REFLECTIONS: Podcast Interviews As Jazz Improvisations

Hi everybody. Robert Miller here with another Follow Your Dream Reflection — observations drawn from my many conversations with remarkable creative artists. One of the hallmarks of my podcast interviews is that they are completely free-form. While I study each guest, read their bio, and do my due diligence on their art, I don’t script the interview. I don’t write down questions in advance. At most, I may jot down a few topics I’d like to discuss. And I usually avoid speaking with my guests before the interview, because I want the conversation to feel fresh and spontaneous. In many ways, I approach my interviews the same way I approach my music. Jazz is improvised — and so are my interviews. We talk, and I let the conversation flow. I make decisions in real time about whether to follow up on something the guest has just said, or to take the discussion in a different direction. The same is true for the “fest” portion of each interview. I decide on the spot when to segue into it and how I want that part of the conversation to unfold. Doing the podcast this way borders on the dangerous. There’s always the chance that I won’t immediately think of the right question, or that the conversation might slow down. But to me, that’s exactly what makes the interviews exciting. It’s the same feeling as being on stage and improvising a solo or a jam in real time. There’s no safety net. My interview style is also influenced by something I did in college. I was a DJ on my school’s radio station, and my shows were completely free-form. I played the music that moved me without planning the set list in advance, reacting in real time to each selection as I chose the next one. It was my first lesson in improvisation. Approaching podcast interviews as jazz improvisations allows me to draw on that musical training and keeps the conversations spontaneous and alive. And I think the audience enjoys it that way too. Just an observation from my many conversations. This is Robert Miller with Follow Your Dream.