
Don’t Hit Record Yet: Why the Best Podcast Conversations Start Before They Begin
The best podcast moments happen before recording. Here’s why warm-ups matter, and how to create them with care.
It’s often that stretch 13 minutes in, when the guest stops trying to sound smart, starts forgetting the mic, and casually drops the line that becomes the episode title.
But here’s the trick: You only get there if you’ve earned it — and that part doesn’t happen on camera.
☕ Don’t Start With the Questions. Start With the Person.
Before we hit “Record,” I like to sit across the guest and just… talk. Not about the topic. About them. Their day. What they had for breakfast. The little stuff.
Why?
Because conversation, like any good performance, needs a warm-up. And the best insights come from people who feel safe, unjudged, and curious.
🎭 No Green Screens. No Spotlights. No Shrinking.
When the setup is too sterile — too perfect — the conversation becomes performance. But human voice has texture. And that texture needs room.
That’s why I skip the green screen. I don’t want a clean recording. I want a real one — with the guest laughing halfway, forgetting the name of a book, or pausing mid-thought to rephrase something important.
That’s the kind of confidence that’s magnetic. Not polished. Present.
🧠 The 20-Minute Secret
This is my routine now:
· 20 minutes of off-camera, no-agenda talk
· No lights. No checklist.
· I ask: “What’s one thing you’ve never shared on a podcast?”
· And I don’t flinch when they say, “Let me think about that.”
The irony is, the real gold happens here. Not during the intro. Not during the “Tell us about your journey.” But somewhere in the stretch of silence where the guest realizes, “Wait, I can be me here.”
Final Thought
In an age of performance, what we crave is presence.
And the best way to capture that is to let the person warm up — like any good instrument.
So next time, don’t hit record just yet. Just sit. Talk. Sip. Listen. And let the conversation arrive, unannounced.