If you want to be a guest on a podcast…
How to Pitch to the Podcast Host
If you want to be a guest on a podcast, what do you need to say when pitching to the podcast host? I can’t speak for other hosts. I speak from my experience as a podcast host with more that 75 guests and my experience as a radio host for 19 years with more than 600 guests.
My podcast, Your Intended Message, is a weekly interview show. That means I need at least one guest a week. I say “at least” because sometimes the guest cancels or postpones. And occasionally I decide not to publish the interview. Why would I not publish an interview? Because on reflection, the audio was poor, the language was littered with filler words, or the message was bland or buried.
If you want to be a guest on my podcast the most important question you need to answer is, “What will you do for me?”
It’s not about you. When I receive a pitch in which every sentence starts with “I, me or my” you’re not talking about me and my interests. You didn’t grab my attention.
What would grab my attention?
Here are four criteria that I examine when qualifying a guest.
- Do you know my podcast?
Did you demonstrate that you know the name of my podcast and the theme? Have you listened to at least one episode and mentioned the guest or message? What do you understand about my audience? What do you admire or appreciate about my podcast?
- What are you offering my listeners?
My number one consideration is, “What will my listeners gain from this interview?” What unique perspective and wisdom can you offer my listeners?” How might this grab their attention and intrigue them? How does this compare to previous guests?
- How will you promote my podcast?
Have you already written a review on Apple podcasts? How big is your audience on social media or email lists? Have you offered to promote through those channels?
- How credible are you?
What is your experience with the topic? What is your captivating story? Can you reveal the pain and joy of your adventure? Tell me about your previous podcasts, presentations or publications.
When you review these four criteria, you might notice that the first three are about my podcast and my listeners. Only the last element is about you.
If you only talk about yourself when you reach out to me – I’m not interested in you as a guest on Your Intended Message.
Go apply to the narcissists’ podcast network.
If you want to be a guest on Your Intended Message, be sure to check the boxes for these four criteria.
Podcast pitch mistakes to avoid
This message was all about the sender. Notice the overuse of the word, “I” and its variations. They didn’t express interest or concern about me or my audience.
“Sounds interesting” seems vague. What did you find interesting and why? Maybe I should have responded with “Sounds interesting”.
This person wants to be on my podcast. They didn’t say why I should consider them? They didn’t clarify their offering. They didn’t address how this might help my listeners. They didn’t even state the name of my podcast.
The only offer was to invite me to be on their podcast, yet they didn’t mention anything about their podcast – name, theme, audience, etc…
They asked “how to move forward” and I responded with “tell me more”. Instead of providing answers, they said “email me”. Yuk!
You’re telling me that the CEO has nothing to do and I should help them fill their schedule? When you had a close look at my podcast, what did you notice? Tell me about it. Why do you think it seems like a good fit?
Which recent episode? What did you love about it? When you didn’t answer my question, it seemed like you lied.
Come on people. Be real. I want real people as guests on my podcast who offer practical value to my guests and I want you to promote my podcast.
Is that too much to ask for?
You can listen to Your Intended Message here
https://yourintendedmessage.com/
https://yourintendedmessage.podbean.com/
You can watch the videos here
BONUS for pitching to be a guest on a podcast
Here’s 5 tips from Alex Sanfilippo, founder of PodMatch.com
- Lead with value
- Make a meaningful request
- Offer credibility
- Mention how you will share the episode
- Make it easy to say no
Read the rest of this article from Alex Sanfilippo here.
If you’re pitching to be on a podcast, watch this video from Jeff so you don’t sound this silly.