Be More Choosy About Your Podcast Guests - EP 94

How can you take your guest episodes beyond a basic Q&A? When you think of a podcast, what comes to mind? If “a mic and two people talking” is your first thought, you’re in good company, but in this episode, Mary encourages you to expand that definition. Your show is about so much more than the interview. That one-time guest isn’t the person who keeps listeners coming back week after week—that’s you! So, how can you use strategic guest selection to leverage the values, interests, and timing of both the host and the listener?

When you bring on not just the most popular guest but the one who is truly the best fit, you gain a stronger episode, a more dedicated listener base, and a more cohesive show.

Get picky about your guest picks with these helpful tips:

• Why this month’s most sought-after podcast guest might not be the right choice for you
• Why platforms that match guests to podcasts aren’t ideal
• How your podcast values play into your guest selection every time
• How to tweak your publishing schedule to get the most out of every episode.

Links worth mentioning from the episode:

• Episode 62, How to Land Someone From Your Dream Guest List: https://www.organizedsound.ca/how-to-land-someone-from-your-dream-guest-list-episode-62/
• Episode 71, Celebrating with Values to Nourish Your Podcast: https://www.organizedsound.ca/celebrating-with-values-to-nourish-your-podcast-year-end-break-episode-71

Connect with Mary!

• Leave a voice note with your feedback at https://www.speakpipe.com/VisibleVoice or email visiblevoicepodcast@gmail.com
• Get the full transcript of the episode at http://www.visiblevoicepodcast.com
• Read up on more secrets with the Visible Voice Insights Newsletter https://www.organizedsound.ca/newsletter
• To learn more or work with Mary, check out https://www.organizedsound.ca
• Link up on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/marychan-organizedsound/
• Engage on Instagram @OrganizedSoundProductions https://www.instagram.com/organizedsoundproductions

Show Credits:

• Podcast audio design, engineering, and edited by Mary Chan of Organized Sound Productions
• Show notes written by Shannon Kirk of Right Words Studio
• Post-production support by Kristalee Forre of Forre You VA
• Podcast cover art by Emily Johnston of Artio Design Co.

Transcript with Audio Description:

[MUSIC IN - GHOSTHOOD FEATURING SARA AZRIEL “LET’S GO” BEGINS]

MARY: When you think of a podcast these days, what do you envision? Like, what is a podcast? Most people I talk to tend to say that if there's a microphone and there's two people talking, you've got a podcast. So, yes, that could be a good barometer. Like, a lot of the celebrity type podcasts are going that route. But podcasting is more than just interviews. 

I mean, this episode alone is a solo episode where there is no guest, but it still is a podcast. With the exceptional growth in podcasting since the pandemic, when we were all at home listening away, connecting to other humans through our earbuds and headphones, we've seen this interview style show get replicated over and over and over again. And I see the allure you want to emulate your favourite thought leaders. It's an easy route to get started, and we want to have a connection with someone. So an interview style show is definitely the way to go. 

However, what if we can make interview style shows better? What if it's more than just two people talking? On this episode, we're going to take a look at what we can be doing differently for our podcast and how being choosy about your guests will actually make a better show for you as the creator and for your listeners. 

This is episode number 94 on the Podcaster's Guide to a Visible Voice. 

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Over the years, as I created my show, this very podcast, almost at 100 episodes, yay, I'm gonna get there. 

[MUSIC ENDS]

I've evolved based on my interests, capacity, and curiosity too, like wanting to experiment for myself and for my clients, using this podcast as a testing ground. Some of the things I did was change up my branding, my frequency, and even my format. So if you actually look back on the history of this very podcast, you'll see in my first year, I did only solo episodes every single week. And that was tough. It was a slog to get through, but it was my goal because I wanted to see what that felt like, to do an episode every single week, because that's what everybody was saying. You had to produce content every single week. And I'm glad I met that goal. But I totally knew that path was not for me. I am not a weekly content creator in that sense. Proud to have done it, but glad it didn't stick. 

And then when you look back, my second year, I went to rotating guest and solo episodes. That publishing every two weeks format, which I still have today. And it's a pace that really challenges me, yet gives me the pauses I need during the summer and winter and so, this every two weeks with the little mini breaks in between. I really fell into this and really loved this frequency and really loved what this gave me in terms of joy of creating the podcast, yet still something that I could do in my capacity with running my business. And still actually at that time when I was starting recovering a lot from my traumatic brain injury from my accident that I had and you know, having a family and life and all that stuff too. So that was great to figure out in my second year. 

My third year, I refreshed my branding to see what that impact was like, because like with all things, you know, things evolve and you want to change how things look a bit. So why not? Tried that out in my third year, which is still the branding that you see today. Year four, I was more particular about my guest choices. This is where I was experimenting more about this theme for this episode, about strategic interviews and how do I choose my guests and what does that really entail in the whole grand scheme of things and the value of my podcast and in the industry too. I started seeing trends towards guesting companies popping up like those matchmaker type things, and I wanted to see how those worked and why some guests were always not such a great match for your show. I really wanted to experience what that was like. 

