How to Record Testimonial Podcast Interviews
Your previous clients can be some of the absolute best guests to have on your podcast - and if you do it right those episodes will make you the most money.
Many of my clients don't typically have guest interviews with other business owners or experts in adjacent fields. Instead, they mainly have solo episodes where they invite previous clients to do case study-style episodes. In these episodes, they get to ask their previous client what their experience was like working with them, what the transformation was like, and advice they would give future clients.
Adding these case-study-style episodes can help you showcase how powerful it is to work with you and get live testimonials that you can use over and over in your marketing, making them incredible tools for social proof.
I will be sharing tips I give my clients for their case study episodes so you can apply them to your business podcast strategy.
What Not to Do In Your Case Study Episode
Unlike a casual hang-out session or catch-up, this conversation needs a plan and structure. It's fun for you to talk with this client, but without a clear plan for what you want to cover, you'll end up with a fluffy conversation and miss an opportunity to showcase how powerful your service is. You need a plan for how you want the conversation to go and what you will get out of it. This means that you need to have questions ready to go beforehand.
This conversation is not a traditional interview. The goal is not to hear one’s expertise, tips, or story for the sake of it. The goal of this episode is to hear their experience working with you. Focus your questions on your experience working together, not necessarily the special interest type questions of other podcasts.
Preparing Questions For a Case Study
Capturing the honest opinions and thoughts of your clients is GOLD for future sales, so your episode needs to retell the journey of your client and your work together. This insight proves you can deliver what you promise, gaining the trust of future clients.
To get that insight, it is vital to prepare questions beforehand to have a clear idea of what details you want from your client.
First Things First
You want that client to talk about, feel confident that you have a plan, and get great material from the episode. Don't worry you usually only need about 6 to 8 questions prepared.
To retell their journey with your business, start the episode with questions about what their life was like before working with you. Ask about their feelings, challenges, frustrations, and previous attempts to solve their problems before coming into contact with you. These before questions help paint the picture of that person's struggle and desires and why they even needed you to begin with.
For example, if you are a dating coach for women, you would ask your clients how they felt about their dating life before you worked together to provide context. You would ask about the apps they used, the quality of the dates they were going on, and how that all made them feel.
In the podcast, a question to start can say something like, "Susy, I remember that when we first met, you mentioned hating how conversations on dating apps were so awkward, can you share more about what made you feel that way?" for an easy transition into their history.
Secondly… Questions
Next, you want to dive into questions about what it was like while you were working together. Here, you want to get at questions that will help listeners understand what working with you feels and looks like. So make sure you ask what they loved about your service and what they found most helpful.
To go back to that dating coach example, you could ask the client you're interviewing, "What part of the framework we use resonated with you the most?" or even "What was the most challenging part of the framework for you?"
Depending on the type of work you do and the length of time working together, you can pull pieces from different parts of your process. The goal of this batch of questions is to customize questions for your clients to highlight specific pieces without putting all the pressure on your client to decide what to talk about.
For instance, if you know they enjoyed one particular part of your process, make sure to highlight it by saying something like "I remember you sent a Slack message about how much you loved the 10 dates in 30 days challenge we did in month one, can you share more about what you loved about it?"
If you are someone who does done-for-you work, you can ask about the strategy process in the beginning and the revision process toward the end to get their opinion of their experience.
Results and Outcomes
Finally, the next set of questions you should prepare are ones about their results and where they are now.
Prepare questions about how they feel now, what their life looks like now, and what they accomplished because of your work together.
As our example dating coach, you could prepare questions about what their dating life looks like now. Asking questions about the state of current or new relationships lets audiences know how your frameworks played a role. You want to showcase how they have changed throughout your work together.
Also, if you have deliverables, ask about what they felt when they first received them. Then, ask what they've been able to do or accomplish because of those deliverables.
The final questions should leave a lasting impact on your listeners and inspire them to reach out themselves to get similar results from your clients.
Additional Tips For Case Study Episodes
Now let's cover a few tips that you should keep in mind to elevate your episodes and gain future clients.
Stay Flexible
If your client says something that intrigues you, ask a follow-up question about it. Even if it's something as simple as "oo! tell me more about that!" It's okay if you don't go down the list of questions you prepared exactly in order. The point of planning them is to know that you can come back to them, but your priority is getting your client to share their experience in the way that feels best for them.
Specificity of Questions
As you prepare questions, take the time to look through previous emails, call recordings, or messages from the client. Pull out what they already highlighted and loved. It will help your case study go from being filled with generic statements like "I loved working with you!" to specific examples and details, which of course makes the social proof more persuasive.
Providing Background Information
Speaking of details and examples, please take the time to pause and briefly explain any framework names, acronyms, or challenges that you or your client bring up in the episode. It could be as simple as saying "Oh, for the listener, that acronym stands for blah blah blah." That way your listener can continue following along and have that name stick in their mind even more.
Recording the Introductory Segment
Record the introduction segment to your episode after you've recorded the conversation with your client. That way you can tease out parts of the conversation that stood out when you were in it. You can say "Today we talked about Susie's experience with a b and c and how working with me got her this incredible result." This will hook your listeners and give incentives to stick around to see what is to come. Plus it helps you avoid the awkward pressure of recording the interview in the moment.
Putting Thoughts Into Practice
Now that you know what you can do to prepare for a case study-style episode, go ask a handful of your previous clients if they'd like to be featured on your podcast and try this out!
With my Hands-Off Production clients, I help them prepare specific questions for each of their previous clients so that they can get the very best case study out of each conversation. It's one of the several pieces of planning and scripting I help you do so that your podcast helps build your brand and your revenue.
Book a call to learn more about how Isa Media Inc can help you grow your podcast and your business through it!
