September 4, 2025 • 28 mins
Cindy Claes, host of The Loud Whisper Takeover podcast, shares insider tips on how creatives can land podcast interviews and maximise these opportunities to promote their projects.
• Creating value for both podcast hosts and listeners rather than focusing solely on self-promotion
• Understanding that podcast hosts invest time, money, and energy into their shows
• Researching the podcast format before reaching out - is it journalistic or conversational?
• Preparing three key points you want to communicate regardless of questions asked
• Considering what uncomfortable questions might arise and having strategies to address them
• Recognizing podcasts as "evergreen" content that represents you long after your current project
• Focusing on sharing transformative stories that will resonate with and impact listeners
• Technical preparation: good lighting, clear audio, appropriate attire for recording
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Loud Whisper Takeover podcast.
I am Cindy Klaas.
I'm the host of this podcast.
I'm an action actress, I'm afilmmaker.
I have a background in danceand choreography, as well as in
fitness, sports, nutrition andcombat sports and screen
fighting.
I've been running this podcastfor more than a year now and
(00:22):
I've had quite a few interviewsso far.
More than a year now and I'vehad quite a few interviews so
far.
So today I would love to talkabout how do you land a podcast
interview for your project.
Maybe you are an actor, maybeyou are a filmmaker, maybe
you're a choreographer, anartist, a creative, and you just
want to get the word out thereabout what you're doing, what
(00:43):
you're up to.
Some people also feel they wantto tell their story.
So how do you get to be invitedon a podcast and also, how do
you make the most of it?
Now, the things I will talkabout today are not only for
podcasts.
It's also for any sort ofplatform where you could be in
(01:08):
interaction with someone thatasks you questions about your
work and how to make the most ofit, because it's great to be
interviewed, it's great to talkabout your story, about your
project, but how can you makethe most of it.
First, let me tell you how Istarted this podcast.
It is not only important tounderstand why I will say what.
(01:32):
I will tell you later on how toget on a podcast, but if you
want to be taken into account bysomebody that is going to take
their time to interview you, youmust know why they started
something.
It will give you way morechances to be selected to come
on the podcast as a guest.
(01:52):
So I'll tell you how I startedmy podcast and why.
I had had a little voice thathad been growing in my heart and
soul for a while that told me,cindy, you must start your
podcast and it must be a podcastwhere it's not just you talking
, you're also conversating withother people from the industry,
with creatives, with artists,with people that you really are
(02:16):
in alignment with.
But because I am a woman and acreative that has mastered
different disciplines I used tobe a choreographer in the world
of hip-hop and krump anddancehall.
I moved into the world of filmand making film and acting.
(02:41):
I moved into the world ofaction movies and, you know,
becoming a movement nerd when itcomes to fighting skills.
And because I had all thesecreative expressions, I wasn't
really sure what the podcast hadto be about.
One of my friends said Cindy,you are somebody that is always
moving and adapting.
What you will want to talkabout today might not be what
(03:03):
you want to talk about in threemonths.
Or give yourself space andopportunity to talk about a
variety of topics, because thatwill really reflect your
creative world.
And I thought, yeah, that'sright.
So there has been one drivingforce in my life which is
(03:26):
following my intuition and alsoteaching myself to listen to
that intuition, becauseintuition is always knocking at
the door but we're not alwayspaying attention and the very
few times I have not paidattention I really, really,
(03:48):
really just crashed into a wall.
So listening to intuition, evenif it sounds mad, even if it
sounds impulsive, taking themoment to really sit with it and
see what I must do in a certainparticular moment, or which
path I must take or whichdirection I must take, has
(04:10):
always been extremely important.
So I called the podcast theLoud Whisper Takeover for a
reason.
There is a loud whisper that issort of emerging, talking
somewhere in the back of ourhead and in the beginning we
notice it but we might not payattention.
Eventually, this loud whisperbecomes stronger and louder, and
(04:34):
it becomes so loud that wecannot ignore it any longer.
We must take action upon it.
It takes over your heart, soul,and you must take action.
This intuition, this loudwhisper, is telling you to write
your next script, to make thatphone call that you've always
(04:54):
been scared about, to try outsomething new on your artistic
path, to go and take a class ina certain country, whatever,
whatever, whatever.
And so I thought I think that'san amazing starting point as
well to have my guests that comeon, because I believe a lot of
people have kind of made theseincredible life changes in a
(05:17):
moment where this loud whisperwas so loud they could no longer
ignore it.
It took over and they finallyfound some sort of alignment
when they took the leap, theleap of faith.
So that's why I called it theLoud Whisper Takeover.
I also started this podcastbecause I was moving around a
(05:38):
lot.
I lived in the UK for a while,for over a decade actually.
I was born in Belgium, I livedin Spain, I studied in Paris, I
did a lot of international andcultural exchanges with the
United States, same thing withJamaica and Venezuela, and
(06:01):
because my world was sointernational.
At some point you don't knowwhere home is anymore and you
have these pockets of friendsthat are sort of all over the
world, but there is no one placewhere you have everybody
together.
And to basically counterfacethis loneliness, but also to
expand my network even more, Istarted a podcast.
(06:22):
I don't like small talk.
