The point of writing a book, as a business owner, is to establish authority within your industry and grow your audience.
There is no better way to support that goal than by doing media appearances.
At Bestseller Publishing, we have a PR team who guides our authors through everything from TV and radio interviews to podcasts and guest posts.
As of 2019, (via a quick Google search) I learned that there are more than 700,000 active podcasts and at least 29 million episodes.
An interesting fact I read: according to Apple, in 2018 there were 550,000 podcasts and 18.5 million episodes.
The industry is clearly growing quickly.
Considering about 227 million people have listened to a podcast, this form of audio content isn’t going anywhere.
In fact, with the integration of more home smart devices such as Alexa and Google Home, I’m sure those numbers will continue to go up quickly.
One of the recent clients we worked with was surprised to hear that we want to get him some podcast interviews. He’s been listening to podcasts for a long time, but he never thought he’d be a guest on a show.
This author is in the dental industry and wrote a book for fellow dentists about running a successful practice.
He asked me if there are even dentist podcasts out there for him to be on.
With a quick search through iTunes, I was able to show him that there are dozens upon dozens of active dental podcasts and many have great followings.
He then asked me what a podcast interview was like and if I had any tips.
I think the suggestions I gave him really helped so I wanted to share them with you today as well.
My top 4 tips for being an amazing podcast guest:
1. Prepare
Have you ever seen an interview where you can tell the host doesn’t ask interesting questions, or can’t keep a conversation, or clearly doesn’t know much about their guest?
It’s so important for a host to prepare, and it’s equally important for the guest to prepare as well.
Often times a host will send over some brief questions so they make sure to ask you about things you want to talk about. That’s perfect.
If they don’t, you can send them a few talking points that you’d like to hit such as your book that just came out, or a new free plus shipping offer for your book, etc.
2. Get a decent mic
I’m not suggesting you go out to buy a fancy mic worth hundreds of dollars because it simply isn’t necessary. Good-ish will work.
What does good-ish mean?
It means it’s not necessary to invest in a $600 microphone to be a good podcast guest, but be aware that podcasting is an audio medium.
A show can easily be judged on not only the quality of its content, but also it’s audio.
Almost every mic is better than the microphone within your laptop/computer and the host will be very appreciative of your effort.
If you have a pair of Apple headphones, those work great too. There’s a microphone at about mouth level which gives good quality audio.
My last suggestion would be to make sure you speak directly into whatever microphone you use and try not to bump into it, or anything else on your desk/table while you’re speaking.
3. Send pets, kids, and family away
Families are the best (usually), but they don’t need to be around while you’re doing a podcast interview. There have been multiple times where I’ve been doing an interview and we’re in the midst of an exciting or meaningful conversation when loud barks from the other room take over.
Significant others, kids, and pets are distracting for you and the host.
Send them away!
- Avoid using “fillers”
“Ummm”
“You know”
“Right, right, right”
“So…”
“Ahhh”
These types of fillers are fine in an in-person conversation and can usually go unnoticed, but in a podcast interview, it’s hard for listeners to overlook them.
This one can be difficult for hosts as much as it is for guests.
It’s totally normal to be a little nervous before an interview and even while doing one. Luckily, because podcasts are typically not live, you can take the time you need to think, breathe, and collect your thoughts. The host can easily edit out the silences later.
These words aren’t the same for everyone. Do you know what your fillers are?
The more mindful you can be while doing a podcast interview, the better it will go.
Above all, I think if a guest comes to an interview awake, happy, and ready to go, it will more often than not go perfectly well.
