Before You Arrive

What to Bring to Your First Session

Short answer: yourself, a pen drive and a list of questions. Everything technical is here. But a few small decisions made before you arrive are the difference between a relaxed session and spending your first twenty minutes deciding what to talk about.

Bring these five things

A pen drive or portable hard drive if you want raw files in your hand as you leave. A printed or phone list of your talking points — not a script, points. A bottle of water, though we have some. Your guest, on time, with their phone on silent. And a second shirt if you are recording more than two episodes and want them to look like separate days.

What to wear, and what not to

Solid mid-tones photograph best. Avoid thin stripes and tight checks, which shimmer on camera. Avoid pure white, which blows out under key light, and avoid green entirely if you are anywhere near the chroma wall. No noisy jewellery near a collar mic — a bangle stack against a lapel is the single most common audio problem we fix.

Prepare four questions, not forty

The best episodes come from four good openings and the willingness to follow the answer. Forty prepared questions produce an interrogation, because you end up steering back to the list instead of listening. Write the four, know why each one matters, and let the conversation take the rest.

What we already have

Cameras, mics, lighting, mixer, headphones, memory, water, chairs and an operator. You do not need to bring gear, adapters or a laptop unless you specifically want to record a screen. If your episode needs a prop, a book, a product or a graphic on the display, mention it in the booking brief so it is set up before your slot starts rather than during it.

Timing and the practical bits

Arrive ten minutes early — not thirty, not late. Slots close two hours before start time, so if you are running badly late, WhatsApp us instead of hoping. Eat something light beforehand: an empty stomach is audible and a heavy lunch is worse. And use the bathroom before we roll, because the best answers always come forty minutes in.

Questions people ask

Sai Podcast Studios · S.C.F. 27, Phase-3 Market, Opposite Army Public School, Dugri, Ludhiana — 141013 · +91 77195 75790