The Impact Of Silence - Greg McDonough - Creating The Greatest Show - Episode # 021
Asking a question isn’t the only way to get your guest to share amazing insights, sometimes your silence can be just as effective as a question. Learn more from an entrepreneur, Fractional CFO, and former President of the Washington D.C. Chapter of EO. Greg McDonough is the Managing Partner of Blackburn Capital Advisors, the Host of The Impactful Leadership Show, the Author of The Turnaround, and 7x Ironman. Greg shares how to understand more from what your guest is saying, what the job of a podcast host is, and how to interview multiple guests at the same time.
Takeaways:
- Silence is very powerful. Don’t cut your guest off or try to anticipate the word they’re about to say. When you think they are done speaking give them an extra second before saying anything because they may have more to share.
- Listen carefully to the words your guest is saying and the message they are actually sending with those words and their non-verbal signals. If you sense there may be a disconnect between the two, ask the guest to dig deeper and share more.
- Your job as the host should be to get the guest ready to answer a great question and then just let them go. They are the start of the show, but it’s important to remember that you need to put up guardrails for the conversation.
- It’s good to come into a recording with 3 or 4 questions primed that you can use when you need to pivot the conversation or get deeper into who someone really is. Have a “hail mary” question in your back pocket, just in case.
- The goals of your prep call with a guest should be to define the audience, make sure the guest is comfortable on camera and their audio sounds good, and preload them with the opening question so they can have a great answer.
- If you’re interviewing multiple guests at once, it’s helpful to address each of them by name when asking a question to avoid both guests talking over each other while trying to answer your question.
- When you’re interviewing someone you look up to or could be startstruck by, try to break down the interview into bite-sized chunks. This way you just have to think about what’s happening for the next X minutes and it’s easier to make it through.
Quote of the Show:
- “It really comes down to listening and avoiding the temptation to finish somebody's sentence, to anticipate what they're going to say, to derail their thoughts.” - Greg McDonough
Links:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregorymcdonough/
- Company website: https://blackburncap.com/
- The Turnaround: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076C17M79/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i
- The Impactful Leadership Show: https://www.impactfulleadershipshow.com/
- Triathlon Parents Blog: https://triathlonparents.com/
Shout Outs:
- Wamiq Hamid - The Impactful Leadership Show Ep. # 042 - https://www.impactfulleadershipshow.com/e/the-responsibility-of-the-role-wamiq-hamid-the-impactful-leadership-show-episode-042/
- Simon Sinek, Author of Start with Why
- Kerri Garbis - Leadership in Action Ep. # 010 - https://www.leadershipinaction.live/e/superior-speaking-skills-kerri-garbis-leadership-in-action-episode-010/
- John Spence - The Impactful Leadership Show Ep. # 010 - https://www.impactfulleadershipshow.com/e/strategies-for-success-john-spence-the-impactful-leadership-show-episode-010/
- Steve Murphy & Javier Peña - The Impactful Leadership Show Ep. # 041 - https://www.impactfulleadershipshow.com/e/listening-to-your-team-steve-murphy-javier-pen%cc%83a-the-impactful-leadership-show-episode-041/
- Warren Rustand - The Impactful Leadership Show Ep. # 006 - https://www.impactfulleadershipshow.com/e/becoming-the-beginning-learner-warren-rustand-the-impactful-leadership-show-episode-006/
- Jen Mazer - The Impactful Leadership Show Ep. # 021 - https://www.impactfulleadershipshow.com/e/giving-yourself-permission-to-dream-jen-mazer-the-impactful-leadership-show-episode-021/
Ways to Tune In:
- Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/12f108ea-018f-44a6-8bb0-9444e9cbf3cc
- Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creating-the-greatest-show/id1638399900
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1B7OnWCGoxBRzH2rbkEFIf
- Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2NyZWF0aW5ndGhlZ3JlYXRlc3RzaG93L2ZlZWQueG1s
- Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/creating-the-greatest-show-4823789
- YouTube: https://youtu.be/plEMLR_c6mI
Creating The Greatest Show is produced and sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/
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