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Hey, welcome to the how to podcast series. It's Dave. We're doing a three part little mini series round, podcast guesting and being the host of a podcast where you have guests. We're going to talk from the podcaster's point of view, bringing guests on the show. We're going to talk about being a guest and what you need to do and then kind of a wrap up summary of both. Glad you're here. It's our little mini series we talking about. Great to guests, maximizing your podcasting experience. Glad you're here. If somebody sent you this episode, amazing. They are your best friend. They are. Because they want you to be great at being a guest on a podcast. I am Dave. I have multiple podcasts and I've been interviewing people for over the last seven years and out of the 2,000 episodes, about half of my episodes have been interview. So around thousand episodes I've had the opportunity to talk to some amazing people around the world as an interviewer on a podcast and I've kind of compiled some of my thoughts for you. Before you go on a podcast, before your first podcast, your next podcast, I want to give you some feedback from a podcast host that they may be too shy to say to you. They may not have thought to say, but this is going to make your podcast journey as a guest way better. You're going to get better results. You're going to have better interactions with the host, with the audience. You're going to see a better return on your investment by being a guest on shows with a few bonus tips thrown in here for fun. I just want to help you as a potential guest going on your first podcast or your next one to, to really hit it out of the park, like really have a great experience and make this a real positive one for you as a, as a guest. This is all focus on guests. We also talk in this little miniseries. We have an episode for the hosts and how to be better for you as a host of the show. And then we have like a combined one that it kind of shows the benefits of both. Glad you're here again. If somebody shared this with you, awesome. Go check out our YouTube playlist. We have all three episodes grouped together if you want to see them together and there's a link in the show notes for that. So I'm glad you're here. If you want to be a great guest on your next podcast, this is a great place to start. Let's start. Come on, let's go. So I've been a guest on Many shows, not as many as I've recorded myself, but I've been a guest on many shows, and I've had some great experiences. Some really great people have allowed me the privilege of being a guest on their show. And I think that's maybe one of the things right off the bat is I want you to consider this as a guest going on somebody's podcast, you're being invited into somebody's living room, somebody's house, party, somebody's family get together. This podcaster has been creating a community around their show. Whether they have five episodes or 500. They've been building this world as a podcaster, and their community comes for them first. They, they really love the host. You coming on the show, you're like the. The seasoning, the spices that make the podcast even more interesting because your input, your outside view, your voice is different than the host, and you add a lot of value by being a guest on somebody's show. So when I go on a show, I have a few things that we're going to talk about here that I'm going to suggest for you. Might be best practices, not rules, but best practices to prepare for your next interview as a guest. But from my perspective, sitting in the host seat and the guest seat, I find that there's some things that guests could do better. Guests could really do better to get a better result for your time invested in podcasting. So I'm. I'm leaning more towards the guests that want to do this more often than once a year. If you're going to do this once a year, some of these things we're going to talk about might not apply for you. But if you're going to be guesting a lot and in the future, some of these points could really help you down the road. So let's get into the conversation. I'm finding that podcast guests can maximize your impact by focusing on being prepared, engaging in your delivery on the show as a guest, having energy, and strategically following up across three different phases of an appearance on somebody's podcast. And these are going to be some practical tips we're going to share together here on this episode. From. From years of doing this and being again the host and the guest, I've got some great insights. I think it'd really help you. I think this is going to be a great episode for you to kind of come back to in the future, as well as a refresher, I'm podcast hosts, listen up, because I'm going to talk about you a little bit, and there's some lessons here for you as well, so stick around. Let's start right from the top, the pre recording and prep stage for you as a guest to go on your next podcast. Here's where we're going to start. When I go on a podcast as a guest, I do some research. Right off the bat, I want to know. I want to know about this show that I'm going to potentially be a guest on. I want to know all about it. I want to listen to the episodes. Are you going to hear people say you don't have to do this step? Well, yeah, you don't have to do a lot of things in life, but it's beneficial if you have an idea of what the podcast sounds like. It's kind of the question, the format, the tone of the show. Is it fast paced? Is it slow and thoughtful? Is the host funny? Is the host serious? What's the tone of the show? By being a listener of the show, you are actually part of the community. So when you want to connect with the community of the podcast that you're going to be on, then be in the community. That's a simple thing to do so that you understand how the show is distributed, how the listeners interact with the show. You're going to learn a lot. So my first recommendation is spend a few moments listening to about three or