Your podcast is exactly as good as the folks who are interviewed on it – no more and no less. And each day, several new podcasts pop up to cover a wealth of topics that include – but aren’t limited to – entertainment, food, tech, news, sports, culture, health, travel, and business. With all this in mind, the following are four tips for booking great podcast guests on your show.
- Find someone engaging who likes to talk: Introverts are wonderful … but for your podcast, you’re looking for extroverts who truly LOVE engaging with others.
- Find subject matter experts: Find someone who KNOWS what they’re talking about. You want an expert who’s eager to discuss the topic at hand, rather than someone who’ll spit generic facts back at you. You want someone who comes across as likeable while they’re informing your audience.
- Craft open-ended questions: Structure your questions in a way that encourages long form answers and avoid anything that can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” In particular, you want to always keep the door open for follow-up questions, since these can move a discussion in an entirely new, unanticipated direction.
- Be a good host: It’s as simple as that.Along with great guests, your podcast needs an engaging, interested host who makes the conversation flow.
Some great examples of guests on some of my favorite podcasts would include:
- Anna Kendrick (Call Her Daddy): In her episode with host Alex Cooper, Kendrick takes on a journey from the beginning of her acting days, taking public transportation as a young child to attend auditions in Manhattan with her brother to the end of an abusive relationship and hope on the other side. Anna Kendrick can tell her story in a way that is both relatable but also sarcastic to lighten this very heavy topic.
- Daniel Pink (The Daily Stoic): In his episode with host Ryan Holiday, Pink explores how fear of regret holds us back. He is able to sit with Holiday and work through the moments of his life that have shaped his future.
- Michael Cherenson (Coffee & Tea with SCG): I may be a little biased as Michael is a colleague I work closely with. A PR powerhouse that grew up in the agency world since childhood (literally), Michael has decades of wisdom and a love of conversation. His episode felt like sitting down to chat with a friend.
If you have questions about booking excellent guests, please reach out and let me know how I can assist.