I love when we talk about deep,profound things, and so it was
also a way to meet new people,to talk about really things that
mattered and to haveconversations that you know
where everybody in the artisticworld could benefit from.
When I started, I was also on apath of making more of my own
(06:46):
films and I thought, well, I'llinterview people that have more
knowledge than me, or peoplethat are on a similar path, or
people that have taken risks andI can learn from.
I did interviews with peoplethat had jobs you very rarely
hear about, such as a formersniper, and I interviewed this
person because that's the kindof characters I want to play in
(07:08):
movies.
So interviewing him about hisreal life experiences informed
me so much as an actress and itwas exciting.
But really the podcast for mewas a way of having profound
conversations about our creativeexpressions, having an exchange
with other artists and peerartists to see how things are
(07:33):
working in different parts ofthe world, inform in my own work
and do some research myself,and also share bits and pieces
of what I have done throughoutmy career and what my journey
has been to finally come here.
This is just to give the context.
I had had a loud whisper thatwas telling me to do a podcast
(07:53):
for a long time, and for a longtime I didn't take action upon
it until I encountered somefamily problems.
These family problems basicallymade that I had to spend a lot
of time at home looking after mymom that was sick at the time
and because I was kind of stuck,not being able to travel much
(08:15):
or take on much projects thatrequired me to be away from my
mom's house, I was like, well,this is a good opportunity to
start and then all of a sudden,I did a huge amount of
interviews in a very shortamount of time, and that's how
it started and now the podcastis going and ongoing.
In the very beginning I wasinterviewing people that were in
(08:36):
my direct environment.
Because I've workedinternationally, I knew a lot of
people in different countrieswith really interesting stories,
really beautiful human values,and I wanted the world to know
more about their work and alsobecause how they achieved their
goals and their big dreams.
It was inspirational and Ithought, you know, let's share
(09:07):
it so that other artists thatare on their journey can benefit
too of putting an ad out there.
Just a message in a Facebookgroup, basically trying to find
more guests of my industry andyou know, around certain
particular topics, all of asudden I had more than 50, five
(09:30):
zero 50 people messaging me tobe on the podcast.
So I very quickly understoodthat a lot of people want to
tell their stories, a lot ofpeople want to be interviewed.
However, number one, I don'thave the resources to interview
that amount of people and to putso much content out there,
(09:52):
because the podcast for me rightnow is a part of a personal
quest as much as giving a lot ofvalue to people that are
listening.
But running a podcast, eventhough it is a small production,
it is time.
It requires a lot of time toorganize it, to edit it, to post
(10:15):
it on social media.
It is money as well.
Even though you want to do apodcast on a very low budget,
you still have to put money downfor the softwares that you're
using for the editing, for thatsort of things some equipment,
mics, whatever.
So it's resources, time andmoney.
(10:36):
Even though the guests arecoming on for free, you as the
podcast host, you have somecosts associated to it.
So I very quickly learned that Ineeded some sort of selection
process.
I learned about experience andnumber one, it was to be very,
very specific around the topicsthat interested me, like
(11:01):
problems that I was trying tosolve.
So at some point I wanted tosolve the problem of how to
manage a bigger crew.
You know, as a filmmaker, atsome point I wanted to solve how
do I play the role of a formersniper?
Let me find somebody that hadthat job to interview them.
(11:22):
So as actors, we can allbenefit to listening to that
interview.
And also I wanted to shareexperiences.
For example, I had peer actorson the podcast and we both
shared of how we landed comedyjobs in a comedy movie and see
what the casting process waslike.
But our conversations wasalways an exchange and I really
(11:44):
insist on that because somepodcasts are journalistic work.
You will be interviewed andit's a journalist interviewing
you.
My podcast is not an interview.
It's an exchange betweenartists, and so whenever you
want to land a podcast interviewor a podcast chat, you must be
(12:07):
informed of the kind of podcastyou're going on and you must be
informed about the host and whythey're doing it.
Not every podcast host is thereto be a journalist absolutely
not.
Some people are just there toexchange ideas and point of
views, and we want thisinteraction to make the
conversation richer.
(12:29):
So, outside of these 50 peoplethat contacted me at the very
beginning of my podcast, I nowalso receive requests that say
hey, I got got a project, I'vegot a new short film coming out.
When can I come on the podcast?
Well, um, why would you?
Why would I put money and timein having a conversation with
(12:54):
you?
Like?
That kind of message is notproductive, neither for me
neither for you.
How are we matching here?
Some people told me oh, I had afriend of mine that was on your
podcast.
Great interview.
If you want to interview me,I'm up for it.
Okay, actually, I have nointerest Like, why would I?
(13:18):
I have no interest Like, whywould I?
So you need to be generous whenyou're contacting people that
would put resources, time andmoney in having you as a guest
on a podcast.
So obviously, make research onthe host, be interested in their
work.
Some people want to be on mypodcast and have no idea who I
(13:40):
am as an artist, and it's fine,you know.
You can also say hey, Ilistened to the podcast.
I'm less aware of what you doas an artist.
Where can I find your showreel?
Where can I, you know, see anextract of a movie you made?
Or is your movie being screenedat any festival anytime soon?