And then that takes us to last year and now this year. Years five and six, I've gotten into a really good rhythm, at least from this recording, right? Like, I feel very in line with what I'm doing with my guests and making sure that the ones that I choose to come on the show are aligned with certain themes or my curiosities. And you know, your curiosities too, because you asked me questions about podcasting and sometimes those themes are very timely or sometimes they're just have been simmering in the background for a while and I've just been waiting for the right person to show up. 

My point is everyone grows and learns and so does your podcast. So looking at how you choose your guests can also change. And that is okay.

[MUSIC IN]

As I said earlier, many of the big name shows we want to emulate because we look up to them. They look like they're doing something right. Right? So if they're doing X, why can't we, they have success with guests on their show, so why can't we have guests as well? Many of the big name talk shows are big names because of the very fact that they have a talk show. An interview style podcast, of course, is very similar and in line with that same structure. You pretty much have your own talk show. 

But what many people don't realize is that those huge big name shows also have a huge team behind them, whether that's for the actual production and editing of the show or for things like guest coordination. And this is where my episode here is really landing. I'm getting tired of that guest coordination side of things on podcast episodes. On one hand, I get it, you are the star of your show. You don't have time to schedule guests for those big name talk shows. That makes sense. 

But on the other hand, it smells like they're only focused on the publicity cycle. You know, like A, these guests are an easy land as long as you talk about what they want to promote, that's the whole promotional publicity cycle. B, makes it easy for you to fill a spot on your publishing schedule. Nothing like some easy guests to have, right? And C, they are on all the other big name shows already, so they're doing a publicity circuit, the cycle or in the podcast world, usually it's a podcast book tour, instead of in person book tours. Podcast book tours are now a thing. 

This is the same when you think about actors who are promoting a new movie. All you see are the same actors, actors going on a different “Jimmy like” talk show, right? You get the same guests and sometimes the same stories. 

Now I know what you're thinking. I'm not a big time show. Yes, I might want to try and emulate some things, but I'm still an independent podcaster, so I don't have this problem. You know, we're not going to get a listers on our show, right? In an ideal world, I'd love to have them, but they're probably not going to come on my show. I can still dream, but in reality, let's bring it back down to reality. This can still relate. Think about this from a listener standpoint. 

If you are taking people who are releasing a book, are they doing their own podcast book tour that you might not know about? So, from a listener standpoint, if you are hearing and seeing the same guests on all your favourite shows, yes, sure, they might tell different stories, but mostly they are all doing the same tour cycle. That means the same messaging. They're going to talk about their book. So why should I, as a listener, tune into your show instead of my favourite show that already has that guest on? I may not necessarily actually want to listen to a new show when this guest has already been on my most favourite show. 

Will having this bigger name guest do more for you than just say, like a download spike the day or week that that episode has been published? Will you actually bring in more listeners for your show on a longer term basis? My bet is no, because on that show you haven't enticed them to stay for other episodes. Because interview style shows are all about the guest, not the host. So as a host, what can you do differently and try and sway those listeners to stay? 

[MUSIC ENDS]

I mentioned earlier about using those platforms that match hosts with guests. While those are convenient, they don't provide very compelling content. Meaning sometimes it's just your standard questions. I mean sometimes they even come prepared with questions for you to ask. So it's just a ask, answer, ask answer. It's again, not very compelling. I would also dare to say that they actually require you to do more work because you don't know who they are. You're required to do more research coming up with those questions, spending hours of your time or someone you've hired, their time, if you're lucky enough to hire someone because you've got the funds for it, spending all that time doing that research and coming up with those questions and that journey and theme for that episode. 

So I would argue that if you were more choosy about which guests you wanted on your show up front, you'll have an easier time to come up with question and themes around the episode because you already have a natural curiosity about what you want to ask them. As I always say, it's the follow up questions that really brings out the best conversations. So you can't pre write or prep for that. That will naturally come to you because you've done the research on this guest and especially when you are curious about their topic. So how do you be more choosy? 

[MUSIC IN]

First, I want to touch back on your podcasting values to refresh yourself on that. I do have episode number 71, Celebrating With Values To Nourish Your Podcasts. Go back and listen to that one. In that episode, I do talk about one of my values, which is to have fun. My podcast has to be fun in order for me to make it. If it's not fun, I'm not doing it. And one of those things that I do to make it fun is to have system and processes. I know systems and processes might not sound like fun, but if I get bogged down by my system and processes, then it's not going to be fun. See what I mean? So, I focus more of my time on the fun stuff when I have my systems and processes in place. 