five, three to five episodes that are recent episodes. You don't have to go way back in the back catalog in the history of the show. Just stay to the first, you know, three to five episodes up top. Just to understand the host style, the interest of the audience. And again, the tone is so important. What's the vibe of the show? And then I would suggest prepare three to five key talking points with short relatable stories under 90 seconds each with a clear action step attached to the story. Telling the story about the time your bird flew away is great story, I'm sure, but if there's no relevance to an accounting podcast, then probably we don't need the story about the bird flying away unless you could tie it into the subject. Probably doesn't have a lot of value. So you want to have things you can talk about and have them there with you. You're not going to read it to us as a guest, but they're going to be something you can go to when you know, for example, you're going to be on my author podcast. I'm probably going to ask you about your favorite books. Who do you like to read? So having a list of your favorite authors or having the books right beside you as a visual cue. When we go to that direction in the interview, it may happen, it may not, but at least they're there and you could just quickly pull it out. Oh, I love this book. Whether it's a video or audio podcast doesn't matter. It's right there with you. It's a great visual cue, so be prepared. Don't come in just like hoping for the best with no prep. It's not going to be a great conversation if you're not ready to talk. So know what you want to cover. Make sure that you have some talking points and when you are asked a question on the interview, then keep your answers short, concise and let the host ask a follow up. You don't have to try to get in every talking point that you're trying that's written out in front of you and everything that you want to say. You don't need a 20 minute answer to a one minute question. Just keep that in mind. We don't talk a lot about this for on, on the guest side, we talk about a lot for the host side. But you as a guest, you need to be heard. We need to be able to hear you. I've done the majority of my podcast interviews as a host. My guests have shown up with a laptop mic. So that's the one built into your machine. No actual external microphone that they talk into. So what happens is I get a lot of the room sound. It sounds like you are almost underwater as a guest and there are tools that I can use to make you sound better. But if you're going to do podcast guesting often, then my suggestion is to grab a microphone and you can buy a microphone. The one I'm using right now is $50 US, $80 Canadian because everything's more in Canada, where I live. $50 US for this mic. It plugs directly into your computer with a USB port. You'll see them on the front of your desktop computer on the side of your laptop. It's just a microphone and it plugs right in. You don't have to do anything. There's no other thing to buy. And I'll put a link to my microphone in the, in the notes if you're interested in picking one up. But if you're going to be a guest on shows, being heard is key. It's so important to be heard. I've actually had guests reach out to me and after a pre interview where I told them that, hey, we can't, I can't hear you properly. They're like, no, everybody told me I'm great, that I've never had anybody tell me that this sounds terrible. So let's go ahead with my setup. And I'm like, well, okay, I'm telling you, it's not gonna be. You're not gonna be happy with the results. They're like, nope, this is fine. Let's go. Okay. And then they email me that when the podcast goes live and go. They go, why does it sound like that? And I'm like, that's you. That's. With a lot of work to make you even sound the way it sounds now. But your setup wasn't great, and I've had to compensate on this end to make you sound better. People just need to be able to hear you with clarity. You have to be loud enough without being too loud. You can't be too quiet. And you got to be clear. We have to understand what you're saying. So having a microphone is really a great tool. Again, if you're going to do more than one or two guest interviews a year, I would suggest having a microphone in the corner. Go grab one, buy one, have it close to your mouth when you talk. And if you need help, you can always reach out to me. HowtoPodcast CA. I can show you mic technique and help you to sound better before your next interview calendar is always there. Grab your mic. Let's jump on zoom. I'll show you exactly how to use your mic properly. So, again, $50 for this mic. It's not a big investment. If you're going to be doing a lot of interviews, then you need better tech. If you don't have a mic and you're only going to do a few episodes, there are a couple ways you can do this. I've actually had people do the interview from their car, which is actually not quite. It's actually quite good because you're in a confined space. As long as it's not noisy traffic beside you and fire trucks driving by, it's not bad. But I would say find a quiet space in your house. Somewhere where the kids aren't going to be running by 35 times in the background, where your partner's not cooking dinner next to you and you hear bacon frying and fridge door opening and shutting and the beeping of the stove. That doesn't translate well to the listener, just so you know. Find somewhere quiet, somewhere where you can do this discussion, where you're not distracted as well. Find somewhere where you can focus on being a guest and focus on the questions being asked asked of you, and minimize your distractions and make it as quiet as possible where you are. You don't have to climb in your closet, that's not necessary. But just be in a quiet place with a lot of softness around you. That'll help clean up some of the room. If you record from your bathroom, not a great idea, not a great look, and it's going to sound horrible. So find somewhere with soft