initial outreach

Go to the potential guest’s website to figure out how to contact them.

Most voice actor websites will list a preferred method of contact, such as an email address or web contact form. If they don’t have a direct contact listed, you can try reaching out on social media. However, it’s generally best to avoid asking other actors or mutual friends to give out someone else’s contact information.

Some actors may only list an agency contact email. This can be an option as a last resort, but keep in mind many agents do not handle things like interview requests unless it is from an official press outlet.

Introduce yourself and your show, and be sure to include a link to your channel.

Write up a short but compelling pitch briefly explaining the premise of your show, along with links to your channel and/or social media pages so they can check out the general vibe of your previous episodes, past guests, and follower counts. If your following is still very small and you don’t have much experience interviewing yet, you may not want to aim too high for starting with big-name guests until you’ve built up your show and network a bit.

Remember, short and sweet. While you want to include enough information for the guest to be able to decide if they’re interested or not, avoid writing a whole novel that they won’t have time to read and respond to.

Sample outreach email (but of course, make it your own!)

Hello John,

My name is Jane Doe and I run a podcast called “Inside Voices” which airs weekly on YouTube, iTunes and SoundCloud. Our show has been running for two years and we have about 5,000 subscribers on our channel. Please feel free to check us out here (link) to see interviews with a few of our past guests, including your colleagues Mary Smith and Ryan Jones. 

I am reaching out to you because I’ve been following your work for some time now and feel like our listeners would be interested to hear about your unique path to success, especially as a stage actor who transitioned to working in VO.

Should you be interested, we’d like to have you for an hour on Zoom or Discord for a prerecorded interview. We typically record on Wednesday or Friday evenings, but if those don’t work for you, let me know and we can make alternate arrangements. Looking forward to hearing from you soon!

Sincerely,
Jane

Include a note as to why you reached out to this guest specifically.

If your interview request is (or feels like) a form letter that was just sent to a whole bunch of actors hoping that one of them will say yes, it doesn’t feel personal. Mention a little something about what made you want to bring them on your show—even if it’s as simple as having enjoyed their work on a specific project.

Be open to any accommodations the guest may request.

Be prepared for the guest to have certain conditions for appearing on your show. Examples may include only being able to conduct the interview on specific days or during certain time frames, having a strict time limit for the interview, certain topics being off-limits, not wanting to be on-camera, needing to see a list of questions in advance, needing to approve the final edit before the interview is posted, etc. Be open to any reasonable requests your guest may need to be comfortable.

If something a guest asks for is a deal-breaker for your show – for example, you allow viewers to ask questions live meaning it’s not possible to anticipate all the questions in advance – let them know and see if there’s any way to compromise before outright deciding it won’t work. Don’t assume that a potential guest who has a lot of requests is being difficult or stuck-up – chances are they had one or more bad experiences with interviews in the past and need to set boundaries going forward.

Don’t ask a popular guest onto your show JUST because you’re hoping they’ll share and boost your numbers.

It’s understandable to need all the publicity you can get, especially if you’re new and just trying to get your show off the ground. But if you reach out to a potential guest, it should be out of a genuine desire to have them come on your show and give their perspectives. If the initial outreach is all about how you expect them to share the interview to all their followers afterwards, it can be off-putting and make them feel used. Remember that a guest may or may not share the interview on social media for any reason, and if they do, it’s a bonus not an expectation. Being open to guests who are up-and-coming as opposed to only “big-name” actors is highly recommended – newer actors can have unique and insightful perspectives, too!

Don’t use an “interview” as a roundabout way to just have a one-on-one call with someone you’re a fan of.

Generally, if you ask someone – especially a busy and relatively known actor or media personality – to have an interview with you, they will assume you actually have a show with some level of production and thought put into it. Although rare, there have unfortunately been some instances where an interview request was clearly just a thinly veiled attempt to have a one-on-one chat with an actor. This is misleading and can make people uncomfortable. Another reason to link to your channel in your outreach email is so that the potential guest can be sure you actually have a channel where these interviews are posted.

Don’t take a “no” personally.

Many voice actors, particularly those who are well-known to some degree, receive numerous interview requests. These guests are often busy working or traveling and simply don’t have time to take on a bunch of unpaid commitments in addition to their existing schedule. Additionally, some actors just don’t like doing interviews or don’t feel comfortable getting on a call with someone they haven’t met before talking about themselves.

Another potentially uncomfortable truth is that perhaps your show simply doesn’t have a big enough audience yet for someone to feel it’s worth taking an hour or more out of their day to answer questions for you that they’ve probably already answered a million times before. Chances are this has nothing to do with you, so don’t feel bad—it doesn’t mean you’re a bad interviewer or that your show is boring or that you’re a nobody. It just means that for whatever reason, this particular person isn’t able to be on your show. That’s okay! There are plenty of others out there you can try asking.

If you don’t get a response, follow up once—-then be prepared to move on.

