5 Lessons From a First Time Podcast Host

I thought I may naturally be good at hosting a podcast. Well, that confidence lasted until exactly minute three of my first practice session with WTOP Radio for our Founding DC podcast, when I realized I was struggling to keep the conversation interesting and informative. Somehow, I was making, or allowing, both of us to sound boring. In my brain I knew how awful the conversation was, but I had NO idea how to pivot to something better.

Now I have a serious dose of newfound respect for the craft of being a show host, especially a podcast host. Here's the truth about podcast hosting: Anyone can have a conversation, but creating a valuable conversation for participants and listeners? That's pure craft.

Lesson #1: The Magic Happens Before You Hit Record 

Perhaps not the biggest shock but an essential truth: 80% of great podcast hosting happens before the microphones turn on. 

I used to wing conversations. Show up, see what happens, let it flow naturally. That approach crashes and burns in interviewing and podcasting. Or, maybe it’s fine if your goal is to produce B+ caliber work. 

What actually works: 

• Research your guest like you're writing their biography; hunt for their why, their purpose, and their derailers. 

• Map out 3-5 key topics (but stay flexible). 

• Ponder follow-up questions depending on a range of potential responses. 

• Know their background well enough to ask questions others haven’t.  

• Map common ground to share, and foreign ground to explore. 

Listeners can tell when you've done the work. They can also tell when you haven't. 

Lesson #2: Your Voice Is a Tool to Be Understood 

Vocal cords are basically athletic tools that need training and care. Vocal cords are to be cherished, appreciated, and cared for.  

What I learned the hard way: 

• Hot water during recordings = instant voice improvement. 

• Vocal warm-ups aren't just for singers. 

• Hydration starts hours before recording, not during. 

• Speaking and breathing from your diaphragm saves your throat. 

• If you have a habit of clearing your throat, realize it is likely a mental game; learn to resist the urge to cough. This takes practice….and I am still learning. Cough suppressants also help. 

Lesson #3: Audio-Only Interviews Require Completely Different Listening Skills 

This one blindsided me. I thought I was a good listener. Turns out, I was a good conversation participant, not necessarily a good podcast interview conductor. And when you remove all visual cues for an audience, everything changes. In face-to-face conversations, so much communication happens through expressions, gestures, and physical presence. In podcasting, every single bit of meaning has to come through voices alone—which completely transforms how you need to engage. I have learned that my job isn’t to be interesting—it's to help my guest be interesting, to make 1+1=3, using only my voice as the tool.  

So, body language means nothing to your listener but may mean everything to your guest. Even your "uh-huh" means everything when communicating in person. And yet, auditory clutter is tragic on a podcast, which means there’s a balance to be found in verbal and non-verbal methods of engaging in person, while knowing the listening audience has only their ears. 

Mistakes I made (and certainly haven’t yet perfectly solved): 

• Talking over guests (sounds terrible in audio). 

• Forgetting my listening audience can’t see my facial expressions.  

• Silence is powerful on radio: sometimes powerfully good, sometimes powerfully bad; it needs to be intentional (or edited). 

• Failing to interrupt and redirect the long-winded rambling monologues. 

What works better: 

• Waiting for complete thoughts before responding. 

• Describing what you're reacting to (eg, "that made me laugh because..."). 

• Using vocal tone to convey what your face used to do. 

• Using the non-verbal to interrupt, such as leaning in and using my hands, and then using my voice when the space gets created. 

Lesson #4: Being Great at Podcasting Requires Practice, Consistency & Honest Feedback

Like almost anything you want to do well, podcasting requires dedication. True skills only develop through consistent, repeated practice; recognizing your areas of excellence and opportunity (aka, where you suck), and working with someone or a team who will give you honest feedback. I am not excellent at this podcast thing YET, but having a great coach helps enormously. Mine calls out my bad habits and won't let me get away with mediocrity. But even the best coach can't help you if you're not consistently showing up to practice what they're teaching. My coach has elevated our sessions well-beyond cleaning up the obvious errors, and we now are analyzing question structure, using AI to count number of words in my questions, and essentially using the audio and written transcripts to analyze the convo like athletes and coaches analyzing game tape. 

What consistency looks like in podcasting (for me): 

• 8 to 12 hours of research and prep per guest. 

• Visualizing the conversation and having clarity on intent for the outcome. 

• Listening back to my own episodes (painful but necessary). 

• Reading the transcripts (tedious but incredibly useful in their detail). 

• Establishing a system for third-party feedback (whether from a coach, colleague, or team).  

• Being willing to adjust my approach for the next episode, beginning with ensuring the right research, based on lessons learned. 

• Using AI to analyze speech patterns, sentence, and question structure. 

• Seeking additional people to provide feedback. If all I get is positive, then I know I'm not getting comprehensive, useful perspectives. 

Lesson #5: Being Bad at Something New is Actually Excellent (Even When It Feels Terrible) 

I hate being a novice as some of you may have read in my blog, "Maybe It's Okay to Suck." But experiencing my sucky-ness in real-time is different from philosophizing about it. 

Every episode, I hear things I should have done differently. Every conversation, I think of improvements to question structure. Every editing session, I cringe at my own awkward moments. But here's what's happening: I'm getting better. Having a coach who calls out my mistakes, gives me nowhere to hide, and teaches me new tactics and methods has dramatically accelerated my learning curve. 

The question every potential podcast host should ask: "Am I willing to struggle and grind at this for long enough to get good at it?" Because no one is actually great at something when they first start. Your first episodes may be painful. Your early interviews will have awkward moments. Your audio quality will fluctuate. The question isn't whether you'll struggle—it's whether you'll stick with it long enough to develop the craft. BUT…. the discomfort of being bad at something new is the price of admission for getting good at something valuable. 

The Unexpected ROI of Podcast Hosting 

Beyond the obvious benefits (having fun, building an audience, establishing expertise, deepening relationships), hosting a podcast is teaching me skills that transfer everywhere: 

• Better question-asking in business meetings. 

• Improved active listening in all relationships. 

• Clearer communication in presentations. 

• Deeper research habits for any project. 

• Increased comfort with being uncomfortable. 

Want to hear how these lessons sound in practice? Check out my podcast, Founding DC, available wherever you listen to podcasts.