fixtures, couch pillows, blankets around you, and that's all we need. But we just need you in a nice, quiet place so you're not distracted and our audience is distracted by what your recordings are picking up. Keep that in mind. Another part of this is your podcast host might ask you to fill out a bunch of documents, like a Google sheet or something they'll send you, and they'll ask you things like how to pronounce your name. That's really important. If you have a very unique name. Mine is Dave Campbell. It's not that unique, but if you have a very special name or a special spelling for your name, please let the host know and help them out. Don't. Don't let them struggle to pronounce your name. As hosts, we get nervous sometimes when we screw up the name of our guest. I had the mayor of my city on, and his name was very interesting, and I screwed it up like three times in a row. He was gracious, he was kind. He knew that his name was not the easiest name to pronounce, and I found out after the interview that I said it wrong. So I went in and fixed it after the fact, but embarrassing nonetheless. We, as hosts, we want to meet. We want to do this right. We don't want to make a mistake on your name, so don't hide it from us. If there's an easy way to pronounce it, if you can make it sound like something else, then that's gonna be helpful for us because we get nervous when we hit record, too. Just so you know, hosts get nervous when we hit record. We're like, oh my gosh, we're recording. So you might feel nervous, but we also feel it as well. So give us the tools so we can help you sound great and that'll come up. So you'll get forms maybe from a host to fill out. Fill out as much as you can. It's going to help for the host after the fact to put in all the show notes, the links to your website, and all that. Just keep that in mind. Anything you can give us as a host in the pre recording prep time is going to be super helpful. The next step is what happens during the actual recording. When you're on the show with a podcaster, I would encourage you to treat every recording a natural conversation you would have with a friend. That kind of tone, some of the podcasts you go on might be super serious. Some of the podcasts you go on, the host might have a list of questions that they give you in advance and they just going to go run through the questions 1 through 10 and that's how they do their show. Some of that is because that's how they think and that's how they're organized. Some because they're nervous or they're new. But some people like me, we don't have any listed questions at all. I have no idea what I'm going to ask you next. Even during the recording, I'm just having a conversation with you. I know where I want to go, I know where the conversation needs to end and the point of the conversation. But how we get there, that's the fun part. So during the recording, make sure that you just treat it as a natural conversation and relax. Just relax. Most podcasts are not live. Most podcasts are not in front of a studio audience. We most podcasts it's just going to be you and the host or you and the host and a co host. It's not like you're entertaining a crowd. So relax. And I would say the majority of podcasters will edit their show anyway. So if you do make a mess up and you like oh, can we do that again? Most of them will be able to accommodate and fix that. No ever know and that's something to ask about during that pre conversation before you go live and record a podcast, keep that in mind. On my shows, I've noticed that the best guests who get the best results and the best engagement from audiences are not the best speakers all the time. They're the best listeners. Just like the host needs to be a good listener when you're speaking, you as the guest need to be a great listener when the host is speaking. You need to pick up on the cues. You need to know how to navigate this conversation. And this goes back to the idea of listening to the shows before you come on as a guest get to feel how the host does their interviews. It's really going to help as a guest make sure you're listening actively, that you pause after your answers for the host to give you a follow up and use the signposts like to sum that up that could be an indicator to be that you could be a little bit more concise. When your host has to kind of summarize what you said, maybe you kind of meandered around a little bit, wandered a little bit in your answer. When the host has to reframe what you said, that could be a signal for you to work on having more concise answers. That's just a, that's just a signal that could possibly be an indicator that you're going a little long. I've had people on the show where I've welcomed them to the show. Hey, welcome to the podcast. Glad to have you here. Tell everybody where you are in this big world of ours. That's kind of one of the things I do on my Living the Next Chapter podcast. I've had people answer tell us where you are in this big world of ours to be. I'm from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. That's the answer. But I get. Well, I was born really, really young and I lived here and I moved there and 20 minutes later we're still answering the first question. I haven't even gotten to my next question yet because my guest maybe had a nerve, maybe being nervous. They're, they just go on and on and on and on. So be reflective and think about your answers and be concise. You don't need a hour long answer to a one minute question. It's not going to serve you. And the interview is going to be over and there's only going to be one question. Where do you live? Keep it short, keep it concise and answer the question that's being asked. Now this might sound funny to hear me say this, but compliment the host. Compliment the host. One of the people that I really love in podcasting, his name is Alex Sanfilippo and he is the creator of Podmatch. It's a hosting site and I'll have a little blurb about them here coming up in a moment. But on Podmatch they help