Alain Hunkins published his book Cracking The Leadership Code on March 24, 2020 - the week the world went into lockdown.
A speaker and leadership coach, Alain had no choice but to promote his book virtually, and a key tactic was podcast interviews with shows in the U.S, Canada, and the U.K. In fact, Alain has done more than 130 interviews!
Without doubt, he's learned a great deal about what makes a good podcast show guest and what makes a good show host.
Here's a little preview of Alain's astute insights into the world the podcast show host-guest dynamic.
Alain says: "Some hosts have blown me away. They've read my book. They've had specific questions about things in the book, they've had things they wanted to challenge around that, where it's become a very spirited, lively conversation."
In contrast, some hosts won't go deep or explore, and the questions are very basic, stock questions. "Then I finished answering that question, and they had no follow-up question to that. I feel like it's been a tick-box exercise.
"I'll make it work. I can do the best I can. But I look back on those interviews and think, 'Really? I mean, is that it? Is that all we're doing here?'. Because it's so generic. And again, people want to hear that moment of insight.
"I can bring as much dynamism to my side of the table, but people prefer tennis matches that're not one-sided. We want the sense that we're hitting the ball back and forth over the net. It's much more interesting."
This is why Alain believes preparation is so important. As an example, Alain says when he trains leaders, he always says the map is not the territory, and so is all your preparation. As a show host, when you show up to interview people, be present, be in the moment, and be curious.
In feedback to one host, Alain told them he'd had an amazing interview, and the host replied: "I'm curious, I actually want to interview and learn something in this hour. Otherwise, I feel like I'm wasting my time as a host."
In this conversation with Sheelagh Caygill, Alain discusses:
Find Alain online at AlainHunkins.com and LinkedIn.