript: "The following is an interview transcript. Please make edits to correct grammar and remove false starts, following the attached transcribing instructions. Please format this for a blog and add line breaks when speakers alternate. When there is a long answer, break it up as needed into separate paragraphs for readability. Put the names of speakers in front of their dialogue each time they speak and bold their names." This cleans up the text, adds formatting, and attributes dialogue. The output at this point looks a lot like a blog post! I export to Google Docs. A 30-minute interview will be about 10 pages. For SEO and scannability, I use this prompt: "Please suggest SEO-optimized headers to add to this blog. Make them descriptive of sections. Keep them short, but don't try to be cute. Make sure they improve scannability. Use H2 and H3 formats." This generates headers I insert into the blog. I rewrite and edit these, but AI saves a lot of time here with the first draft. Finally, I review the blog post while listening to the MP3. This lets me check both the transcript and the audio file for errors simultaneously. At 2X speed this process takes 15-30 minutes. This workflow with Google AI Studio and Gemini has streamlined my post-interview process. It's not just about saving time, it's about producing something I otherwise wouldn’t have made without the help of AI. I wouldn’t bother with transcripts if I had to do them manually, so now the interview is more accessible to audiences who prefer to read instead of listen or watch the interview. It’s also more discoverable, and a better overall experience for everybody. Hope this long-form, detailed post is useful to those learning to use AI tools. I'm continuing to make this process faster each time. Would appreciate any of your AI tips if you have them!

In the past year, I've written 21 blogs based on interviews with execs and SMEs. Over that time I've noticed a major change to my process. It actually happened unconsciously at first, but now I do it intentionally. The prep always starts the same way: 🗣️ I look up the interviewee and find some pieces they've written or podcasts they've guested on to get a sense of their voice. 🤓 I research the topic and read previous content that the client has written on similar themes to understand their stance. 💡 I revisit the ICP data to remind myself of the audience and their priorities. Then, I write the questions. I spend a lot of time on this, working backwards from what the piece needs to make sure I cover all the main points, and drafting follow ups I could ask to go deeper in specific areas. During the interview, I know the beats to hit, but I try to stay open to following up on intriguing twists and turns in the conversation as they unfold. So far so same. It’s after this that things have changed. 𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗠𝗲 would wrap up the chat, highlight the key soundbites in the transcript, and then figure out a way to structure them. There would always be a unifying logic that I'd use to bring order to the writing: Thematic  Cause/effect For/against  Chronological I'd obsess over getting the progression from one paragraph to the next to feel just right. To widen, or deepen, or pivot the argument. The result would usually read well… But the whole process would 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 like hard work. Here's what 𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗠𝗲 Does instead: I run the interview in much the same way, but I'm on the look out for…let’s call it an anchor. ⚓ It could be a sentence. It could be a turn of phrase. It could be a concept or a coinage. There isn't an anchor in every interview. But you always know the anchor when you hear it. They hold attention. They feel 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘺. So now, when I finish a call, I’ll go through that transcript and I'll highlight the anchor in a different colour. When I come to plot out the structure, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰.  It orientates all the other thoughts around itself, drawing everything back to it. Which means that instead of me having to slog it out to give the piece that feeling of effortless flow, it just…flows effortlessly. I’m meant to say here that this new process is vastly superior. It’s not. But it does feel better. It’s lovely to have access to both options, depending on what suits the subject matter - and interviewee. So what changed? Simply: my confidence. Structuring a piece around a theme, along a timeline, or using a pros/cons debate, takes skill. Structuring a piece around a single thing because you think it matters, takes conviction. Now I have both. So that's nice. Want me to interview your SMEs (or you), cast the anchor, and go explore some uncharted linguistic lands together? You know where to slide. ✌️ 

Here's how I actually use AI for SME interviews (without losing the human part) I'm not here to pretend AI gets you all the way there. It doesn't. But I've figured out a workflow that makes my life easier. Step 1: Do my homework. I look up the person I'm interviewing. Read what they've written, check out their LinkedIn, get a sense of their world. Step 2: Write questions with my own brain. Always. A few days before the interview, I sit down and map out what I actually need to know. You can't prompt your way into good questions. Think through what matters. Step 3: Record the interview. There's lots of AI notetakers out there. I've used Granola before and thought it was fine. Lately I've just been recording the old fashioned way. Because of what I do next... Step 4: Transcribe the recording in Descript. Instant searchable transcript. Descript is my favorite and I already have a subscription for my podcast. So that’s why I use this instead of Granola or another AI notetaker. Step 5: Dump my messy notes and the full transcript from Descript into ChatGPT. It helps me organize my thoughts, summarize, surface insights, and turn the convo into something I can actually use. ______________ If you want to steal it, here’s the prompt I use for step 5: You are acting as a senior B2B content strategist and interviewer who helps brands translate expert conversations into usable marketing assets. I’m sharing a verbatim transcript from a subject matter expert (SME) interview along with my rough notes. Your goals: 1. Create comprehensive, cleaned-up notes that capture key insights, pain points, memorable quotes, language patterns, and repeating themes. Organize by topic with clear headers. 2. Distill the conversation into a strategic summary highlighting key insights, pain points, jobs to be done, how our product or solution fits, quotes or phrasing worth reusing verbatim 3. Identify 5–7 strategic takeaways that could inform our content kit or messaging framework (voice, tone, proof points, audience priorities). 4. Write a Q&A-style blog post between me and the SME, as if it were a podcast transcript turned article. I’d like it to be warm, natural, and conversational, but structured for readability and SEO. Format cleanly: headers, bullets, short paragraphs. Interpret, don’t just summarize. Surface patterns and insights that make the story stronger. _______________ And that’s it. From one hour of prep and one hour of conversation I end up with a full set of messaging takeaways I can actually use, and a draft of a Q&A style blog post. And when it’s time to write the content it takes a fraction of the time because the story is already there, I just have to shape it.