During the middle of the pandemic, I was working on a project collecting interviews and all of them were outside. Until “outside” wasn’t an option for me.
Everybody involved had been fully vaccinated, so inside we went. It was a nice, modern building with lots of natural light and a view of downtown.
It was my first time doing an interview like this in over a year.
So there we were, me asking questions and the guest on her couch. I was sitting on the floor, listening to her answers and also "editing" in my head, placing where everything she was saying would fit into the episode.
As she finished up a particularly personal (and emotional) story, I told her, "That brings a tear to my eye."
Next thing you know, I lost it.
I'm not the type of person who does this. The last time I cried was a few years ago, the evening after my dog Samba was euthanized and the reality of his passing hit me.
But there I was, with tape rolling, getting emotional in front of my guest.
Maybe it was what she said. Maybe it was all the pent-up emotion from over a year of not knowing if or when I'd ever be able to safely sit next to somebody and do this work again.
Regardless, it's moments like this that make great podcasts.
Is it professional? Probably not.
Yes, we need to keep good boundaries with guests. Yes, we want to be objective.
But showing emotion is real and, in this case, it let the guest I was on her side, allowing her to go even deeper. And that depth is going to help a lot of people.