podcasters find guests and guests to find podcasters. It's a great day just jumping in here. I want to do a little shout out. I want to encourage you as a podcaster. You should be on Podman. Alex simple things. You can pay a small monthly fee. People can see yourself. Instead of spending money elsewhere, spend it where people are looking for podcasts shows up. Podmations.com is great. As the host of a podcast, your show on there goes on again interview based show he's on definitely he brings if you're looking for guests, episodes if you want to be a guest and what the impact is great for him and it's going to help you to spend time the right show. There's so many tools built into the sales platform for you as a podcaster. It'll help you create a one she making things up come up with the images that you want to share for you as a guest on other people's show. There's just so much, so many things and you can rate and review, acknowledge your guests and the host of podcast that you've been a guest on. I tell you. So here's Alex. He came on the how to podcast series episode get a lot of and it was great to have him on the show. Love to have him back in the future. But here's Alex talking a little bit more about POD Match. I would encourage you to go sign up link in the show notes for you to you sign up for community members part of this miniseries that we're doing around guesting and hosting interviews and Podman reaches a natural connection. But here's a little bit more from and I encourage you to go check out three episodes and so we had
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this idea for what is now pod simply to it. It's a service that works very similar to a dating app, like connecting people for dates.
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Right.
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But instead of connecting for dates for podcast interviews. So if you're a guest like in this case talks about podcasting which is a little bit meta, but it would connect me with Dave saying, hey, the how to podcast series that Dave hosts is probably a good fit for you because you are a podcaster. Talks about podcast but that's the whole idea behind what we decided to build. And then just everything in between. It's administrative. We remove the friction that's involved to simplify the process and the whole heart behind that is that we know that you are what really matters in podcasting is impacting the lives of listeners.
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Speak like link in the show notes if you want to use our affiliate code Speak like a stranger supports a stranger. Speak like a family. Let's get back to the conversation among family because you've listened to the show, right? You did, you listened to the show. So you are now part of the family. So speak like that. Bring up things that you love about the show, about the host, the tone of the show, past guests bring up something of meaningful value that not only helps the podcaster to be encouraged to continue, but also shows that you're you're happy and thrilled to be part of this great thing as a guest on this podcast where the host is sharing you with their audience for you to show up and give value from the start. Just like Alex Sanfilippo does on episode 310 and all of the other shows he goes on. That's a. That's a. You should follow that. That's a great example. So go to, go to YouTube, type in Alex Sanfilippo, or go to episode 310 of the how to podcast series and listen to how he starts. I introduce him and then listen to what he does. Listen to it and then make that an example for you as a guest on how to be a better guest. So it's textbook. Textbook example of being a great guest. I love a guest who comes on this show or all my other shows that ask me a question back. So I might say, hey, what's your favorite book? What are you reading right now? My guest answers, and then they say, dave, what are you reading right now? Whoa, hey, wait a minute. Yes. I love that because now we're having what's called a conversation. It's not an interrogation like the police officer does in that little room with no windows. It's actually a conversation with two people, like normal. And then I can get to share what I'm reading, what I'm. What I'm interested in. Again, we don't get to talk often about what we like as a host. So you asking questions back is so organic and natural. It's how humans interact with it feels way better as a listener as well, because I'm also answering and I'm not even a part of the conversation. As a listener, I'm going, yeah, well, I like this book. Or I'm thinking, well, what book do I like in that moment? Because you're both sharing your favorites. What's mine? I feel engaged and part of the conversation. So definitely use that and use unique stories. Share your unique insights when you're talking without promoting all the time. Yes, we. If you come on my author podcast, I want you to sell books. We're going to have time for that. We're going to talk about the book. We're going to create a foundation for you to sell books. But we're not here just to sell the book. We're here to connect with people and add value to the audience. I asked one guest once in our pre chat if they wanted to know more about the audience, and they said, no. And I'm like, really? And they said, yeah, it doesn't really matter who the audience is. My book is for everybody. I'm like, so you don't want to know who we're talking to. And they said, no, doesn't matter. I can talk to anybody. In that moment, I'm like, so you. In my mind, what the signal was is you don't value my audience. You just want us a spot to speak. You're just looking for a podium in a stage is all you're looking for. You don't care who's in this, who's in the audience. You're going to talk about the thing. And that doesn't sit well with me because I want somebody to come on my show that values the people who listen to the show. And if they value you, they get on the show. If they don't value you, they