pREPARING FOR THE iNTERVIEW
HOW TO BE A GREAT GUEST
Welcome to the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast! We’re so excited to have you join us for a conversation that’s designed to inspire, educate, and inform. To help you prepare for a fantastic experience, we’ve created 10 tips for being a great guest.
1. Be Part of a Conversation
This is a friendly, relaxed discussion—not a formal interview or presentation. Think of it as three or four colleagues sitting down to enjoy a cup of coffee and talking about the things they are most passionate about. If you find yourself talking for a long time, feel free to pause and take a breath—this leaves room for a natural back-and-forth that makes the conversation more engaging for everyone.
2. Mistakes Are Totally Okay
Don’t worry if you fumble a word, lose your train of thought, or go down a rabbit hole that doesn’t lead anywhere—we’ve all been there! Matt and Cyndi, your hosts, are known for their humor and lightheartedness (or so their kids say), so just roll with it, and the episode will be all the better for it. We also have a professional editor who works to make
3. Speak to the Audience
Our listeners include intellectually curious educators, emerging scholars, and administrators who are eager to make meaningful changes in education. Speak to their challenges, aspirations, and curiosity—they’re here to learn from your expertise and be inspired..
4. Limit the Self-Promotion
We’ll introduce you and your accomplishments at the beginning of the episode, so there’s no need to over-promote yourself during the conversation. Mentioning your book or project occasionally is fine, but our audience connects best with authentic, idea-driven dialogue.
5. Speak to Your Passions
The best episodes come from guests who talk about what excites them most. Let your enthusiasm shine through as you share your stories, ideas, and experiences. Our goal is to inspire and inform, and your passion will help us do just that.
6. Be Flexible
We’ll craft questions based on the form you completed, but our conversations often evolve organically. If there’s a specific topic you’d love to highlight, let us know on the form, and we’ll do our best to weave it into the discussion.
7. Have Fun!
We’re here to celebrate your insights and we want you to enjoy the experience. Feel free to share stories, laugh, and make the conversation your own.
8. Prepare Your Space
Ensure you’re in a quiet, distraction-free space with a good microphone or headset for clear audio. If you need help with your setup, just let us know, and we’ll be happy to assist.
9. Know the Show
If you haven’t already, get to know the show by listening to some episodes below and exploring our website. You are contributing to a collection of amazing interviews with creativity researchers, passionate educators, and amazing practitioners.
10. Be Yourself
Our audience loves genuine, heartfelt conversations. Bring your authentic self, share openly, and let your personality shine. That’s what makes each episode memorable and impactful.
Meet The Hosts
Dr. Matthew Worwood
Co-Host & Producer
Matthew Worwood is an education consultant and full-time faculty member at the University of Connecticut’s Digital Media and Design Department. He is also the director of Digital Media CT, a consortium of Connecticut-based higher education institutions working in collaboration to promote digital media careers in Connecticut. His research interests focus on Teacher Creativity, Co-Creativity with Generative AI, and Design Thinking.
Matthew has produced a collection of low-budget documentary films exploring education issues. He also writes about various education and creativity topics and shares his ideas for teacher creativity and how it supports long-term professional growth on his website, WorwoodClassroom.com. Matthew’s current projects include TeacherRoundtables.com, the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, and research on a new proposed model for creativity called the CAUSE model. Matthew also continues to work with local school districts on his framework for teacher creativity, which utilizes different aspects of design thinking, creativity theory, and research into teacher transformation.
Dr. Cyndi Burnett
Co-Host & Producer
Dr. Cyndi Burnett is the Director of Possibilities at Creativity and Education. She is a creativity in education scholar, educator, and practitioner whose work focuses on empowering educators to infuse creative thinking into the classroom. She spent 20 years as an academic teaching deliberate creative thinking and creativity problem-solving in the Department of Creativity and Change Leadership at SUNY Buffalo State University. She ran a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Igniting Your Everyday Creativity with over 70K participants worldwide. She is the recipient of the President’s Medal for Excellence in Teaching by SUNY Buffalo State University, was Buffalo Business First, Woman of Influence for her work in creativity, and was featured in the NY Times article titled “Creativity Becomes an Academic Discipline.”
Dr. Burnett co-hosts the Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast, where she interviews leading researchers, practitioners, and educators on creative thinking in education. She is the co-author of the books Weaving Creativity into Every Strand of Your Curriculum, 20 Lessons for Weaving Creativity into Your Curriculum, My Sandwich is a Spaceship: Creative Thinking for Parents and Young Children and Infusing Creative Thinking into Higher Education.
Latest Season
Nurturing Creative Mindsets in Schools with Dorte Nielsen
In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast, join hosts Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood as they delve into transforming educational settings to foster creativity with special guest, Dorte Nielsen. Dorte is the founder of Creative Thinker and the Center for Creative Thinking in Copenhagen, with an impressive background in advertising and education.
Shifting Focus: Collaboration and Creativity in K-12 Schools with Dr. Edward Clapp
In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, hosts Dr. Matthew Worwood and Dr. Cyndi Burnett welcome back to the show Dr. Edward Clapp, principal investigator at Project Zero and a lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, to delve into the concept of participatory creativity. Clapp challenges the traditional view of creativity as an individual trait and advocates for a more inclusive and networked approach.
Talking about the past and future of schooling with Will Richardson
In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, hosts Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Warwood engage in a thought-provoking discussion with Will Richardson. They delve into how the transition from the third to the fourth industrial revolution is shaping education, emphasizing the need to anticipate and adapt to disruptive technologies like AI.
Exploring Cultural Creativity with Emerging Scholar Corey Gray
In this week’s episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, hosts Dr. Matthew Worwood and Dr. Cyndi Burnett introduce Corey Gray, a PhD candidate at the University of Georgia specializing in educational psychology and gifted education.
Connecting the Passion of Sports to the Classroom with Neil Bergenroth
In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast, hosts Cyndi Burnett and Matthew Worwood are joined by Neil Bergenroth, an innovative educator and coach passionate about integrating rowing and STEM education.
A New Approach to Schooling with Education Entrepreneur Raya Bidshahri
In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast, hosts Dr. Matthew Worwood and Dr. Cyndi Burnett sit down with Raya Bidshahri, an accomplished entrepreneur and educator who is the founder and CEO of the School of Humanity.
Podcast Sponsor
We are thrilled to partner with Curiosity 2 Create as our sponsor, a company that shares our commitment to fostering creativity in education. Curiosity 2 Create empowers educators through professional development and community support, helping them integrate interactive, creative thinking approaches into their classrooms. By moving beyond traditional lecture-based methods, they help teachers create dynamic learning environments that enhance student engagement, improve academic performance, and support teacher retention. With a focus on collaborative learning and exploration, Curiosity 2 Create is transforming classrooms into spaces where students thrive through continuous engagement and growth.
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