So before making any decisions on who will be your guest. I always ask myself, will this be fun? Because that's my value. Does this person sound fun, or fun meaning passionate? Fun doesn't always have to mean, like, laughter and parties. Are they passionate about their subject? When you listen to them on other podcasts, you'll find out you'll hear that passion in their voice. Second question would be, would you actually want to be in a physical room with them for over an hour? You know, think about, like, networking, where you have to saddle up to a stranger and like, talk about, hi, this is what I do, who are you? In that room would you want to hang out with them for about an hour? If you answer no to any of those two questions, then the guest is not worth it. At least for me and my values. Right? 

So for your show, which value does this guest bring out? What makes them intriguing to be on your show? What will your ideal listener learn from them? That last question actually is quite vital because everything you do needs to be focused on your listener. 

[MUSIC ENDS]

The next thing, actually I allude to this in episode 62, How To Land Someone From Your Dream Guest List is the why? Why do you even want them on your show? This why has to be part of your values. So this why, for me, has to be fun. You'll need to know this why, so that A, you can figure out if it's in alignment with your show, your values, and your ideal listener. B, have that why ready to share with your email invite to your guest if that's part of your workflow, and C, so that it's part of your show prep. 

You're already doing the heavy lifting of research and coming up with questions when you're searching out for that ideal guest, right? You're being choosy when you're doing your research. So it's not like you pick your guest and then you do your research. No, you're already doing your research when you're trying to figure out if you want this guest on your show or not. So you're doing like, two birds, one stone type of deal. 

So by the time you actually invite the guests, I already have a list of questions or themes that I want answered even before they have said yes. So it can go both ways. You can either come up with questions and the theme first to land a guest, or you can hear about a guest and then start doing your research and having your curiosity piqued to write down those questions and then see if you want them on your show. 

[MUSIC IN]

The last thing we'll talk about is around scheduling and publishing the episode. Is there a date that would maximize this conversation? Now, most of the time for interviews, if they're doing the publicity tour, they're going to request that the episode gets published around the publishing date of their book. So when you think about that talk show circuit or the podcast book tours, that's what their publicists are hoping that you will do. This is because they're hoping when they hear about the book on your podcast from the guest that they want to immediately go out and buy it and then it will be available.

Plus there will be a spike in sales because all the episodes are being published that week. But is this really going to maximize the conversation? Like I was saying before, everyone's going to hear the same stuff on all the shows. So what if you publish before the book gets released? More and more authors I've seen talk about pre-sales I don't know how many times in my email inbox. Authors are talking about how pre-sales are really important to signal to the publisher that the book is valuable. This creates momentum for the author, you know, things like that. 

So why not pre-sale talk before the book is out? Doing the publicity tour essentially, but a lot sooner so it's not all bombarded at the same time. You're creating a conversation that probably hasn't happened yet on other shows. This could be months in advance. I've seen authors newsletters talk about pre-sales for months before the book is out. So why can't this be done on podcasts too? And you create this really unique opportunity for you and for the author. 

The strategy of course will only last until all the talk shows and interview style podcasts pick up on it. And they'll all start doing it too. But if you're allowed to, I would go that route because it creates uniqueness for your show. 

[MUSIC ENDS]

So how can you reimagine interviews for your podcast? Let me know where can you make room for improvement? If you've been doing the same thing day in and day out for your interview style podcast or your interview style episodes like I have, it's not a total makeover, but what you can tweak to improve your process, your flow and your podcast in general, I would love to know. 

So definitely send me a voice note on my website VisibleVoicePodcast.com email is also lovely, VisibleVoicePodcast@gmail.com I'd love to hear your thoughts on, uh, things you want to tweak or what you learned from this episode. So what are you going to evaluate on your show for your interviews? Are you already incorporating guests on your show? And if you do, how are you going to utilize their appearance to make your show better? 

[MUSIC IN]

On the next episode, we're going to dive a little bit into the celebrity podcast stuff that we're talking about, because we're going to learn from Amanda Cupido, who is an amazing legendary podcaster and legendary in the radio space too. That's how we were mostly connecting. We're like, oh, my gosh, radio, you and me and in Canada and a woman. Don't know if those things are so rare, but it feels like it's so rare. 

But mostly, Amanda and I, you'll love this. We will actually chat about generative AI and how that impacts your podcast currently and for the future of podcasting. Is it scary? Is it not scary? And how hopefully you can use AI for good. She actually teaches about this in Ontario, and so she's a wealth of information. You're gonna love her. Tune into that next time. 

[MUSIC ENDS]

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MARY: Thank you so much for listening to the Podcaster's Guide to a Visible Voice. If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love it if you share it with a podcasting friend. And to reveal more voicing and podcasting tips, click on over to VisibleVoicePodcast.com. Until next time.

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[MUSIC ENDS]