You can ask those questions,but at least I know we're going
(14:01):
to have an exchange and youdon't want to come on the
podcast because you want all theattention on you and your ego
will be nourished and fed.
I can really see them comingquite easily now when I receive
some DMs.
So be very aware of that.
If you want to land a podcastinterview, do your research.
(14:22):
Some podcasts say anybody iswelcome, just shoot us a message
.
Cool.
Other podcasts be aware that'sabsolutely not the vibe.
Not everybody is welcome.
It needs to be around specifictopics.
Sometimes it's more of anexchange and it's not a
journalistic interview whereit's all about you, you, you,
(14:43):
you, you.
Maybe it's about an exchange ofpoint of views, an exchange of
experiences.
That is what makes itinteresting.
So when you email people, makesure you either do your research
or ask a few questions beforeyou even offer to come on board
as a guest.
Make sure you have similarvalues, make sure you have
(15:04):
stories that would add to theiraudience as well.
Obviously, doing a podcast,we're not just doing it for the
host, we're not just doing itfor the guest.
We're doing it so that theinteraction creates something
magic that an audience canlisten to.
What would they get out of ourconversation?
What would they learn?
(15:25):
How would they enrich their wayof looking at life after
listening to us having aconversation?
A lot of people as well want totell their stories.
Well, want to tell theirstories.
(15:46):
Now I want you to really askyourself what is it about your
story that others should hearabout?
What is it about your storythat would impact others in such
a way that they will feeltransformed, that they will feel
more empowered to take actionupon something.
Some people want to tell theirstory because they want to feel
(16:09):
validated, and I have seen itmany times with artists, because
I've been coaching a lot ofartists and theater makers and
choreographers and theatermakers and choreographers.
They start to create a piece, atheater piece, a piece of
choreography, some slam poetry,and it's inspired by a
(16:30):
biographical moment and there isbeauty in that and there is
power in that and there is Ahuge amount of potential in that
.
But we must make sure that wecan take enough distance with
our own personal stories so thatwe can really really share it
(16:53):
in such a way that people thatare listening to it or seeing it
on stage or reading about itfeel impacted in a very positive
way.
And there is a way that we canshare that story.
There is a way we have beenable to take distance with it so
(17:18):
that we can really see what thetrue life lessons are about
that story.
And I think that's the momentwhen you're ready to share it.
Sometimes I have peoplecontacting me that want to be on
the podcast, but I feel they'renot there to inspire others.
They're there because they feelthey need to tell their story.
Okay, but why should you tellit and how are you going to tell
(17:43):
it?
This will make the interview,the podcast, totally different.
Are you able to take enoughdistance with that story?
Have you digested everythingthat is around that story.
Have you processed it all?
Are you able to articulate itin such a way and with precision
(18:05):
so that we can really reallynail down what the life lessons
were?
Are you able to articulate howyou have become a better person
coming out of it, whether youwent through a traumatic event
or whether you went through ahuge success?
So when you want to share yourproject, your next film, your
(18:30):
life story on a podcast, don'tdo it just because you feel you
have a need, a personal need, toget it out.
Also, ask yourself why wouldthis podcast host put energy,
resources, time and money ingetting my story out there or
(18:50):
having a conversation with mearound it or interviewing me
about it.
Why would they do that?
Because obviously themselves or, and surely their audience must
take something out of it.
So when you're contactingplatforms or podcasters to get
(19:11):
your story out, make sure thatyou went through that thinking
process.
Ask yourself what is it in yourproject, in your next film, in
your life story, where listenerscan really relate or recognize
themselves in?
What is it where they feelthere is something about them
(19:31):
that you just put down on thetable, even though it's your
project, your film or your lifestory.
Sometimes it's easier to gothrough this thinking process
when you think about your ownlife story and then when you
make the film that is a totalfiction.
Sometimes it's more difficultto address these questions.
But really think about not justthe film, but also how this
(19:54):
film or this theater piece orthis choreographic piece was
created, was made, what thebehind the scenes was like.
All of it, all of it around, isimportant, but make sure you go
through that thinking processbefore contacting a podcast host
or before just, you know,dropping a message like hey,
want to interview me, I'mavailable.
(20:15):
It's not enough.
Like people will not take youseriously, disregard you even so
, drop the ego and really startthinking about why you went
through these experiences.
So what is the higher purposeof it all?
So that when you come and shareit, it's really valuable.
It's not about validation, it'sabout being of value to others.
(20:37):
Okay, once you get invited as aguest on a podcast, as we spoke
about before, there is the howyou're going to share your story
.
Be specific, in your mind atleast, about what you want to
talk about and what you don'twant to talk about, and I'm
going to give you the reason whyNumber one is specifically a
podcast episode or any sort ofcontent really that is being
(21:00):
created nowadays.
A podcast episode is anevergreen sort of content really
that is being created nowadays.
A podcast episode is anevergreen type of content.
What does that mean evergreen?
It means that people might findthis episode in three months
time, in three years time, in 10years time.
You want to make sure that youshare something that is
(21:21):
evergreen, that will alwaysrepresent what you are, what you
do, your artistic approach.
Yes, you might change in 10years time, but there is
something at the core that isabout the essence of your work.
