I was invited to be on a podcast. And not just a normal pre-recorded podcast where no one sees you make a mistake, this was a live on-camera interview that would later be converted into an audio file. This was my first time being interviewed and I was feeling many emotions at once.
Excited, because I would get to talk about my passion for Lingo Boy, Kid Jumah and my lockdown experience, but also a bit nervous because I would be speaking to a large crowd live on camera. I kept reminding myself that Kid Jumah is live as well, but for some reason, this felt different.
Maybe because it was someone else’s podcast and I didn’t want to mess up. Or, because I felt a responsibility being the featured guest.
I started preparing the day before the interview. They emailed me the questions beforehand thankfully, and I started to think about my answers. Many of the questions were ones that I have answered before in my khutbas or blog posts.
I was feeling pretty comfortable.
However, on the day of the podcast, the nerves started again. I started to worry that I would mess up, but I kept reminding myself that I have already done many live streams.
The time for the podcast was fast approaching. I joined the call about 15 minutes before the official start of the stream.
And let me tell you, joining early was crucial.
I joined in and connected my audio. I talked into my microphone to see if the hosts were able to hear me. And that’s when the problems started. They texted my mom and said that they were able to hear me but the problem was I was unable to hear them.
Immediately panic started, and thoughts kept going through my head. What if the audio never started working? Would we have to cancel the interview? Would they have me on the podcast again? I tried to troubleshoot any way I could.
- I disconnected my audio
- Connected another headset
- Muted and unmuted myself
- Restarted my computer
Nothing worked.
This is when the worry and unease started. Minutes and minutes of troubleshooting to try to get the audio working, but nothing was helping. I was really scared. My face turned red and I became frazzled. I didn’t want to make a bad first impression. After about ten minutes of doing everything that we could the producer of the podcast gave us a call. Yes, I was still frantic but at least we had a professional helping us out.
He ran us through a few procedures that usually fix audio problems. I quickly did everything he said trying to get the audio working before the time we had to go live. After what felt like hours, we finally got the audio to work. I was able to hear them and they were able to hear me.
This was a relief. Whew!
Unfortunately, the nerves did not end there. The audio problem took so long that once we were able to fix it, we immediately had to go live. I propped myself up and looked straight into the camera. I opened up the script and silently read along as the hosts introduced me. Soon it was going to be my time to talk about myself on a live camera.
I was edgy.
The pressure was a bit less because I couldn’t actually see the viewers typing in chat or anything so I think that helped out a bit.
It was time. I looked at the biography that I wrote and began to read it word for word, not changing anything. The more I talked, the more comfortable I got. I still followed the document, but I started to freely talk and not read exactly what it said.
For me, public speaking is like a roller coaster, you are very scared when you are on the big incline, getting ready for the drop. However, once you start going down it’s really fine.
This is how it was for me when I was talking. It was scary in the beginning when I was preparing, but once I started talking it was way easier and felt more natural.
Looking at the aftermath of the podcast I am really happy with how it went. Yes, there was a rough start with the audio, but in the end, I enjoyed it. My episode is already one of their highest viewed, and I just recorded it.
I received many comments from people who watched the podcast live. And after all the worry and road bumps I think my first interview went pretty well!