How to Prepare for a Podcast Appearance Podcasts are a great vehicle for promoting yourself, your brand, and your vision. They have an expansive reach to an unlimited number of listeners and an evergreen shelf life on the web. Because they’re so widespread and continually available, you’ll want to make your podcast interview as effective and impactful as possible
Do you know when you’ve “arrived” these days? When you’re on a podcast, either as the host or a guest! I may be exaggerating just a little, but a good barometer of success in the current marketplace is being deemed worthy of a guest appearance on a podcast.
It means you’ve attracted interest. It means you have the power togenerate an audience. It means someone believes you have something important to say and to share.
So when you get the chance, you’ll want to be prepared. As head of my own PR firm, part of my role is prepping and grooming clients for podcast appearances. Here are the coaching tips I pass on to my clients so they can take the best advantage of participating in America’s newest favorite media channel.
Best practices for podcast appearances
As ubiquitous as podcasts have become, it’s still exciting when you receive an invitation to be featured on one. Very exciting. But excitement can also lead to nervousness, intimidation or even stage fright, which can leave you tongue-tied and result in a missed opportunity to make the most of your moment.
You can take steps before and during your appearance to facilitate the most favorable outcome, and I break these steps into three stages.
Stage #1: Prepping the week before your interview
Do not wait until the last minute to ready yourself for your appearance. I don’t care how busy you are, how bare your cupboards are or how many party favors you have to assemble for your kid’s birthday on Saturday; do not be an eleventh-hour podcast guest.
At least a week out, schedule the following tasks:
- Listen to as many episodes of the podcast as you can. As you do so, get a feel for the host’s style – are they easy-breezy, or do they throw hardballs? Do they talk more, or do their guests talk more? Is the tone casual and conversational, or quite formal, educational and informational? To be a good fit for this show, you’ll want to be familiar with the show’s personality and craft your content to it.
- Research the podcast’s format. How long will you be on? Will there be breaks so you can regroup and reset between segments? Will you be expected to field listeners’ questions, or will you be in control of your “script”? Knowing what to expect before taping begins paves the way for fulfilled expectations.
