Many news/talk radio hosts love having guests on their shows. A guest often brings expertise and a point of view that may not be heard on a show without that person. The guest has a role, and I don’t think that many talk show hosts are using expert guests properly.
The guest should never, ever be considered more important than the host. The host is the star. When I have hired talk show hosts, I am never impressed with a host who only submits guest interviews. I want to hear the host set up a topic, take calls, and tell a story. I once fired a host who told me that he was just a facilitator of guests, news, weather, and traffic. He said that those factors were more important than anything that he could say. I can assure you that you are being paid to be the star.
Guests are a tool. Guests are ultimately most important when used to set up a topic. I can’t believe how many good hosts keep guests for more than seven minutes. Whichever late-night show you are watching — or not watching — these shows usually get the best and most desirable guests. The biggest celebrity gets two segments, which usually ends up being eight minutes. Eight minutes. How many times have you given some dope from a think tank or a writer from The Federalist 20 minutes?
If you are using guests as an excuse not to show prep, you are failing your employer, your coworkers, and that person in the mirror. Guests should never be an excuse to avoid discussing the biggest issue of the day. The government shutdown or whatever Topic A is today — and because Friday at 7:07 you have your weekly visit with a pinhead from the Heritage Foundation — you can’t discuss the biggest story. That is a missed opportunity every time. Drop the guest.
Guests should always set up your opinions and observations. It is that simple. Benchmarked guests can be very problematic. I am a fan of benchmarks, but that guest should never step in the way of your show. If the guest is more important than breaking news or something more compelling, it is time to reconsider your guest strategy. Nothing is more important than the show. Your audience has the expectation that you will be discussing the biggest stories of the day.
What is your guest strategy? Why are they on your show? If you are interviewing a local newsmaker, what do you want to accomplish? I think that starting hot is essential. Come out with the most compelling content. Your audience will be waiting for answers immediately from your guest if there is something important going on.
It is sometimes tough for hosts to ask tough and pertinent questions of friends. Keep arm’s length from the people that you cover. If your congressman makes a bonehead move, can you ask the tough questions? I am not saying be a jerk, but what do your listeners need to know?
Don’t be cringe. “Mayor, it was great seeing you at the ribbon cutting for the new funeral home.” Don’t open like that. Your listeners don’t care. Your listeners don’t care if you did tequila shots with your friendly neighborhood state representative. Your show must be a listener-focused broadcast. Don’t be cringe. Don’t sound like you are an insider who is bragging about being part of the cool kids club. Your listeners don’t care.
Human nature leads us to protect those close to us. We are programmed to protect members of our tribe. Friends and family are important to pack animals like us. Being close to those we cover is problematic to the most important relationship for a radio show: the audience.
I have several motivations when I write a column. I want to share the lessons that I have learned. I want you to think through the ideas that are presented to allow you to reach peak performance. I understand your plight; you are likely receiving little feedback.
Evaluating whether to guest or not to guest—do you have an opinion on something that needs to be corroborated? Generally speaking, this is a reason not to have the guest. It is a psychological reason for not having a guest like this. Your listeners consider you the expert. Some “expert” who adds no wrinkles to the discussion is a waste of the precious time on your show.
Is a guest with a conflicting viewpoint helpful? You may be in favor of unlimited military aid to Ukraine, but having a guest on for a few minutes who disagrees with you creates an environment that generates lots of calls from your listeners.
Generally speaking, guests who do not provide drama are bad. Every guest should help you create a great show. Every guest should allow you to grow a topic. Remember, happy talk and pure information are not content. It’s opinion and storytelling. The information is important to build a topic from, but it is not why people react to you. There are emotional triggers like anger, laughter, concern, and other emotions.
Most guests are there for one reason: to promote their stuff. As a host, you are giving away time for the return promise that the content will help your show. Your guest uses you to sell their opinions, ideas, and sometimes products.
If you book a guest from Coinbase, which is a cryptocurrency exchange, they are going to push their employer. Dan Patrick does something very smart. When Dan has a guest who is promoting something, Dan’s producers hook him up with the script, and Dan reads it at the beginning and end of the segment. This frees the guest up to tell stories and have fun with Dan without having to worry about getting that mention in.
If you are booking guests just to fill time, you must move on. Remember, it is always about the listeners. It’s not about you, the guest, or anything else.
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Peter Thiele is a weekly news/talk radio columnist for Barrett Media, and an experienced news/talk radio programmer. He currently serves as News/Talk Format Captain for Zimmer Communications. Prior to joining Zimmer, Peter held programming positions in New York City, San Francisco, Des Moines, Little Rock, Greenville, Hunstville, and Joplin. Peter has also worked as a host, account executive and producer in Minneapolis, and San Antonio. He can be found on Twitter at @PeterThiele.