So some people sometimes want tocome on this podcast and talk
(21:42):
about their particular new film.
Yeah, it's great, but thisparticular new film you know, at
some point will have done, youknow, a festival season and then
you're on to something else.
But a podcast episode staysalive or will be online for many
, many years, and then it willnot represent anything about who
(22:02):
you are at the core.
So I think sometimes it's aboutsaying, okay, I made the film
and I want to obviously do apodcast episode, for example, to
promote it and be invited as aguest, but there are a thousand
and one other topics you couldbe talking about.
For example, maybe you do a lotof sci-fis and VFX is your area
(22:24):
of specialty.
Maybe you can come and talkabout how you got specialized in
VFX and how you got passionateabout it and all the challenges
you had to overcome to actuallybecome a master of VFX, and blah
, blah, blah.
Then you inspire people andthen, during the podcast, here
and there you're talking aboutyour most recent project or your
(22:46):
next upcoming project, but makesure that what you're sharing
is evergreen content.
It will be there to get theword out about your creative
expression, about you as anartist for a very, very long
time.
As, once you get invited for aninterview or a podcast, yes, the
podcast will go in a certaindirection or the host will ask
(23:08):
you certain questions, but youmust prepare a few bullet points
that you really want to talkabout.
Whatever the question that iscoming at you, make sure that
you can always throw in one ofyour main topics.
There are, for example, threethings you really want to talk
about that you must not miss.
(23:29):
Make sure that you have to haveit on a post-it note somewhere,
and this could be one of yourbiggest successes.
This could be one of yourbiggest challenges that you had
throughout your career.
This could be why you did yourfirst dance class, or with whom,
and why it transformed yourwhole life and the direction it
took.
(23:49):
Whatever.
But you must have those threebullet points in your mind and,
whatever questions will be puton the table, you know that
coming out of this interview,coming out of this podcast chat,
you are going to talk aboutthese three topics because you
don't want to leave beforehaving talked about it.
This also allows you to preparethe storytelling side of it.
(24:11):
You know who were you before acertain event, which is the
challenge, the conflict you hadto face, how did you overcome
the conflict or the challenge,and how you became a transformed
person afterwards.
Prepare these things in advance, because that will really make
the episode more interesting andsmoother.
(24:32):
Another way to prepare a podcastepisode or any sort of
interview is ask yourself whatwould be the worst question
somebody could ask me, forexample, me on my podcast
episodes.
I always tell my guests ifthere is anything that they
shared during the episode thatkind of came out of their mouth
because it just came out butthen they regret it.
(24:55):
I want them to tell me so thatI can edit it out.
I don't want any of my gueststo feel bad after the interview.
However, some podcasts don'twork like that.
They just want to have anyanswer that come out and make
sure that anything that'scontroversial or has a bit of
spicy drama in it they want tokeep it because maybe it gets
them more views on YouTube or onsocial media.
(25:19):
Other podcasts are beingrecorded live, so obviously if
the live is then posted asevergreen content afterwards,
there is no editing Somepodcasts.
You can do retakes, you canreformulate what you wanted to
say initially.
Make sure that you know allthese things, because if at some
(25:42):
point they ask you a questionyou feel uncomfortable with, you
must know how to answer it.
Or you must know if, yes or no,you must distract the host,
take them to another topic, orif you can just be very honest
with them and say, hey, can wejust do something else Because I
don't feel comfortable aboutthis particular topic.
So ask yourself what is theworst question that could come
(26:02):
at me, at me?
And then also, how can I turnit around to talk about
something that I feelcomfortable with?
I'm just giving a random example, let's say that you were
married and you're going througha divorce.
Or let's say that you're singlebut you don't want the people
to know that you are single.
Or maybe there is something todo with the privacy of your
(26:22):
children.
Maybe one of your children gotinto trouble maybe legal trouble
, who knows?
Maybe one of your close friendsor close collaborators got
stuck in some sort of drug dramatraffic.
Maybe you feel uncomfortable tosay how you got the money to
make your project happening, forwhatever reason, because maybe
(26:45):
you have an uncle that sponsoredit, but you don't want people
to know that it was a familymember that sponsored your
latest film.
Or maybe there is somethingelse you feel just uncomfortable
talking about.
Make sure that if that questioncomes on the table, you know
what to answer.
Comes on the table, you knowwhat to answer, how to
(27:08):
eventually turn it around, andor if this particular moment
will be used by the personinterviewing you as a moment of
dramatic content that can get alot of clicks, or if you can
just say, hey, can we edit thisout.
Then, of course, a couple ofother top tips is when you're
being interviewed, especially onZoom or online, make sure that
you have nice lighting, goodsound, that you wear something
(27:31):
that works well.
So, for example, something withpatterns usually doesn't really
work very well, so make sureplain colors are usually a
better bet.
Make sure you don't haveearrings that make a lot of
noise or jewelry that are justlike clinging.
That sort of things is veryimportant.
I hope this inspires a couple ofyou to just reach out to some
podcasters and know how to reachout to podcasters.
(27:54):
Basically, be generous.
Be generous with what you haveto offer.
Remember that podcasters arealso putting time you have to
offer.