One follow-up is okay in the sense that it’s easy for these messages to get buried in inboxes, missed, or forgotten about—-even if the guest saw it and meant to respond to it at a later date. Wait a couple of weeks and respond to your original email chain just saying you wanted to follow up on your prior message to see if they’d be available anytime soon. If they still don’t respond, take it as a “no” and look into other guests you might like to interview. Continually hounding people – or worse, spamming their messages or social media replies – will only annoy them. You can always try reaching out to them again in the following year or two once your show has gained more traction.

before the interview

Be prepared.

Know at least a little about the actor you are interviewing, such as a few of the properties they are known for. Some actors may be very outgoing and have no problems going off on tangents for days, but others may be shy or less experienced with publicity appearances, so you can’t rely on them to carry the whole show for you. You don’t need to do intensive research on the guest of course, but it can be a little awkward if it becomes very clear that you do not know even the tiniest bit about their body of work and are reading from a generic list of the same questions that you ask to all your guests.

Have your questions ready in advance.

Be aware that some actors will want to see your list of proposed questions before agreeing to an interview. Having questions prepared can also make the interview flow more smoothly and minimize awkward pauses (a host who has to constantly hem and haw trying to think of the next question is a marked sign of unpreparedness). Some hosts like to give listeners the opportunity to send in questions as well, which is fine, but try to get these questions in advance as well—or if they are to be asked during a stream or live chat situation, ask the guest privately beforehand if there are any topics they’d prefer to avoid.

Try to be unique and creative with your questions rather than just asking about their “origin story”.

Every actor on virtually every Q&A ever has answered “How did you get started in voice acting?” a thousand times over at this point. Most of them are sick of this question as it feels like beating a dead horse and this information can be found easily online. If you ask the actors the same exact thing everyone else has already asked them on other podcasts, there isn’t really anything that makes yours unique at that point or gives people a reason to listen. Come up with more interesting twists on your questions, or even ask them about something unrelated to work!

If planned more than a week in advance, send a confirmation the day before or the day of.

This ensures that there are no sudden surprises with a mistaken day or time or someone forgetting. Be sure to include the time zone to avoid any confusion. (Limit to a single reminder, by the way—-messaging them every day asking them to reconfirm is unnecessary and obnoxious.)

Alternatively, consider using Google Calendar invites—if your guest also uses Google Calendar, the app will automatically remind them and show it in their schedule.

Understand that scheduling conflicts may come up.

While actors will generally let you know as soon as possible if they can’t make the interview, please understand that the nature of the voice acting field is very last-minute. Regardless of how far in advance you book an interview, it’s common for agents or clients to email with only a day or two’s notice for needing to book a session. Please understand that work MUST take priority, and actors cannot make their paying clients schedule around an unpaid interview. If you want to minimize the chances of having to reschedule, booking in the evenings (or possibly weekends, but keep in mind many voice actors do conventions on weekends) may be a good option. If your show is done live at a set time each week to where rescheduling would be a huge problem, let your guest know this so they can plan accordingly (and potentially have a backup plan just in case.)

Do your best to minimize technical difficulties.

Log on a little early to make sure that your connection and equipment are stable and working properly, and that you’re able to record both your and the guest’s audio (and video, if applicable) feeds. Be sure your correct input/output settings are selected in whatever program you will be using, so that you and the guest will be able to hear each other properly. Using headphones is strongly recommended to avoid echo or audio bleed. If you’re able to connect via a wired connection instead of wi-fi, this will help as well.

If you’re stuck, check out other successful podcasts for ideas.

If you’re feeling uncertain about the questions you came up with or your ability to carry a show, look at successful or popular podcasts which interview voice actors where the actors seem to be having a great time. How do the hosts carry themselves? What types of questions and techniques do they use to get interesting answers and encourage the guests to open up? Don’t copy someone else’s show format or questions of course, but you can use it as inspiration.

during the interview

Record everything on your end.

Be sure you can capture both yours and the guest’s conversation in real-time using a program such as OBS, Zoom’s built-in recorder, or a podcasting service such as Riverside (test it out beforehand if need be.) Don’t make the guest record their own audio feed unless it’s absolutely necessary, as it can be cumbersome to save and transfer such a large file.

Introduce your guest.

This is where being prepared comes in handy. Suddenly asking actors to do their own self-intro when they’re live means they have to scramble to come up with something then and there. You can always ask if there’s any specific roles or other info they’d like you to mention when you do your introduction. (And if, for any reason, you’re not sure how to pronounce the guest’s name properly or what pronouns they use…ask them before you go live so that you can avoid an embarrassing situation of them having to correct you.)

Be professional.

This goes for both you and your friends/co-hosts that you have on the show with you. Note that professional doesn’t necessarily mean formal—be chill, be yourself, have fun! But you don’t want to make the guest feel uncomfortable by continually having “fanboy/fangirl moments”, putting them up on too much of a pedestal, or asking them to recite a bunch of lines on command in their character’s voice. Treat it as a business engagement, but also like taking a friend out to coffee and chatting with them about life and work.

Avoid asking about things that might make the actor look bad, or that they may wish to keep private.