don't get on the show. Like that guest I was just mentioning who did not get on my show for that reason. So show your deep connection with the audience and bringing value. I would also say little things. Be on time, stay energetic, don't make, don't ghost your host. But so much with me, I have a file folder like a foot thick of all the people who have just abandoned all my shows and just never showed up again. Don't do that. That's not a good look. Stay hydrated. Don't be. Don't show up like in a rush. Have some time before you come on to. To prepare yourself and be prepared. Come in ready to go and just calm and ready to show up. So as I think about it, I think I'm just going to bring in a little clip from episode 310, and I want you to hear Alex actually do the intro part that I was trying to explain to you instead of sending to the episode. I'd love for you to go listen to it. It's a great episode. But here's a little clip of Alex showing up on the mic at the beginning of the episode. Listen to how he frames the beginning of the conversation as a guest. This guy knows what he's doing. Here's alex on episode 310, how to podcast series. And you can go on any other show that he's been on, and he's going to do the similar process for any of those other shows. But here's a great textbook example of how to show up as a guest. Here's Alex.
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Dave, thank you so, so much. I've been enjoying the show, listening to it, and just following you along the way. And again, so thankful to be here and excited to add some value together today.
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And later in the conversation, Alex comes back with this as well. We talked about Listening to the episodes in advance. Here's Alex doing exactly what we just talked about as a guest on a podcast, being specific about an episode that resonated with him. Learn, people as a guest. Learn. This is what you do. This means so much to the audience because they identify as well with what you're saying as a guest on the show. They also liked the episode. They, they also like the host. You are self identifying as a community member in this moment. Alex does it so well. Here's a good example.
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The main thing I want to drive home to people is actually an episode of your podcast that I listened to this week and the title is From Command to Connection and it came out on September 30, 2024. You all you, you were talking about this idea of instead of a call to action, having a path to action. And man, that stood out to me because immediately I'm like, okay, this is my call to action section. Like, no, this is the path to action, right? And it just gives you this different perspective on like how to form connection, on what you do. So my call to action is to go listen to that episode, go find it again. September 30, 2024. From Command to Connection. Super good to listen to beyond that, just to kind of reinforce that point. And I think we've said this a lot throughout. It is to do for one what you wish you could do for all.
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The next part of this is all around the what happens after the episode is done, the post recording, follow up. We're going to get to that. But here's a little, a little ad for Podmatch because again we've been talking about it often, Alex and his team. And here's a little bit just to tell you a little bit more about the service that I use for my podcast. Been a big fan and I'd love for you to know more about it. Here's Alex and a little bit more about Podmatch. Hey Dave, just jumping in here. I want to do a little shout out to Podmatch. Again, I want to encourage you as a podcaster, if you have an interview based show, you should be on Podmatch. Simple thing, you can pay a small monthly fee and people can see your show. Instead of spending money elsewhere, spend it where people are looking for podcasts. Podmatches.com is great as a host of a podcast to have your show on there again, interview based show, you should be on Podmatch. Definitely encourage you to do that. If you're looking for guests. Podmatch is great. If you want to be a guest, podmatch is great and it is going to help you to find the right show. There's so many tools built into the Pod Match platform for you as a podcaster. It'll help you create a one sheet. It'll help you to come up with the images that you want to share for you as a guest on other people's show. There's just so many things, and you can rate and review your guests and the hosts of podcasts that you've been a guest on. So here's Alex. He came on the how to podcast series, episode 310, and it was great to have him on the show. I'd love to have him back in the future. But here's Alex talking a little bit more about podmatch. I would encourage you to go sign up link in the show notes for you to sign up for PodMatch. And it's part of this mini series that we're doing around guesting and hosting interviews. And PodMatch is just a natural connection. But here's a little bit more from Alex about PodMatch. And I encourage you to go check out podmatch.com and so we had this
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idea for what is now Pod Match, and simply put, it's a service that works very similar to a dating app, like connecting people for dates. Right. But instead of connecting for dates, people for podcast interviews. So if you're a guest that, like in this case talks about podcasting, which is a little bit meta, but it would connect me with Dave saying, hey, the how to Podcast series that Dave hosts is probably a good fit for you because you are a podcaster who talks about podcasts. But that's the whole idea behind what we decided to build. And then just everything in between. It's administrative. Could we remove the friction that's involved to simplify the process? And the whole heart behind that is that we know that what really matters in podcasting is impacting the lives of listeners.
