The Pleasure Of Their Company

Things change. You know that already. Let's keep that in mind when I raise once again the topic of talk radio guests.

See, for years, I lived my radio life under the guiding principal that guests and interviews on radio shows kinda sucked. Too often, they were boring, self-indulgent, pointless, and the opposite of engagement. Calls? Well, now you're talking. (Literally.) Talk radio was best, I thought, when it gave listeners the opportunity to put their opinions and stories out there for everyone to hear. Interviews? Well, if you HAD to, sure, but open it to callers -- let the listeners borrow your access to newsmakers so they can ask questions of the powerful. But, I thought, try not to fill time with interviews.

Then, I modified that. Some hosts are just great at interviews, especially when -- this is critical -- they would ask their guests questions that the audience would have asked. Talk show hosts are audience surrogates if the audience itself can't call in; if you get, say, your Senator on the line, you HAVE to ask the questions your listeners want asked, or why would you bother in the first place?

Next came podcasts, and the rise of the really good in-depth interview, usually conducted by comedians with a combination of great curiosity and a lack of filter. They used the absence of time constraint to bring out more of their subjects' personality than you'd hear in a typical radio interview.

Which brings us to today, and the final point: Social media has rendered the need for listeners to call in practically obsolete. This doesn't mean that you aren't better off trying for calls, or that you can't do a caller-driven show, but that you have some very strong competition. Anyone can post their opinion on the internet and have it seen by the world. And they don't need you to get access to the rich and famous and powerful. I could call in to a radio show and say I liked a couple of current movies, or I could, as I did, post my thoughts on Twitter and Facebook and have them seen, and liked, by the star of one and the director of the other. That's engagement, 2017 style.

This leaves interviews a stronger-than-ever on-air option for talk radio. And the reason I'm bringing this up now is that I've lately heard and seen some newsmaker interviews which indicated to me that everyone could use some reminders about what works best and why you're doing these things in the first place.

I think the most important thing for hosts and producers to ask themselves while booking guests is why you want the guest on the air in the first place. You need to know what you want to accomplish with the interview. In the case of a celebrity, they're there to promote whatever they're doing, but your job isn't really to enable that so much as it is to entertain the audience with... what? Do your research and decide in advance what you're going to ask and where you want things to go. Is the celebrity someone with something more to say than "my new book is now available and I'll be at Barnes and Noble tonight to sign copies"? Is there something you can bring out that the audience hasn't heard and seen from the subject before? If you're just putting the guest on because you can and not because there's a point to it, pass.

As for political interviews, it is imperative that you ask yourself: Are you an entertainer or are you a political operative? Do you represent your listeners or do you represent a politician or a party? You would think the answers would be obvious, but I'll point to countless interviews I'm hearing lately that allow politicians and surrogates and operatives to spread their spin without challenge. If you're putting someone on -- this applies to any political persuasion -- and letting them spin without having to answer any difficult questions, or if you avoid pointing out inconsistencies or even outright lies, you are allowing yourself to be a propaganda tool. I don't care whether you're sympathetic to the political cause espoused by the guest or not; it's your job to elicit real answers and not worry about whether your guest doesn't want to go there. Your job is not to protect anyone. You need to be fearless. If that means the guest won't return in the future, that's fine; you don't need guests who don't like your questions anyway.

(A note about talk radio rows organized by any particular political organization or party: I wouldn't do them, and I say that knowing that a lot of you take advantage of those events. They always involve a never ending stream of one side of an issue, with a never ending stream of the kind of politicians and spokespeople who'd prompt you to change the channel if you were watching them on cable news. Why would anyone want to listen to that on the radio? "I get to go to Washington!" or "I get to broadcast from the White House!" mean nothing to listeners. That's why I wouldn't do them. But if you must, again, ask tough questions. Make it entertaining, and don't allow people to spout talking points unchallenged. You guarantee that you're restricting your audience size to the absolute hardest-core of the hard-core, which is fairly small and very old.)

Oh, and even in the era of the PPM, even if you don't need listeners to recall and write down anything, reset the interview a few times each segment. Remind them who the guest is. Not only is it common courtesy, it's essential, because people are tuning in and out all the time. If they tune in and they don't know who you're talking to, they'll tune right out. Tell them frequently enough so that they know what's going on and stick around.

Yes, things have changed. You can't avoid interviews. Just do yourself a favor and make them entertaining, make them informative, make them worth listening to. That doesn't describe enough of them right now.

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When you're NOT interviewing someone, you'll need something to talk about. That's what you'll find at All Access News-Talk-Sports' Talk Topics, which is free and which you will find by clicking here and/or by following the Talk Topics Twitter feed at @talktopics with every story individually linked to the appropriate item. And there's the Podcasting section at AllAccess.com/podcasts. This week, you'll also find "10 Questions With..." Nick Gosnell, WIBW/Topeka News Director and morning anchor, with some interesting talk about how WIBW has not just maintained but grown its heritage position as the market's news leader.

And make sure you're subscribed to Today's Talk, the daily email newsletter with the top news stories in News, Talk, and Sports radio and podcasting, plus my PerryVision! video commentaries. You can check off the appropriate boxes in your All Access account profile's Format Preferences and Email Preferences sections if you're not already getting it.

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Another reminder: I'll be at the Conclave in Minneapolis (technically, St. Louis Park, Minnesota) July 26-28. As I mentioned last week and on one of the videos this week, it's a good place to network yourself with some of the radio industry's A-listers. And me, the leading name on the S-list. (They may not want me on the panels, but they can't keep me out of the building! Bwa-HA-HA-HA-HA-ha-ha-ha... ha... um... they can't, can they?) Click here for all the information and to register.

Perry Michael Simon
Vice President/Editor, News-Talk-Sports and Podcast
AllAccess.com
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