If you’re a podcaster, you’ve probably been in a situation where the person you scheduled to do an interview with doesn’t show up. This happened to Tom Raftery (who has the most lovely Irish accent), host of an audio podcast called PodLeaders.
Typically, if your guest is a no-show, you just contact them and try to reschedule. If you were relying on that interview for your very next episode, you will have to post an apology on your blog saying that there’s no episode that week. What a faux pas!
Well, Tom didn’t do that. As he sat on the conference bridge line and listened to the on-hold music, it took about 17-minutes for him to realize that his guest wasn’t coming. So, instead of missing an episode, he went ahead and asked his questions without the guest present.
How did it all turn out? You’ll have to listen to the episode to find out. Click here to listen to his episode.
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podleaders,
tom raftery,
podcasting,
interview tips
Since my shows are heavily edited, and often the assembled documentary or edited interview is produced 2 – 6 weeks ahead of the publication date. So for me, what you’re describing is an occasional nuissance, but never a problem. I always have something else to schedule, and then I just keep pestering the interviewee until it happens.
If you’re taking a professional approach to what you’re doing, you’ll always have some “evergreen” material in the can to cover for you. And you’ll never tease the audience with something that’s going to be on a future show until you actually have the recordings you need to make it so.
I was stood up recently by a guest who had pursued the interview quite rigorously. Later she told me by voice mail that my assistant had never confirmed the date – yet a quick check of the email records showed that she had not only been send a confirmation but that she had confirmed that confirmation with a return email. Hmmph!
I can always forgive a forgotten moment – but an outright fib designed to put the blame on another? Not likely!