Have you heard the old expression, "Failure to plan is a plan to fail" anywhere? 

It's attributed to Benjamin Franklin who was full of witticisms like that.

Recently, I've had two interactions with podcast guests that made me wonder whether other podcasters were showing up without a plan.

The first interaction was an author of some note. He was impressed with my enthusiasm for our topic (hey, it was spiritual formation which is one of my favorite things to talk about). Apparently, he doesn't always have the kind of intense and eager conversation we had that day.

Then, the second was a delightful guest who complimented the pdf my guests get when they book an appearance on Halfway There. It's full of sample questions which I do not promise to ask but are in the general direction of my themes. It's designed to help them show up prepared, having thought about the kinds of questions I'm going to ask. 

I started to wonder if some podcasters aren't bringing energy to their shows both before and during recording.

If this is true, there are a few problems:

• If you don't bring energy to your podcast, no one else is going to. You have the first responsibility to show up with eagerness to share your content. 
• Your audience can tell if you're unprepared. Showing up for an interview without a plan is hack level podcasting.
• Not doing your best does little to serve your audience let alone to serve God. If you feel like the Lord called you to podcasting, you owe it to him to bring your best.

To make matters worse, your show is unlikely to grow if it sounds like you're winging it on every episode. That's fine for a hobby but most of us do this with the idea that someday it would be wonderful to make at least a little money from it. You can't get there without some forethought.

So how can you be more intentional with your podcast episode and bring that enthusiasm to every single one?

Here are a few things I do that may help:

• Create an episode preparation template that allows you to gather information about your guest and write down a minimum of 10 questions you have for them. You don't have to ask all these questions and can follow topics of conversation. But if the interview stalls or goes a little too far down a rabbit hole, you have a plan to get back to solid ground. 
• Make a guest preparation guide for your show. For Halfway There, every gets downloads it at the end of the scheduling link. The guide explains the premise of the show, what kind of conversation I'm looking for, and has common questions they can think about beforehand. My best guests read and follow this guide. It's available in the CPA Silver Content Library if you want to see it. Plus, there's a video where I explain the whole thing step by step.
• Up your energy once you hit record. Sometimes I feel a little hokey when I say to a guest "Okay, let's go," press record, and all of a sudden I'm using my "podcasting voice." But I know that my audience hears that enthusiasm at the very beginning. I want them to be getting excited when they hear my voice on each and every episode. There's no way I'm going to show up like Eeyore. Psych yourself up.Splash cold water in your face. Pretend you are a famous broadcaster. I don't care what you have to do, show up with energy when you first start talking. Your guest will pick it up, too. Now you have a recipe for engaging content.

These are the things I do that help me show up prepared but it's far from a comprehensive list. What do you do to prepare for and bring energy to your podcast?