TIPS AND TRICKS FOR OUR GUESTS

Have you ever listened to a podcast where the guest’s audio quality was terrible? Chances are, you probably didn’t make it through the full episode. If your audio quality offends listeners’ ear drums, they’ll immediately switch off. It won’t matter how entertaining or informative you are.

It’s not as simple as making sure your microphone is working and that your recording software is set up properly—there’s also a lot of work that goes into preparing for a successful recording session. Here are some tips on how to prepare for your next podcast interview.

PREPARING YOUR TOPIC

Ahead of the scheduled recording time, Brad and I like to decide on a theme, message, and outcome for each episode. We don’t record from a script, but we do spend some time ahead of recording generating sub-bulleted talking points to help us align at the 30k foot view of our topic.  Spend some time thinking about what agile topics interests you and how you want to express your agile story. Also, think about your audience and the kind of conversation you’d like to have with a listener.  

To find your voice, consider the following:

  1. Create a mental list of personas that you’re going to be speaking to.  Is it other scrum masters, product owners, senior leaders?  What level of agility do they possess?
  2. Consider what you know and what you don’t know.  Brad and I love being authentic and vulnerable to ask each to explain topics to each other.  
  3. We also love to explore the concepts that we’re passionate about.  What agile topics do you care deeply about? What about agile really moves you?  What infuriates you?
  4. Brad and I love learning new approaches to agility. What challenges are you great at helping resolve in unique way?  

 

Note:  Ahead of the recording, make sure to join our Agile for Agilists Slack community so that we can dial it all in.

Environment

If you’re like most of our guests, then you’re planning on recording in front of your computer like you would for any video call.  That likely makes the most sense, but while the audio in your room on a daily basis is great for standups, and retros, we have a few tips that will help you to sound your best.

  1. Record episodes in the smallest and quietest room possible to reduce outside noise and echoes. 
  2. Shut your windows and doors, turn off any machines or devices that make a constant noise. 
  3. Let your kids and spouse know that you’ll be recording and to limit their movement in lateral rooms
  4. Put your pets somewhere they won’t disturb you for a couple hours. 
  5. Fill your recording environment with soft items (couches, pillows, carpet, etc.) that absorb sound to muffle any errant noises. 
 
We’re not looking for perfect, but these few simple steps will help to alleviate any issues that might need to be edited out at a later date.  If your dog barks, or child runs into the room to show you their report card, don’t panic.  We’ll pause, acknowledge the interruption, and just move past it like any other impediment to value.

EQUIPMENT

If you’re new to podcasting, you might be thinking that you can just use the microphone on your phone or laptop. But if you want to record high-quality audio for your podcast, you need to invest in a dedicated microphone. Fortunately there are loads of great plug-and-go USB microphones on the market that won’t break the bank. Here are some of our top recommendations:

 
Note: These are not paid endorsements.  All suggested microphones are USB capable, plug and play.

GETTING INTO THE VIBE

It’s easy to get caught up in the moment when you’re recording a podcast episode and forget that you are, in fact, speaking into a microphone. To state the obvious, recording a podcast episodes requires a bit of talking. Rather than going into your session cold, warm up your mouth and vocal cords by singing a song (we recommend side one of Led Zeppelin IV) . Properly warming up will improve your dictation and keep you from stumbling over words. There’s nothing better than delivering your points flawlessly the first time around.

WE'RE SO GLAD THAT YOU'RE GOING TO BE A PART OF OUR JOURNEY!

BE OUR GUEST!

Do you want to be a guest on the Agile for Agilists podcast?   Do you have a great topic for discussion?  If so, then please leave us a quick two minute pitch via Memo.FM.  Make sure to include your Name, and email!   We’d be to discuss any topic related to agile, scrum, product development, DevOps, leadership and more.  Come and school us!