Your First Interview: From Idea to Published Episode

Let's Walk Through a Complete Interview

Meet Sarah, a sustainable tech entrepreneur. You're excited to interview her for your podcast about innovation and environmental impact. Let's see how InterviewCue takes you from this idea all the way to publishing a polished episode.

[PLACEHOLDER: Flow diagram showing the 7 stages of the journey]

đź“ť Stage 1: The Idea

You've scheduled an interview with Sarah about her company's sustainable tech initiatives. Time to prepare!

You create a new interview in InterviewCue and give it a meaningful name:

"Sustainable Tech Innovation at GreenCircuit"

Optional: If this interview is part of a podcast series, you can select a Show from the dropdown. Shows help organize related interviews and maintain consistent branding. (Don't have a show yet? No problem—you can create one later or skip this step entirely.)

âť“ Stage 2: Planning Questions

You craft 8-10 thoughtful questions that will guide your conversation:

  1. What inspired you to focus on sustainable technology?
  2. Tell me about GreenCircuit's approach to hardware recycling
  3. What's the biggest misconception about sustainable tech?
  4. How do you balance innovation with environmental responsibility?
  5. What challenges surprised you when starting the company?
  6. Can you share a recent breakthrough your team achieved?
  7. Where do you see sustainable tech in 5 years?
  8. What advice would you give aspiring sustainable tech entrepreneurs?

Each question stands on its own, but together they tell a story. InterviewCue displays them clearly, keeps them organized, and lets you reorder them with drag-and-drop.

đź“‹ Stage 3: Background Details

For each question, you add background notes that up you can keep private or share with the guest (guest collab mode). These keep you informed without overwhelming the interface during the interview:

Question 1:

  • "Sarah mentioned in her TED talk that a childhood experience in Beijing inspired her -- good follow-up point"
  • You both have dogs who count as family members -- good ice breaker to open the show.

Question 2: "Pronunciation: GreenCircuit = GREEN-sir-kit (not sir-KWIT)"

Question 5: "Her blog post from 2019 mentioned initial funding challenges"

These notes are your secret weapon -- research, pronunciation guides, and talking points ready when you need them, invisible when you don't. Note that the question text supports rich formatting. Our editor supports toolbars and hotkeys to make information stand out for quick glanceable awareness during your interview. This format is the popular markdown format if you wish to be more adventurous than our editor offers.

đź”— Stage 4: Reference Links

You add important URLs you might need during the interview:

  • Sarah's LinkedIn profile
  • GreenCircuit company website
  • The TED talk you referenced
  • Recent product launch article
  • Industry report on sustainable hardware

With one keystroke during the interview (L key), these links appear instantly. No fumbling through browser tabs, no breaking your flow.

[PLACEHOLDER: Screenshot of the links section in edit mode]

🎙️ Stage 5: The Interview

Going Live

You open your recording software, start recording, then enter InterviewCue's Live Mode.

The interface transforms: clean, focused, distraction-free. Your screen stays awake automatically. The first question appears front and center, with its background notes tucked below—visible but unobtrusive.

[PLACEHOLDER: Screenshot of Live Mode showing a question]

During the Conversation

Sarah is talking about her Beijing childhood experience—it's incredible! You press 3 (the Highlight hotkey) and type "Beijing story - great for promotion."

Timestamp recorded: 04:23

She mentions a blog post you should check out. You press L to open your links, then press Shift+A to add a new link right now—without leaving the interview screen.

[PLACEHOLDER: Screenshot of the quick add link modal in Live Mode]

You move to the next question with the → arrow key. Smooth, natural, no fumbling with a mouse.

Sarah says something quotable: "Sustainability isn't a feature—it's a foundation."

You press 3 again: "Quote for chapter title."

Timestamp recorded: 18:47

The Power of Hotkeys

Throughout the interview, you capture moments without ever looking away from Sarah:

  • 1 - Audio issue (cough at 12:34)
  • 2 - Follow-up idea (ask about supply chain later)
  • 3 - Highlight moments (quotable content)
  • 4 - Chapter markers (natural topic breaks)
  • 5 - Custom notes (anything else)

Every event is automatically timestamped. You stay present, engaged, focused on the conversation—not on taking notes.

[PLACEHOLDER: Screenshot showing captured events during the interview]

Wrapping Up

After 45 minutes, you've covered everything. You thank Sarah, stop the recording, and click "End Interview" in InterviewCue.

Your timeline of captured events is saved. Time for post-production.

⏱️ Stage 6: Post-Production Power

Review Your Timeline

You open the Post-Production Timeline view. Everything is laid out chronologically:

  • 00:00 - Interview started
  • 02:15 - Question 1 (Inspiration)
  • 04:23 - Highlight: Beijing story
  • 08:30 - Question 2 (Recycling approach)
  • 12:34 - Audio Issue: Cough
  • 18:47 - Highlight: "Sustainability isn't a feature" quote
  • 23:10 - Question 3 (Misconceptions)
  • ...and so on

[PLACEHOLDER: Screenshot of the post-production timeline]

Share with Your Producer

You click "Share" and generate a secure, read-only link. You send it to your producer who can review the timeline and see exactly where the highlights and edit points are—without needing an account.

[PLACEHOLDER: Screenshot of the share modal]

Align with Transcript

After editing the audio (trimming the intro, cutting some uhms and ahs), you upload the final transcript. InterviewCue automatically aligns your event timestamps with the edited version using intelligent matching.

Now your timestamps match the published audio perfectly.

[PLACEHOLDER: Screenshot of transcript upload/alignment UI]

Export Chapter Markers

You click "Export" → "CUE Sheet". InterviewCue generates a perfect chapter marker file:

PERFORMER "Your Podcast"
TITLE "Sarah Chen - Sustainable Tech Innovation"
FILE "sarah-chen-interview.mp3" MP3
  TRACK 01 AUDIO
    TITLE "Introduction"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    TITLE "The Beijing Story"
    INDEX 01 02:15:00
  TRACK 03 AUDIO
    TITLE "Recycling Innovation"
    INDEX 01 08:30:00
...

You also export:

  • Markdown for show notes
  • EDL for your video editor (if you're doing video)
  • PDF for your records

[PLACEHOLDER: Screenshot of export options]

🚀 Stage 7: Publish Your Show

Ready to Go

You embed the chapter markers in your MP3, publish to your podcast host, and share on social media.

Everything is ready:

âś… Chapters embedded - Listeners can skip to topics they care about
âś… Show notes written - Your highlights became promotional content
âś… Edit points marked - Clean, professional audio
âś… Timestamps aligned - Everything matches the published version
âś… Professional result - Minimal effort

The Result

Your audience loves the episode. They message you about Sarah's Beijing story. They share the "sustainability is a foundation" quote. The chapter markers help them navigate to sections they want to hear again.

You conducted a great interview AND delivered a polished, professional episode.

The Payoff

From planning to publishing, InterviewCue kept you organized and focused on what matters: great conversations.

  • Before: Organized questions and research
  • During: Present with your guest, capturing moments effortlessly
  • After: Professional output ready for your workflow

This is the power of InterviewCue.

Ready to Try It Yourself?

Start with our Quick Start Guide to create your first interview in 5 minutes.

Or explore specific features:

Let's create some amazing interviews together! 🎙️