“How to Become the Center of Influence Through Conversational Podcasting” with Celeste Headlee of the MEN Podcast from Scene On Radio
As part of my series of interviews about “How to Become the Center of Influence Through Podcasting”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Celeste Headlee. She is an award-winning journalist, professional speaker, popular podcast and radio host, and author of We Need to Talk: How To Have Conversations That Matter. Celeste’s TEDx Talk sharing 10ways to have a better conversation has over 19 million total views to date. Her newest series, “Retro Report,” a new weekly program using investigative journalism to provide clarity to high-profile stories which have been lost to time, premieres on PBS this fall.
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Can you tell us the “backstory” about why or how you got started as a podcaster?
I started podcasting because I worked in radio, and we began editing our live radio shows for podcast feeds.
Can you share a story about the most interesting thing that has happened to you since you started podcasting?
The most memorable moments come when I realize the impact my work is having. For example, I was listening to a podcast called “Conversations with People Who Hate Me,” and I heard the guest refer to an article I wrote about how to talk about politics without arguing. On several occasions, I’ve seen people refer to the podcast “Scene on Radio: MEN” while discussing gender dynamics. The most interesting part of podcasting for me is the radiant effect, that my work can impact others who are also making work and having an effect on the world around them.
Can you share a story about the biggest or funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I started a podcast called “Middle Ground” that included stories only from the middle of the United States, leaving out the coasts where most media attention is already focused. On one show, we included a report from the Sauerkraut Festival in Waynesville, Ohio. I got an email from a kid in Ohio complaining that his mother had heard the report and forced him to go to the festival and he hates sauerkraut! Clearly, he felt our reporting was irresponsible and dangerous.
How long have you been podcasting and how many shows have you aired?
The shows that I’ve hosted on NPR and PRI have been podcast for years. I think my first podcast went out in 2010. The number of shows is probably at least in the hundreds, by now, or beyond a thousand
What are the main takeaways or lessons you want your listeners to walk away with?
The human voice is a powerful thing. In this age of digital communication, we forget how effective the voice is at relaying information and communicating things that can’t be expressed through text: humor, passion, embarrassment, fear. Podcasting is at its best when the voice is heard clearly. So, make sure you use the best equipment you can. Don’t record someone who’s on their cellphone outside — get them in front of a good microphone in a quiet place.
Check out the full interview in Tracy Hazzard’s Authority Magazine article about Celeste Headlee!
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Podcaster Influencer, Celeste Headlee of the Men from Scene On Radio shares the best ways to:
1) Book Great Guests. One of the most effective ways to book good guests is to make sure you do a pre-interview. Before you book a guest, spend a few minutes on the phone chatting. That way, you’ll know in advance whether that person is good on the air or not. Someone with an outstanding resume may not be particularly articulate on the air.
2) Increase Listeners. Keep your content short and carefully produced.
3) Produce in a Professional Way. Embrace the pre-interview. In public radio, we will spend 10 minutes or so on the phone with prospective guests, gathering information, finding out what subjects they speak well on and which subjects should be avoided. Keep in mind that celebrities aren’t always the most interesting guests, since your goal is to ask questions they haven’t answered before. That’s tough to do if the guest has already done thousands of interviews. Find people who are talking about something new or doing something new. I find most of my guests through my reading, not just the people who write columns and books, but the interesting people who are quoted.
4) Encourage Engagement. Try going out on the street and asking people questions. In journalism, we call this MOS *man on the street) tape. When people hear the voices of other people answering questions, they are more likely to respond themselves. For example, when we were doing an interview about vaccines, I interviewed an expert, but also took my recorder outside and did short interviews with lots of people I met outside the grocery store. I edited those responses into the interview. It really created aural interest and got other people to feel they were missing out on a broader conversation, so they called in and emailed.
5) Monetize. Celeste does not handle the monetization of her podcasts so she is not the best person to address this.
What makes your podcast binge-listenable? What do you think makes your podcast unique from the others in your category? What do you think is special about you as a host, your guests, or the content itself?
Check out the full interview in Tracy Hazzard’s Authority Magazine article about Celeste Headlee!
