Information for guests

What is the podcast about? | Who is the podcast listener? | What is the publication frequency?

How long is the interview? | Questions that we may ask | Do I need any equipment?

Advice on how to get the best possible audio quality | About Zoom

Other resources from the guest | How can I schedule an interview?

Guest profile form

What is the podcast about?

This podcast focuses on Engineering, Science, and the Maker Movement. We interview Professional Engineers (electrical, mechanical, software) and Scientists (physicists, chemists, mathematicians, biologists) for their take in the latest developments, their practices, and advice. We also interview Makers (woodworkers, metal workers, artists, engineers) and discuss their projects, their favorite tools (software and hardware), and the problem-solving techniques they apply when tackling problems.

Who is the podcast listener?

We identify several groups of people who are particularly interested in the Tech Explorations Podcast.

• Makers, hobbyists, DIYers
• Technology and science enthusiasts
• People interested in engineering, electronics, robotics, 3D printing, and the open-source model
• People practicing arts and crafts, such as woodworking and metalworking
• Higher education students in STEM fields

All these people want to be informed of the current and future trends, developments and inventions in the above areas and be in touch with those at the forefront.

What is the publication frequency?
This is a fortnightly podcast. We aim to publish a new episode every second Tuesday.

How long is the interview?
Each interview is approximately 45 minutes long.

Questions that we may ask

Our interviews are informal and conversational. We only ask scripted questions at the beginning and the end of the interview.

At the beginning of the interview, we’ll ask a couple of opening questions to warm up. For example:

• Please introduce yourself. Tell us a bit about you, your relation to science, engineering or the maker movement, and what you are working on at the moment.
• If you wish, tell us about your organization/company/practice.

After that, we will continue the discussion to expand on something that you said. It could be your current exciting project, something from your history that you mentioned in your introduction. We will naturally follow a path that excites us the most, thinking that the audience will appreciate the value it brings to their practice.

At the end of the interview, around 35 minutes in, we will ask a few closing questions. We usually ask 2-3 of the following:

• Who has been most influential in shaping the way you think?
• What app can you not live without?
• What advice would you give to people interested in becoming a maker?
• What’s your programming language of choice?
• What workshop/maker faire have you found the most useful/interesting in the last year?

We always we ask:

• If our listeners wish to get in touch with you, what is the best way for them to do so?

Do I need any equipment?

You will need a computer connected to the Internet, and a headset. We conduct our interviews using Zoom. We may use Skype as a backup.

Information on how to use Zoom is further down on this page.

Advice on how to get the best possible audio quality

In order to produce a high-quality podcast, a key consideration is the quality of the audio that we capture. Although we have the ability to improve the quality of the recorded sounds, nothings beats capturing good sound from the beginning.

As we don’t have a studio where we can invite you for the interview, and since our guests can be anywhere in the world, please follow these guidelines:

• Use a small space with furniture and a minimum of reflective surfaces. Bedrooms with carpets, curtains, and soft furniture work great to minimize echos. Office meeting rooms with glass walls and minimal furniture are some of the worst environments for an interview. Surprisingly, the interior of a car can also sound very well in a recording since it is well padded with asymmetric surfaces.
• Use a headset with a microphone. At the very least, you should use the mic headset that came with your smartphone. Please do not use the mic that is built-in to your computer/laptop as it will also pick any fan and hard disk or desk noise.
• Turn off or slow down fans and air-conditioning.
• Turn off phones, and computer notifications.

Our superstar guests also use their own phone to record their voice as a form of backup.

Very often those recordings are better than the one we captured, and we use it instead of ours.

About Zoom

To record our discussion, we usually use Zoom. Zoom is a communications software that combines video conferencing, online meetings, chat, and mobile collaboration. If you are already using this application, you will not need to do anything other than to click the join link that we will send you.

We will send you an email that contains the join link. We do so 2-3 days before the scheduled interview.

Step 1: Click the join link (provided in your 2-day reminder email) and download the Zoom Launcher application if you're prompted to do so and run it. If you already have the application on your computer you will be prompted to open it from your browser.

Step 2: Click on 'Test Computer Audio' to configure your audio settings.

Other resources from the guest

Apart from your time to conduct the interview, there are a few things that we also need from you:

• A high resolution photo
• A short profile
• Links to your web site, LinkedIn page or another web page that you’d like us to include in the show notes
• Any forms of contact details that you would like our listeners to use should they wish to get in touch with you (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)

How can I schedule the interview?

Assuming that either Peter or Lina have already contacted you, and that you have completed the information request form (see below) then please use this form to book the interview at a convenient time.

We’ll get back to you with a confirmation within 24 hours!

Please use this form to provide the requested information before the interview.