Podcast Interview FAQ
You’ve booked a time to record your interview for How To Be Crazy. Here’s all you need to know before the big day…
How does this work exactly?
You’ll be interviewed by either Graham, Honor, or both (ooh lucky). We’ll have two hours (max) together, over video call.
The first bit will be a bit of soundcheck faffing. Then we’ll have a few minutes to talk through any questions you have about the interview. Then we’ll jump into recording the pod.
Nervous woooo!!
What ‘gear’ do I need for the interview?
You’ll need:
a laptop/phone/tablet to join the video call, and
headphones that have a built-in mic
Wired headphones (e.g. older style earbuds that plug in) are better than bluetooth earphones (e.g. airpods). But we’ll work with whatever you’ve got. If you’ve got options, bring ‘em and we’ll choose what will make you sound the most schmick.
If you happen to have a good mic for podcasting / music, let us know when we start the video call. (Or just arrive with your Blue Yeti all set up and an appropriately smug look on your face?)
How do I join the video call on the day?
We use a podcasting platform called Riverside. You’ll join us on a Riverside video call (and it will also record your audio automatically - handy!). You’ll find the Riverside link in the email you received when you booked your session (similar to clicking a Zoom link).
One important thing: you must be using either Chrome or Edge as your browser for Riverside to work.
Boo! hiss!
Luckily you can download Chrome for free here (and it’s pretty quick to install.)
Okay fine.
If you’re really not a tech person and this is too daunting, let Graham know (graham@bigfeels.club) and we’ll sort something else out :)
How should I prepare for the interview?
Our interviews tend to follow a standard three-part structure:
Part 1: The Backstory - When did you first encounter mental health services? When did you first think it might be capital S serious?
Part 2: What did you try that DIDN’T help? (one or two things)
Part 3: What DID help? (one or two things)
Some people like to go through and think about or even write notes for these parts - this can be helpful if you’re feeling nervous. But it’s also totally fine to wing it on the day. You should also have a copy of your original survey response in your email, back from when you did the survey.
The one thing we would encourage you to do before the interview is to have a think about whether there are certain topics you’d rather avoid. You can give us a heads up if this is the case, when we have a quick chat before hitting “record” on the day.
How might I feel during the interview?
The first part of the interview will focus on the early part of your mental health journey, and some of the things you tried that maybe didn’t help that much. This might feel a little weird to revisit. As one of our previous guests told us:
“I wasn’t expecting to get emotional during the interview, but I haven’t talked about some parts of my story in such a long time, I think I’d forgotten how hard it was at the time until I heard myself say it out loud.”
Hearing 'the backstory' helps our listeners think about how your story might be similar to their own, but we won't 'stay' there. The second half of the interview will focus on things that have helped, things you've learned, and what your recipe is these days.
What if I say something dumb?
Remember that this is not a live stream - we can always edit out part of the recording if you decide you’re not comfortable with something you’ve said (and in any case, not all parts of the interview will make it to the final cut).
Also, at any point during the interview, you can tell us you want to change the topic, or have another go at answering a question, or take a break (or stop entirely!).
How anonymous can I be?
You can choose how you want to be named on the pod: full name, first name only, or pseudonym. We’ll ask you this before we hit record.
Your voice will sound like your voice though, so even with a pseudonym, there is a chance you’ll be recognised by someone listening (or coming across a clip from the podcast on social media).
Is this audio only, or a video podcast?
Entirely up to you.
If you decide you want to record video, we might post short video clips on social media to promote the podcast.
If you’d prefer audio only, it’s helpful if you let Graham know beforehand (graham@bigfeels.club) but also you can just decide on the day.
Anything I shouldn’t talk about?
This is a show about pretty real stuff: being in deep distress, including being suicidal. That’s all fine to mention. At the same time we’re mindful that some of our listeners are still very much ‘in the thick of it’ with their mental health. So we try not to talk in too much detail about some of the potentially more triggering topics, e.g. self harm, or traumatic events.
On occasion after one of your answers, we might suggest trying an alternate take with less detail, to give us some options in the editing process.
How might I feel after the interview?
Talking about your mental health story can be big, and even the parts that we don’t necessarily think of as ‘a big deal’ can sometimes bring stuff up that lingers for a little while. We highly recommend having some of your usual strategies ready to go in case you feel a bit tender in the hours or days after the interview.
You also might find yourself just feeling a little unexpectedly reflective, as you consider just how 'big' your story is. This is all pretty normal we reckon, but it can help to know ahead of time that it might happen, and prepare in whatever way works best for you.
And the drill you are probably well familiar with by now - if you find that you need further support at any point, there is a list of resources on the website here that you might want to access, just if the need arises.
Will my interview definitely be published on the podcast?
We record more episodes than we publish, so not every episode will be posted to the podcast. The main reason for this is: this is super delicate stuff we’re covering. We can’t always tell how an interview will come out until we’ve recorded it, and it’s our job to make sure it’s the right fit for our audience, as well as to make sure we’re offering them the right mix of stories at any given time.
If we decide we’re not going to publish your interview we will let you know.
If you decide to publish it, what happens next?
After the interview, we’ll give you a few days to send through any editing notes you may have, e.g. ‘can you cut that bit where I said my dog was the best dog ever, I don’t want him to get a big head when he listens to it.’
We’ll then edit the episode and, if we decide it’s a good fit for the podcast feed, we’ll let you know the scheduled release date.
This often won’t happen right away, as we’re making several episodes at the same time. So if it’s been a few weeks and you haven’t heard from us, we haven’t forgotten you!
What if I have more questions?
Let us know when we start our video call, or email graham@bigfeels.club :)
What if I need to cancel or reschedule?
See the confirmation email from Calendly for a link to cancel or reschedule. If possible, please try not to do this closer than 24 hours before, as that gets a bit tricky for us!
Thanks so much for agreeing to be part of this tender experiment! We really appreciate it.
— Graham and Honor x