Prepare and interview
Create conversations with structure, specificity, and room for discovery.
How to Start a Podcast
From Riverside. Watch here or open it on YouTube .
Use the video's interview setup as the technical foundation, then listen for the host behaviors—preparation, follow-up, silence, and clarification—that create usable material.What this lesson is really solving.
Research enough to avoid asking for a biography the guest has repeated everywhere. Share scope and consent, design a narrative route, ask open questions, listen for concrete scenes, and leave room for correction. Respect off-record and withdrawal agreements.
Understand the idea before touching the steps.
Research earns better follow-ups; listening finds the moments no question list can predict.
Follow these steps in order.
Take the action in each step; then use the deliverable below to prove the lesson is finished.
- 1
Research the guest’s work, timeline, claims, previous interviews, and the listener’s likely questions.
- 2
Build a story arc with opening context, turning points, concrete scenes, tension, choices, and reflection.
- 3
Ask one clear question at a time, then use silence and exact follow-ups to get detail.
- 4
Confirm names, dates, permissions, sensitive boundaries, promotional expectations, and fact-check items.
See the standard in context.
Rae builds a timeline of a bridge-repair shift, asks the guest to describe the first sign something was wrong, follows decisions and sensory detail, and pauses to clarify safety context. The guest confirms pronunciation, bio, clip permission, and one sensitive edit.
Inspect before you move on.
- The guest knows topic, format, recording status, release plan, and consent terms.
- Questions seek experience and meaning without fabricating drama.
- Sensitive claims and third-party allegations have an editorial verification plan.
Your deliverable
A researched interview brief, story-ordered question path, and post-interview verification list.
Watch for this
Reading the next question while the guest gives the detail that deserves a follow-up.
Prove it—don’t just recognize it.
The conversation produces specific scenes, decisions, and insights—not only polished talking points.
Quick knowledge check
Answer from the lesson—not from confidence alone. Score at least 2 of 3 to unlock completion.
This curriculum-aligned check is scored automatically and stored with your account when signed in. It is an objective learning signal, but it has not yet been independently validated as a standardized assessment.
Tools, templates, and references
Pass the knowledge check above first.
Completion unlocks after a score of 2 out of 3. Then confirm that you produced the lesson deliverable.
Go to the knowledge check