Remember that podcasters arealso putting time, money, energy
, resources within the making ofthese interviews.
Make sure that you don't comefrom a place of I want to tell
my story.
Make sure that you come from aplace of I want to give value to
(28:16):
everybody involved, and thatwill literally land you way more
opportunities to have a chatabout your work.
See you in the next episode ofthe Loud Whisper Takeover
podcast.
Welcome to the Loud Whisper Takeover podcast.
I am Cindy Klaas.
I'm the host of this podcast.
I'm an action actress, I'm afilmmaker.
I have a background in danceand choreography, as well as in
fitness, sports, nutrition andcombat sports and screen
fighting.
I've been running this podcastfor more than a year now and
(00:22):
I've had quite a few interviewsso far.
More than a year now and I'vehad quite a few interviews so
far.
So today I would love to talkabout how do you land a podcast
interview for your project.
Maybe you are an actor, maybeyou are a filmmaker, maybe
you're a choreographer, anartist, a creative, and you just
want to get the word out thereabout what you're doing, what
(00:43):
you're up to.
Some people also feel they wantto tell their story.
So how do you get to be invitedon a podcast and also, how do
you make the most of it?
Now, the things I will talkabout today are not only for
podcasts.
It's also for any sort ofplatform where you could be in
(01:08):
interaction with someone thatasks you questions about your
work and how to make the most ofit, because it's great to be
interviewed, it's great to talkabout your story, about your
project, but how can you makethe most of it.
First, let me tell you how Istarted this podcast.
It is not only important tounderstand why I will say what.
(01:32):
I will tell you later on how toget on a podcast, but if you
want to be taken into account bysomebody that is going to take
their time to interview you, youmust know why they started
something.
It will give you way morechances to be selected to come
on the podcast as a guest.
(01:52):
So I'll tell you how I startedmy podcast and why.
I had had a little voice thathad been growing in my heart and
soul for a while that told me,cindy, you must start your
podcast and it must be a podcastwhere it's not just you talking
, you're also conversating withother people from the industry,
with creatives, with artists,with people that you really are
(02:16):
in alignment with.
But because I am a woman and acreative that has mastered
different disciplines I used tobe a choreographer in the world
of hip-hop and krump anddancehall.
I moved into the world of filmand making film and acting.
(02:41):
I moved into the world ofaction movies and, you know,
becoming a movement nerd when itcomes to fighting skills.
And because I had all thesecreative expressions, I wasn't
really sure what the podcast hadto be about.
One of my friends said Cindy,you are somebody that is always
moving and adapting.
What you will want to talkabout today might not be what
(03:03):
you want to talk about in threemonths.
Or give yourself space andopportunity to talk about a
variety of topics, because thatwill really reflect your
creative world.
And I thought, yeah, that'sright.
So there has been one drivingforce in my life which is
(03:26):
following my intuition and alsoteaching myself to listen to
that intuition, becauseintuition is always knocking at
the door but we're not alwayspaying attention and the very
few times I have not paidattention I really, really,
(03:48):
really just crashed into a wall.
So listening to intuition, evenif it sounds mad, even if it
sounds impulsive, taking themoment to really sit with it and
see what I must do in a certainparticular moment, or which
path I must take or whichdirection I must take, has
(04:10):
always been extremely important.
So I called the podcast theLoud Whisper Takeover for a
reason.
There is a loud whisper that issort of emerging, talking
somewhere in the back of ourhead and in the beginning we
notice it but we might not payattention.
Eventually, this loud whisperbecomes stronger and louder, and
(04:34):
it becomes so loud that wecannot ignore it any longer.
We must take action upon it.
It takes over your heart, soul,and you must take action.
This intuition, this loudwhisper, is telling you to write
your next script, to make thatphone call that you've always
(04:54):
been scared about, to try outsomething new on your artistic
path, to go and take a class ina certain country, whatever,
whatever, whatever.
And so I thought I think that'san amazing starting point as
well to have my guests that comeon, because I believe a lot of
people have kind of made theseincredible life changes in a
(05:17):
moment where this loud whisperwas so loud they could no longer
ignore it.
It took over and they finallyfound some sort of alignment
when they took the leap, theleap of faith.
So that's why I called it theLoud Whisper Takeover.
I also started this podcastbecause I was moving around a
(05:38):
lot.
I lived in the UK for a while,for over a decade actually.
I was born in Belgium, I livedin Spain, I studied in Paris, I
did a lot of international andcultural exchanges with the
United States, same thing withJamaica and Venezuela, and
(06:01):
because my world was sointernational.
At some point you don't knowwhere home is anymore and you
have these pockets of friendsthat are sort of all over the
world, but there is no one placewhere you have everybody
together.
And to basically counterfacethis loneliness, but also to
expand my network even more, Istarted a podcast.
(06:22):
I don't like small talk.
I love when we talk about deep,profound things, and so it was
also a way to meet new people,to talk about really things that
mattered and to haveconversations that you know
where everybody in the artisticworld could benefit from.
When I started, I was also on apath of making more of my own
(06:46):
films and I thought, well, I'llinterview people that have more
knowledge than me, or peoplethat are on a similar path, or
people that have taken risks andI can learn from.
