Have You Heard? is a series in which the team from Pod Bible meet the people behind the podcasts you may not have heard of yet. While the Oh. My. Pod. section in the magazine gives a quick shout out to shows of that ilk, Have You Heard aims to go deeper in an effort to spread awareness for shows that deserve more exposure! In this week’s edition we sat down with Hatti Survari to discuss her podcast, Get Legally Speaking.
Pod Bible: Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Hatti Survari: I am a mother of 2 boys, 43 years young (just!), who really enjoys the subject of law. One of my biggest influencers in law was Judge Judy in America. After having watched her court room for over ten years, I had a consistent interest in the law. I established my law firm, Red Bar Law, in 2012, and then after seven years began Get Legally Speaking. I had previously worked in corporate banking and as an independent business consultant.
PB: What’s Get Legally Speaking about?
HS: Free legal conversation, in plain old English language. Through our conversations on GLS, we offer explanations and interpretations of the law, in layman’s terms, and in a way that we can relate the law to our everyday lives.
PB: What’s the first podcast you ever listened to?
HS: The first Podcast I listened to that I really enjoyed is called Table Manners with Jessie Ware. It was an interview with Jamie Oliver. Being a foodie, Jamie is a serious influence for me in my kitchen!
PB: Why did you decide to start podcasting in the first place?
HS: I started a podcast, because truthfully my then-twelve year old told me that it was the way forward for me in life! I am passionate about people being able to understand, and actually enjoy understanding, the various areas of law that affect us in our everyday lives. I agreed with my son that a podcast would be a great way to get conversations on law heard and listened to, so people could access the information perhaps when driving, commuting to work, working out, walking the dog, or even while cooking!
PB: How did you decide on the format of your podcast?
HS: I am passionate about people being able to access the law, with the ease of understanding it, and therefore I wanted the podcast conversations to flow naturally and clearly. I decided that one speaker would be a good way to record, so that there would not be too many voices potentially speaking over each other. I tell my speakers that nothing will be edited, cut-out or re-recorded, so for them to relax and feel as comfortable as they can. I try to make my speakers relax during our recordings and engage with me in an ‘unstuffy’ way, as the law can seem quite stuffy at times!
PB: Do you work with a producer or create the show entirely on your own? What is that process like?
HS: I produce the show entirely on my own. The process consists of selecting the right expert barrister to guest as the speaker. This is a task in itself, as not every barrister will record well and come across in a ‘user-friendly’ manner, as I like to say, regardless of the extent of their legal knowledge. Once the speaker is selected, I have to prepare the questions for the recordings, which consists of carrying out our market research on the most frequently asked questions, taking those and adding them to the most frequently asked questions that I have had over the past years of running my law firm, and adding all of those to questions that are emailed in to us from our listeners. This produces our list of questions for each podcast. Once we get to that stage, a date is scheduled to record, and I record. Following that, I prepare and upload the recording, together with the description of what we have recorded. I inform all parties involved that the podcast is going to be published, when it is ready in-line with our schedule. Our online social media marketing for the podcasts are carried out by a small team, who each add a great amount of value to the process. I have to say that, as much as it is a lot of hard work and many hours of time, I thoroughly enjoy it and love the positive feedback that we are getting.
PB: How did you decide to tackle the current health crisis on your podcast? How has the coronavirus impacted how you approach and create your show?
HS: I had to quickly find a way to record our podcasts remotely with my speakers, and by the 23rd of March (which was the first day of the lockdown), I was set up to record on Zoom, when on the 1st of March, I did not know what Zoom was! To try and assist people during the crisis, we have actually recorded a number of COVID-19 related podcasts, for example dealing with domestic abuse during the crisis, and employment law and your rights during the crisis.
PB: Who’s your dream guest for the podcast?
HS: At the moment, my dream Podcast guest is probably Martin Lewis. I really admire Martin for the wealth of information he offers, in a really enthusiastic, informed and in a user-friendly way, in which his audience can engage and understand his useful points. I also believe that finances and law can go hand in hand, both being essential areas of our lives, that we should know the basics around.
PB: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as a podcaster?
HS: To have your microphone set up in the right direction! It only took me 5 months to get that one right! Thankfully, having a half decent microphone meant that the sound didn’t sound so bad having it back to front!
PB: Which episode would you say is the perfect introduction to your podcast?
HS: I would say that our Trailer gives people a real flavour on what GLS is all about. It is user friendly and tries to keep the stuffiness out of a subject that can otherwise seem quite heavy. It allows potential listeners to try and understand what we are offering.
PB: Where can the Pod Bible readers find out more about you?
HS: On our website and on my Linkedin page!
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