Don’t bring up anything controversial, adult-oriented, overly personal or potentially embarrassing—unless you’re clear you have the actor’s prior consent. Also, if there’s a project that an actor did under a pseudonym and they’re not public about it, ask them before you start the interview if it’s okay to talk about it. Remember that anyone who is in the public eye even on a very small scale has to be conscious of their image these days and how others perceive them. Never “bait” an actor by asking trick questions designed to be taken out of context or make them look bad.

Understand that there are certain things actors can’t talk about.

Most actors have non-disclosure agreements that prohibit them from talking about upcoming things they’re working on or whether a certain game is getting additional content or a show is getting another season… and much of the time, they don’t know any more than you do in regards to what’s happening on the development side! Don’t ask about proprietary matters (such as how much they got paid for a project or what their union status is) or try to get them to badmouth other people they’ve worked with.

Keep an eye on the time.

If it’s clear the conversation is going great and the guest is voluntarily wanting to continue it, that’s great! But if they do have other plans after the interview, they can’t exactly ask on-air when you plan on wrapping things up…so it’s good to do a quick check-in via the text chat to ask if they’re good to keep going for a bit longer or if they need to head out.

And finally…have fun!

Being prepared does not mean your interview must go off completely flawlessly or that you can’t be yourself and chat naturally. Use your list of questions as a guide, but don’t feel you have to read them off robotically—engage with the guest just like you would when having a conversation with a friend or colleague. Remember that they are still just a regular human like you are, so don’t beat yourself up for making a mistake or having a small thing go wrong. If the guest can tell you’re enjoying yourself, chances are they will too!

after the interview

Edit as needed.

Assuming it was a prerecorded interview, it may be good to edit out any mishaps, flubs, or awkward moments. A polished interview will look good for both you AND your guest!

Link them to (or tag their public accounts in) the finished interview when it’s done, but don’t pressure them into sharing it.

Most people won’t mind giving a quick retweet or share if they’re tagged in something they did, but if they don’t, please don’t hound them about it. There are many reasons why actors curate their social feeds (or may not even be very active on social media) and chances are it’s nothing personal about you or your show. It’s okay to say something like, “Here’s a link to the interview we did earlier this month. I tagged you on Instagram—if you’re able to accept the collaboration request, it would help me out a lot!” But don’t spam them with emails begging them to share it or ask them why they didn’t; it comes off as tacky and desperate.

If you want to use a photo of the guest for your interview, make sure they approve it first.

This seems like a miniscule thing, but people don’t always observe this: It’s a good idea to check with the guest to make sure they’re comfortable with whatever picture you want to use to promote them—or if you’re not sure, ask them to provide one for you. If you just search online and grab a random one from Google image results, it could end up being outdated or embarrassing for the guest, such as an old headshot from over a decade ago. If you need to post the interview ASAP and don’t have time to ask the guest, it’s generally a safe bet to use an image the guest posted themselves on either their website or their recent social media. (Whatever you do, don’t use a candid image such as a wiki photo taken at a convention or a tagged Facebook photo taken by someone else. Virtually nobody likes these unflattering photos and it just makes your guest look bad!)

Don’t disparage the guest online for any reason.

So maybe someone didn’t respond to a few of your requests for the interview, or you feel the interview went badly because of the answers they gave, or they had to reschedule a couple of times because of work or illness or whatever other reason. It is understandable to feel frustrated if you feel that despite doing everything right, someone isn’t willing to give you the time of day. But it is better to just take whatever you can from it as a learning experience and move onto the next episode of your show. At the end of the day a podcast is still volunteer work, not a job they are being hired for – and ultimately, no one is entitled to an hour of someone else’s time for free. You can vent privately to a close friend if something is really bothering you, but don’t post nasty things about the guest on social media. It will not only make them feel bad, but it can also hurt their professional reputation—and if other potential guests find out, they probably won’t accept an invitation from you either.

Don’t expect them to be available to socialize one-on-one afterwards, join your Discord server, etc.

A voice actor you’ve interviewed is just that—a person you’ve interviewed. It doesn’t automatically mean they’ve become a friend you can hit up for a chat anytime (and many actors do take the concept of parasocial relationships quite seriously). An interview is generally still a business transaction, so if the guest gives you their personal info such as a Discord ID or follows you back on socials so you can DM them about interview details, please remember that they gave you this information for the explicit purpose of conducting the interview, and it shouldn’t be used for non-work-related purposes unless you already know each other or they invite you to reach out further.

Consider a small tip, if possible.

If this were a real-life setting where you wanted to meet up with someone to ask them about the industry, you’d probably take them out for a coffee. Online, you can essentially buy someone a “virtual coffee” with sites like Ko-Fi or even a few bucks over Paypal/Venmo/CashApp as a tip. Of course, if you are a student or unemployed or otherwise don’t have any extra cash to spare, that’s understandable – but if you happen to have $5 laying around to treat your guest to a coffee, they’ll appreciate it a lot! Some guests may prefer to do an interview in exchange for a small donation to a charity they support.