I did interviews with peoplethat had jobs you very rarely
hear about, such as a formersniper, and I interviewed this
person because that's the kindof characters I want to play in
(07:08):
movies.
So interviewing him about hisreal life experiences informed
me so much as an actress and itwas exciting.
But really the podcast for mewas a way of having profound
conversations about our creativeexpressions, having an exchange
with other artists and peerartists to see how things are
(07:33):
working in different parts ofthe world, inform in my own work
and do some research myself,and also share bits and pieces
of what I have done throughoutmy career and what my journey
has been to finally come here.
This is just to give the context.
I had had a loud whisper thatwas telling me to do a podcast
(07:53):
for a long time, and for a longtime I didn't take action upon
it until I encountered somefamily problems.
These family problems basicallymade that I had to spend a lot
of time at home looking after mymom that was sick at the time
and because I was kind of stuck,not being able to travel much
(08:15):
or take on much projects thatrequired me to be away from my
mom's house, I was like, well,this is a good opportunity to
start and then all of a sudden,I did a huge amount of
interviews in a very shortamount of time, and that's how
it started and now the podcastis going and ongoing.
In the very beginning I wasinterviewing people that were in
(08:36):
my direct environment.
Because I've workedinternationally, I knew a lot of
people in different countrieswith really interesting stories,
really beautiful human values,and I wanted the world to know
more about their work and alsobecause how they achieved their
goals and their big dreams.
It was inspirational and Ithought, you know, let's share
(09:07):
it so that other artists thatare on their journey can benefit
too of putting an ad out there.
Just a message in a Facebookgroup, basically trying to find
more guests of my industry andyou know, around certain
particular topics, all of asudden I had more than 50, five
(09:30):
zero 50 people messaging me tobe on the podcast.
So I very quickly understoodthat a lot of people want to
tell their stories, a lot ofpeople want to be interviewed.
However, number one, I don'thave the resources to interview
that amount of people and to putso much content out there,
(09:52):
because the podcast for me rightnow is a part of a personal
quest as much as giving a lot ofvalue to people that are
listening.
But running a podcast, eventhough it is a small production,
it is time.
It requires a lot of time toorganize it, to edit it, to post
(10:15):
it on social media.
It is money as well.
Even though you want to do apodcast on a very low budget,
you still have to put money downfor the softwares that you're
using for the editing, for thatsort of things some equipment,
mics, whatever.
So it's resources, time andmoney.
(10:36):
Even though the guests arecoming on for free, you as the
podcast host, you have somecosts associated to it.
So I very quickly learned that Ineeded some sort of selection
process.
I learned about experience andnumber one, it was to be very,
very specific around the topicsthat interested me, like
(11:01):
problems that I was trying tosolve.
So at some point I wanted tosolve the problem of how to
manage a bigger crew.
You know, as a filmmaker, atsome point I wanted to solve how
do I play the role of a formersniper?
Let me find somebody that hadthat job to interview them.
(11:22):
So as actors, we can allbenefit to listening to that
interview.
And also I wanted to shareexperiences.
For example, I had peer actorson the podcast and we both
shared of how we landed comedyjobs in a comedy movie and see
what the casting process waslike.
But our conversations wasalways an exchange and I really
(11:44):
insist on that because somepodcasts are journalistic work.
You will be interviewed andit's a journalist interviewing
you.
My podcast is not an interview.
It's an exchange betweenartists, and so whenever you
want to land a podcast interviewor a podcast chat, you must be
(12:07):
informed of the kind of podcastyou're going on and you must be
informed about the host and whythey're doing it.
Not every podcast host is thereto be a journalist absolutely
not.
Some people are just there toexchange ideas and point of
views, and we want thisinteraction to make the
conversation richer.
(12:29):
So, outside of these 50 peoplethat contacted me at the very
beginning of my podcast, I nowalso receive requests that say
hey, I got got a project, I'vegot a new short film coming out.
When can I come on the podcast?
Well, um, why would you?
Why would I put money and timein having a conversation with
(12:54):
you?
Like?
That kind of message is notproductive, neither for me
neither for you.
How are we matching here?
Some people told me oh, I had afriend of mine that was on your
podcast.
Great interview.
If you want to interview me,I'm up for it.
Okay, actually, I have nointerest Like, why would I?
(13:18):
I have no interest Like, whywould I?
So you need to be generous whenyou're contacting people that
would put resources, time andmoney in having you as a guest
on a podcast.
So obviously, make research onthe host, be interested in their
work.
Some people want to be on mypodcast and have no idea who I
(13:40):
am as an artist, and it's fine,you know.
You can also say hey, Ilistened to the podcast.
I'm less aware of what you doas an artist.
Where can I find your showreel?
Where can I, you know, see anextract of a movie you made?
Or is your movie being screenedat any festival anytime soon?
You can ask those questions,but at least I know we're going
(14:01):
to have an exchange and youdon't want to come on the
podcast because you want all theattention on you and your ego
will be nourished and fed.
I can really see them comingquite easily now when I receive
some DMs.
So be very aware of that.
If you want to land a podcastinterview, do your research.
(14:22):
Some podcasts say anybody iswelcome, just shoot us a message
.
