INSIGHTS
Executive Media Training for Video Podcasts: Is Your Spokesperson Ready for the Camera?
Why Video Podcasts Are Changing Executive Media Training
Executive media training for video podcasts should be one of the most pressing updates on any communications team’s agenda.
Once an audio-only format, the emergence and rapid growth of video podcasts is redefining how audiences consume this type of media. While many have embraced this evolution, YouTube is now one of the world’s largest podcasting platforms, other listeners are feeling left out.
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal highlighted the dilemma facing podcast producers, their hosts and guests. Video can boost the appeal of a podcast, making it more shareable across other platforms, and providing an extra layer of visual storytelling to create a more immersive experience.
But some listeners have complained it negatively impacts the audio-only experience, as they find themselves missing out on key context or visual cues only available to those who are watching the show.
Spotify and Apple Podcasts have enabled video on their apps, and streaming platforms are adding established podcasts to their offering.
This growth is unlikely to abate, but it does raise the question of how to prepare guests to meet the needs of an audience consuming the same media in two different formats.
What does this mean for communications teams planning their executives’ next podcast appearance?
New opportunities, new risks and, most importantly, the need to update and expand their media training.
The Conversational Trap: Why a Relaxed Format Creates Hidden Risks
Podcasts often have a more conversational tone than other interview formats. The audience feels like a ‘fly on the wall’, listening in to a conversation between friends. This is a great opportunity for executives to build trust and rapport with the audience, giving them a behind-the-scenes look at the personality behind the professional.
While this may seem like a relaxed environment for executives to talk about their expertise and insights, it can also lull guests into a false sense of security.
The risks include guests accidentally divulging information they were not planning to share or going on a tangent and straying from the original topic of discussion.
How do you prepare your executives for this type of scenario?
Ensure they know what their key messages are, how to deliver these in a friendly and approachable manner, and how to keep the conversation on track, redirecting the host as necessary to stay on subject.
Teach them flagging and bridging techniques to help structure their answers and give them confidence when they have to quickly respond to a question.
The Impact of Video: Why Body Language and Live Recording Change Everything
With the camera rolling, viewers can also watch guests’ facial expressions, reactions and body language. While an executive might have mastered the audio-only format, viewers will notice if they are fidgeting, uncomfortable or dismissive, no matter the tone of their voice.
This problem is compounded when an episode is recorded live. Many podcasts are pre-recorded; they are edited and even shared with the guest for approval before publication. Others, however, are recorded live, removing any ability to edit or review the footage before it is made available to the public.
This leaves very little room for error.
The footage is also often used to promote the podcast, with 30-second clips cut from hour-long conversations and shared on social media. This can help broaden the appeal of the podcast and reach new audiences. However, there is also a risk that a guest’s quotes are taken out of context and misunderstood by the wrong audiences. For regulated businesses, such as financial services, this can be especially problematic.
A spokesperson trained for traditional media engagement or audio-only podcasts may not be adequately prepared to manage the visual demands a video podcast imposes.
Updating Executive Media Training for the Video Podcast Era
Executives that engage with media will know how to handle a journalist’s questions, especially if they have had thorough and regular media training. However, even the most experienced interviewees can make mistakes.
Always confirm ahead of time whether the podcast will be recorded live, or if your team will be able to review the final cut before publication.
Make sure your executive is fully aware of, and comfortable with, the type of production and implications this can have for the interview.
Update your media training with specific guidance on how to navigate mistakes in the event of a live recorded and video podcast.
Directing the Conversation: How to Hold Your Own During a Long-Form Video Podcast
For a traditional media interview, executives are taught how to quickly pivot away from tricky questions. If a journalist continues to push for information, the communications team can also intervene directly to put a stop to any unwelcome lines of questioning.
Similarly to a broadcast segment, podcast guests need to be able to hold their own and manage that process while on-air, redirecting the conversation towards safer ground. Podcasts have an added layer of risk, however, due to their duration; episodes can easily run for 30 minutes to more than an hour.
Training should therefore include recorded mock interviews where executives can practice their message delivery and how to effectively direct the conversation, while maintaining the conversational and friendly tone required from a podcast.
Managing the Invisible Guest: How Executives Must Communicate With Audiences They Cannot See
Podcast guests are not only speaking with the host, they are also engaging with an audience that is not present at the time of recording.
Simulations and training allow executives to better understand how to engage with this invisible guest. This includes describing any visuals for those who are listening in and whether to look into the camera or keep eye contact limited to the host.
Another important component for communications teams to consider is teaching their executives how to maintain their presence for the duration of the interview. Even when they are not speaking, guests need to remain engaged with the conversation. Their facial expressions, posture, and body language all need to convey a friendly confidence and interest in what the host is talking about.
Recorded mock interviews can help to spot the physical tells of anxiety, boredom and disinterest. In turn, guidance can be provided on how to manage these to avoid any awkward clips being edited from the final footage.
Does Your Executive Media Training Include Video Podcasts?
It is easy to underestimate the amount of preparation and support that executives need ahead of a video podcast recording.
However, it is vital to remember that a spokesperson trained for traditional media engagement or audio-only podcasts may not be adequately prepared to manage the visual demands that a video podcast imposes.
With the continued growth of this form of media, communications teams need to reassess their media training protocols to ensure their executives can be calm, confident and in control of the conversation when in front of the camera.
Ready to upgrade your corporate media training?
Greentarget works with communications teams at financial services, professional services and legal firms to prepare senior spokespeople for the full range of modern media environments, from traditional broadcast to long-form video podcasts
If your executive media training has not been updated for the video podcast era, we would welcome a conversation about how to close that gap.
