The Preparation
Three hosting essentials to help reach the interesting bits faster
As hosts, we’re preparing to disrupt. More specifically, we’re preparing to disrupt boring people and bored people!
The thing is, no one is boring. I’m sure of it. However, many have forgotten what makes them interesting. As hosts, it’s our job to remind them.
I still remember the day I learned this was my job. It was the ultimate penny-dropping moment for me. #punsarelife
It happened to me on a cold Tasmanian morning in a town called Chudleigh.
I was an ABC radio presenter at the time and my producer Andrea and I had arrived in Chudleigh at about 8:30 am. We were there to record some stories to play during an outside broadcast from a nearby town later that day.
These were my favourite days at the ABC. Our process was to arrive in a town, perhaps visit the butcher or post office to collect some local intel (both are serious sources of info), and then simply knock on doors to see what interesting yarns we could uncover.
It was a seriously cool job.
That morning, I knocked on one door which opened to the smiling, yet slightly wary face of Enid, a local in her late 70’s. I said my usual “Hello, I’m Penny from the ABC. We are broadcasting from just down the road today. I’m wondering if I could interview you about your life in Chudleigh?”
Quick as a flash Enid said, “Why would you want to interview me, I’ve got nothing interesting to say.”
I’d heard this line so many times before, and as such, I quickly dismissed it and suggested we go and have a cup of tea and find out.
For the next 30 minutes, I had my jaw on the floor as Enid recalled story after story about her life growing up in Chudleigh. If we needed any evidence of how interesting Enid was, I got it when I listened back to the audio and realised that each time Enid paused, we were so silent awaiting her next word that you could hear the fridge buzzing in the background!
After the interview, we wandered back down her hallway and I was waffling on about when she could listen and to tell her friends to tune in and blah blah blah. I then turned around and looked at Enid to thank her and I’ll never forget the look on her face when she looked up at me and said “I am pretty interesting aren’t I?”
Yes, Enid, you are.
It was at this moment that I realised it had been my job to remind her.
This is Enid’s story, but I’ve heard it from hundreds if not thousands of people that I’ve interviewed on the radio, in podcasts, on stage or simply chatted with.
It can be really hard to understand what others find interesting about us because what is interesting about us, is also just our every day. Either it feels boring, or we’ve become bored of it.
In part, it’s due to a cognitive bias called The Curse of Knowledge where it’s almost impossible for us to remember what it was like to not know what we know now.
Like Enid, most people and organisations need some outside help to get beyond the Curse of Knowledge and be able to see and then share what is interesting and valuable about what they who, who they are and why it matters.
As hosts - we’re the outside help.
When we’re preparing for any show, interview, event or meeting our job is to create the space, the pace and the resonance that allows ‘the interesting’ to come out.
The Space
The space is the physical or virtual environment where your ‘thing’ will take place. It’s about creating a setting that feels welcoming and conducive to great conversations. Whether you’re hosting an event in person or online, ensure that the room has good acoustics and reliable technology so that people can hear and be heard. You want a comfortable vibe, but also one that sets the right tone for your show or event. This might be about using music, lighting, furniture and props. Our goal is to make the space somewhere that isn’t intimidating or too fancy but rather a place where guests and audience members feel like they belong… with us.
The Pace
Pace is about setting the rhythm and flow of the interaction. We set the pace with our words, body language, and processes. While I’ll delve deeper into interviewing strategies later in this series, we set the pace by creating introductions and questions that match the room's energy and audience expectations. It’s about providing enough context to make people tune in, not out. It’s about digging deeper than bios and Wikipedia pages; finding unique angles that align with our audience’s interests and will elicit authentic responses from guests (rather than those that are overly prepared or make them scared). Plus, we need to have processes that are flexible but invisible to others. Processes that let us manage time, scope and technology but don’t make others feel rushed or like things are being dragged out - ‘cause yes, they do notice.
The Resonance
I love this word! The definition I like is that resonance is the alignment or synchronising of vibrations between neighbouring objects; in hosting, it means matching the energy of our guests and audience. Meet them where they’re at then we can take them where we need them to go. The vibrations start trying to sync up during the very first interaction we have with them before the main event. From the initial reach-out email to securing spots or tickets, we need to make our guests and audiences feel valuable and comfortable. Explain the process clearly, be open to questions, and avoid being overly formal. Often the templates and processes get in the way here, instead, we need our authentic voice to shine through to allow the vibrations to sync up! Building resonance is what helps our guests and audience be open and ready to share and learn.
The space, the pace, the resonance - this is what I now call, The Enid Process.
Our job as hosts is to guide them through it.
It is a seriously cool job.
It’s also the last of the jobs that we need to do before a show, interview or event. Together with The Calibration and The Navigation, we’ve now covered nine things to set you up for success. Next week we move on to those things we can do during whatever it is we are hosting, to be a better host.