Focusing on the Guest - Dr. Jim Kanichirayil - Creating The Greatest Show - Episode # 012

Ladies and gentlemen, step right up to improve your podcasting skills with amazing advice from an outstanding researcher, writer, and podcaster! Dr. Jim Kanichirayil is the Co-Founder and Co-host of Cascading Leadership, the Host of the Talent Strategy 60 LinkedIn Live show, and the Talent Strategy Transformation Evangelist at Circa. Jim shares how podcast hosts should approach their podcasts, why a loose framework is better than a script for your podcast, and how to cultivate a relationship with your guest before the episode recording   Takeaways:Podcast hosts need to have a learner’s mentality. Hosts need to be genuinely interested in what they are talking about and bring on great guests to talk about the topic.Your guests are the star of the show. Make sure to focus on the story they want to tell, not the story you want to tell. When reaching out to guests, your messaging should revolve around asking them, “what’s the story that you want to tell?”An effective interview podcast has a framework but isn’t tied down to a rigid script. The more structure you put around a conversation, the less authentic it becomes. A looser framework gives you a heading but allows you to delve into what you find along the way.When you stick too closely to a script, you aren’t able to fully spotlight your guests. If you don’t leverage the opportunity to have an interesting conversation with a guest, you waste that guest and their time. Compared to a podcast, a LinkedIn Live show is more restrictive and doesn’t allow exploring rabbit holes. The pacing is also much different and in order to give guests time to think about their response, it’s advantageous to hold panel discussions.You should repurpose your podcast content and distribute it through multiple channels to expose it to a larger audience. For example, the video can go on YouTube, clips can be used for TikToks, Reels, or Shorts, and you can even stream the podcast to LinkedIn.A Prep Call is a crucial part of podcasting because if the guest doesn’t show well, the blame is on the host. One of the main reasons for the Prep Call is to build a relationship; you can’t build rapport on the fly in a 30-60 minute podcast recording.   Quote of the Show:“Be ridiculously, obsessively focused on what is it your guests want to talk about” - Dr. Jim Kanichirayil   Links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjimk/ Cascading Leadership Website: https://www.cascadingleadership.com/ Cascading Leadership YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6qAx0CkGalK1SIjOVAXrfQ Cascading Leadership TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cascadingleadership Circa website: https://circaworks.com/ Cascading Leadership Podcast: https://cascadingleadership.buzzsprout.com/    Shout Outs:Jen Allen - Host of Winning the Challenger Sale PodcastDune by Frank HerbertAndy Paul - Host of Sales Enablement PodcastSell Without Selling Out by Andy PaulChop Wood Carry Water by Joshua MedcalfNick Thickett - Co-Host of B2B Power HourMorgan Smith - Co-Host of B2B Power HourStreamyardRestreamJosh Braun - Host of the Inside Selling PodcastStu Heinecke - Host of How to Get a Meeting with Anyone podcastJeb Blount - Host of The Sales Gravy PodcastAdrianna Wardzała - Entrepreneur and B2B MarketerDescriptSusan Diaz - Host of The 4 am ReportWesleyne Whittaker-Greer - Host of The Transformed Sales PodcastThe Bobiverse Books Series by Dennis E. Taylor   Ways to Tune In:Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/12f108ea-018f-44a6-8bb0-9444e9cbf3cc Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creating-the-greatest-show/id1638399900Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1B7OnWCGoxBRzH2rbkEFIf Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2NyZWF0aW5ndGhlZ3JlYXRlc3RzaG93L2ZlZWQueG1sPodchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/creating-the-greatest-show-4823789 YouTube: https://youtu.be/u0K7fJjLK8g   Creating The Greatest Show is produced and sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/