Cool.
Other podcasts be aware that'sabsolutely not the vibe.
Not everybody is welcome.
It needs to be around specifictopics.
Sometimes it's more of anexchange and it's not a
journalistic interview whereit's all about you, you, you,
(14:43):
you, you.
Maybe it's about an exchange ofpoint of views, an exchange of
experiences.
That is what makes itinteresting.
So when you email people, makesure you either do your research
or ask a few questions beforeyou even offer to come on board
as a guest.
Make sure you have similarvalues, make sure you have
(15:04):
stories that would add to theiraudience as well.
Obviously, doing a podcast,we're not just doing it for the
host, we're not just doing itfor the guest.
We're doing it so that theinteraction creates something
magic that an audience canlisten to.
What would they get out of ourconversation?
What would they learn?
(15:25):
How would they enrich their wayof looking at life after
listening to us having aconversation?
A lot of people as well want totell their stories.
Well, want to tell theirstories.
(15:46):
Now I want you to really askyourself what is it about your
story that others should hearabout?
What is it about your storythat would impact others in such
a way that they will feeltransformed, that they will feel
more empowered to take actionupon something.
Some people want to tell theirstory because they want to feel
(16:09):
validated, and I have seen itmany times with artists, because
I've been coaching a lot ofartists and theater makers and
choreographers and theatermakers and choreographers.
They start to create a piece, atheater piece, a piece of
choreography, some slam poetry,and it's inspired by a
(16:30):
biographical moment and there isbeauty in that and there is
power in that and there is Ahuge amount of potential in that
.
But we must make sure that wecan take enough distance with
our own personal stories so thatwe can really really share it
(16:53):
in such a way that people thatare listening to it or seeing it
on stage or reading about itfeel impacted in a very positive
way.
And there is a way that we canshare that story.
There is a way we have beenable to take distance with it so
(17:18):
that we can really see what thetrue life lessons are about
that story.
And I think that's the momentwhen you're ready to share it.
Sometimes I have peoplecontacting me that want to be on
the podcast, but I feel they'renot there to inspire others.
They're there because they feelthey need to tell their story.
Okay, but why should you tellit and how are you going to tell
(17:43):
it?
This will make the interview,the podcast, totally different.
Are you able to take enoughdistance with that story?
Have you digested everythingthat is around that story.
Have you processed it all?
Are you able to articulate itin such a way and with precision
(18:05):
so that we can really reallynail down what the life lessons
were?
Are you able to articulate howyou have become a better person
coming out of it, whether youwent through a traumatic event
or whether you went through ahuge success?
So when you want to share yourproject, your next film, your
(18:30):
life story on a podcast, don'tdo it just because you feel you
have a need, a personal need, toget it out.
Also, ask yourself why wouldthis podcast host put energy,
resources, time and money ingetting my story out there or
(18:50):
having a conversation with mearound it or interviewing me
about it.
Why would they do that?
Because obviously themselves or, and surely their audience must
take something out of it.
So when you're contactingplatforms or podcasters to get
(19:11):
your story out, make sure thatyou went through that thinking
process.
Ask yourself what is it in yourproject, in your next film, in
your life story, where listenerscan really relate or recognize
themselves in?
What is it where they feelthere is something about them
(19:31):
that you just put down on thetable, even though it's your
project, your film or your lifestory.
Sometimes it's easier to gothrough this thinking process
when you think about your ownlife story and then when you
make the film that is a totalfiction.
Sometimes it's more difficultto address these questions.
But really think about not justthe film, but also how this
(19:54):
film or this theater piece orthis choreographic piece was
created, was made, what thebehind the scenes was like.
All of it, all of it around, isimportant, but make sure you go
through that thinking processbefore contacting a podcast host
or before just, you know,dropping a message like hey,
want to interview me, I'mavailable.
(20:15):
It's not enough.
Like people will not take youseriously, disregard you even so
, drop the ego and really startthinking about why you went
through these experiences.
So what is the higher purposeof it all?
So that when you come and shareit, it's really valuable.
It's not about validation, it'sabout being of value to others.
(20:37):
Okay, once you get invited as aguest on a podcast, as we spoke
about before, there is the howyou're going to share your story
.
Be specific, in your mind atleast, about what you want to
talk about and what you don'twant to talk about, and I'm
going to give you the reason whyNumber one is specifically a
podcast episode or any sort ofcontent really that is being
(21:00):
created nowadays.
A podcast episode is anevergreen sort of content really
that is being created nowadays.
A podcast episode is anevergreen type of content.
What does that mean evergreen?
It means that people might findthis episode in three months
time, in three years time, in 10years time.
You want to make sure that youshare something that is
(21:21):
evergreen, that will alwaysrepresent what you are, what you
do, your artistic approach.
Yes, you might change in 10years time, but there is
something at the core that isabout the essence of your work.
So some people sometimes want tocome on this podcast and talk
(21:42):
about their particular new film.
Yeah, it's great, but thisparticular new film you know, at
some point will have done, youknow, a festival season and then
you're on to something else.
But a podcast episode staysalive or will be online for many
, many years, and then it willnot represent anything about who
(22:02):
you are at the core.
