Good interviews are mostly decided in the 48 hours before recording. Here is the checklist, in the order it actually needs to happen. Print it, or keep it open in a tab; the point is to stop relying on memory the morning of.
Two days before
- Finish the research. Read the guest's recent posts, skim their past interviews, and check for news from the last few weeks. Write down three things you didn't know before you started; if you can't, you haven't gone deep enough. The research method is here if you need it.
- Write the talking points, in order. Five to ten, each with the question you'd ask, one follow-up, and the specific detail it's built on. Warm-up first, the core of the agenda in the middle, one or two harder questions late, something forward-looking to close.
- Note what to avoid. Anything sensitive or recently painful that showed up in research. Decide now whether you'll raise it respectfully or leave it alone, so you're not deciding live.
- Send the guest a short brief. The recording link, the time with their timezone, how long it runs, the three main topics, and anything you need from them. Guests who know the shape of the conversation show up relaxed.
The day before
- Tech check, properly. Record 30 seconds on the exact setup you'll use, with the same mic, headphones and room, and listen back. Fans off, phone silenced, notifications closed. Most "the audio was bad" stories are a check that didn't happen.
- Write your intro and your transitions. Word for word for the intro, a sentence each for the bridges between sections. You'll say them more naturally for having written them.
- Read the talking points once, then put them away. The goal is to know them well enough that you're listening to the guest, not reading. The conversational interview only works if your eyes are up.
The morning of
- Reminder to the guest with the link, two or three hours ahead. One line.
- Reread the "avoid" list. It's the one thing you most need and are most likely to forget under pressure.
- Check for news. One quick search of the guest's name and company. If something happened overnight, you want to know before they mention it.
The last ten minutes
Stop preparing. Open the talking points, open the recording software, get a glass of water, and spend the remaining time on nothing. Hosts who cram until the second they join sound rushed for the first ten minutes, and the first ten minutes set the tone for the rest.
After the recording
While it's fresh, write down two things: the best moment, for the clip and the episode title, and one thing you'd do differently next time. That second note, kept across episodes, is the fastest way a host gets better.
Making the first section faster
Steps one and two above, the research and the talking points, are where most of the 48 hours goes. If you'd rather spend that time on the thinking than on the gathering, Prepod pulls the guest's LinkedIn, X, YouTube, website and recent news together and drafts the talking points in conversation order, with the evidence for each. You still read, sharpen and decide; you just don't start from twenty open tabs.