So I think sometimes it's aboutsaying, okay, I made the film
and I want to obviously do apodcast episode, for example, to
promote it and be invited as aguest, but there are a thousand
and one other topics you couldbe talking about.
For example, maybe you do a lotof sci-fis and VFX is your area
(22:24):
of specialty.
Maybe you can come and talkabout how you got specialized in
VFX and how you got passionateabout it and all the challenges
you had to overcome to actuallybecome a master of VFX, and blah
, blah, blah.
Then you inspire people andthen, during the podcast, here
and there you're talking aboutyour most recent project or your
(22:46):
next upcoming project, but makesure that what you're sharing
is evergreen content.
It will be there to get theword out about your creative
expression, about you as anartist for a very, very long
time.
As, once you get invited for aninterview or a podcast, yes, the
podcast will go in a certaindirection or the host will ask
(23:08):
you certain questions, but youmust prepare a few bullet points
that you really want to talkabout.
Whatever the question that iscoming at you, make sure that
you can always throw in one ofyour main topics.
There are, for example, threethings you really want to talk
about that you must not miss.
(23:29):
Make sure that you have to haveit on a post-it note somewhere,
and this could be one of yourbiggest successes.
This could be one of yourbiggest challenges that you had
throughout your career.
This could be why you did yourfirst dance class, or with whom,
and why it transformed yourwhole life and the direction it
took.
(23:49):
Whatever.
But you must have those threebullet points in your mind and,
whatever questions will be puton the table, you know that
coming out of this interview,coming out of this podcast chat,
you are going to talk aboutthese three topics because you
don't want to leave beforehaving talked about it.
This also allows you to preparethe storytelling side of it.
(24:11):
You know who were you before acertain event, which is the
challenge, the conflict you hadto face, how did you overcome
the conflict or the challenge,and how you became a transformed
person afterwards.
Prepare these things in advance, because that will really make
the episode more interesting andsmoother.
(24:32):
Another way to prepare a podcastepisode or any sort of
interview is ask yourself whatwould be the worst question
somebody could ask me, forexample, me on my podcast
episodes.
I always tell my guests ifthere is anything that they
shared during the episode thatkind of came out of their mouth
because it just came out butthen they regret it.
(24:55):
I want them to tell me so thatI can edit it out.
I don't want any of my gueststo feel bad after the interview.
However, some podcasts don'twork like that.
They just want to have anyanswer that come out and make
sure that anything that'scontroversial or has a bit of
spicy drama in it they want tokeep it because maybe it gets
them more views on YouTube or onsocial media.
(25:19):
Other podcasts are beingrecorded live, so obviously if
the live is then posted asevergreen content afterwards,
there is no editing Somepodcasts.
You can do retakes, you canreformulate what you wanted to
say initially.
Make sure that you know allthese things, because if at some
(25:42):
point they ask you a questionyou feel uncomfortable with, you
must know how to answer it.
Or you must know if, yes or no,you must distract the host,
take them to another topic, orif you can just be very honest
with them and say, hey, can wejust do something else Because I
don't feel comfortable aboutthis particular topic.
So ask yourself what is theworst question that could come
(26:02):
at me, at me?
And then also, how can I turnit around to talk about
something that I feelcomfortable with?
I'm just giving a random example, let's say that you were
married and you're going througha divorce.
Or let's say that you're singlebut you don't want the people
to know that you are single.
Or maybe there is something todo with the privacy of your
(26:22):
children.
Maybe one of your children gotinto trouble maybe legal trouble
, who knows?
Maybe one of your close friendsor close collaborators got
stuck in some sort of drug dramatraffic.
Maybe you feel uncomfortable tosay how you got the money to
make your project happening, forwhatever reason, because maybe
(26:45):
you have an uncle that sponsoredit, but you don't want people
to know that it was a familymember that sponsored your
latest film.
Or maybe there is somethingelse you feel just uncomfortable
talking about.
Make sure that if that questioncomes on the table, you know
what to answer.
Comes on the table, you knowwhat to answer, how to
(27:08):
eventually turn it around, andor if this particular moment
will be used by the personinterviewing you as a moment of
dramatic content that can get alot of clicks, or if you can
just say, hey, can we edit thisout.
Then, of course, a couple ofother top tips is when you're
being interviewed, especially onZoom or online, make sure that
you have nice lighting, goodsound, that you wear something
(27:31):
that works well.
So, for example, something withpatterns usually doesn't really
work very well, so make sureplain colors are usually a
better bet.
Make sure you don't haveearrings that make a lot of
noise or jewelry that are justlike clinging.
That sort of things is veryimportant.
I hope this inspires a couple ofyou to just reach out to some
podcasters and know how to reachout to podcasters.
(27:54):
Basically, be generous.
Be generous with what you haveto offer.
Remember that podcasters arealso putting time you have to
offer.
Remember that podcasters arealso putting time, money, energy
, resources within the making ofthese interviews.
Make sure that you don't comefrom a place of I want to tell
my story.
Make sure that you come from aplace of I want to give value to
(28:16):
everybody involved, and thatwill literally land you way more
opportunities to have a chatabout your work.
See you in the next episode ofthe Loud Whisper Takeover
podcast.
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