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Link in the show notes. If you want to use our affiliate code and support the show, then great, let's get back to the conversation. So if you want to use podmatch, there's a link in the show notes, as we mentioned, it's a link that is given to anybody that signed up for podmatch, and we can then use that link to bring people into podmatch. We do get a small little thing comes back to us, which is very kind of them at PodMatch, they're very generous with anybody that helps them promote their amazing service. So use the link if you wish and it's right there for you. Let's talk about what happens after the interview is over. As a guest, the post recording follow up where do we go from here? There's a lot of great suggestions here from podcasts about podcasting, about what to do as a guest when everything's over and done with. You can do very personalized things like sending out an email within a few hours of the recording. That's nice, referencing a specific moment from the chat or the episode to reinforce the connection and what was meaningful for you as a guest on the show. Your feedback after the recording, stick around too. Like when the recording ends and the host hits stop, don't leave stick around on the screen. Usually the host is going to want to chat at the end and just kind of wrap everything up with you after the recording is over. So stick around, don't be in a hurry. And then once the podcast is released, promote it as much as you can. I don't make it mandatory for any of my guests to promote anything that they do on my show. You've already given me your time. You've already given me valuable connection time with you. So I see that as your investment, paid in full, that you gave me your time to be on my podcast. I don't give you a list of to do's after you've been on my show. I'm just grateful that you had time to be here. So thank you. Some hosts are going to ask you to promote. Some hosts are going to give you opportunities to promote. Some hosts will give you assets that you would. You could share on your on your page, on your social media platforms or website. That's great. Even if they don't, you can create your own. And that's easy to do if you have a team. Awesome. If you don't reach out to me, I can definitely help you and point you in the right direction. On how to make your own assets when you're a guest on someone else's podcast. The one thing that some podcasters are a little bit nervous about is they create artwork and assets that are themed to their colors for the show, which might not match with your colors. So if you're trying to curate a beautiful Instagram page where everything is the same colors, what I send you might be a completely different color palette. And you're like, ah, it doesn't fit with what I do on my Instagram. And in that moment you might not even need to use mine. Then I would say use stories On Instagram because they're only there for 24 hours and they disappear. So that's a great way to share these assets. You could also be a collaborator with the host on YouTube on social and you could collaborate on posts together. You could also go live with a host after or even before the episode and have a conversation live where your community blends with their community. That's a great tool to do a shared live together. That's really, really fun. I want to do more of that actually. Those are great opportunities because then people can interact with you live right there on the platform. Super cool. Try that out. The biggest thing is just do things that reinforce the connection you have with the host. That's a great starting point. Whatever works for you, however, however you can do it, just reinforce that connection. Once released, promote and share the episode on social media, on your sub, stack your newsletter and to your audience. Let people know. Grab your phone, do a quick face to camera recording for a minute, put it up on your stories and you're done. Right? It's not a heavy lift. People just want to hear what you're up to and the episodes that you love and maybe bring out a key point. Oh, on this episode with Dave, I talked about something I never talk about. I actually avoid it. I never talk about this on anything, but we talked to put it on the show. So if you want to hear me talk about something you've never heard me speak of, go to Dave's episode and check it out. That kind of stuff is like, well, I want to know. So leverage the curiosity and put something out there. Let people know where you've been that's going to give you a better return on investment because you are helping to support the release of the show and then track it. Find out, ask people. When new people come into your world, you're like, how did you find me? Oh, I heard you on Dave's podcast. That's a good sign. You might want to come back on Dave's podcast again if it gave you positive results. Track the results and debrief your performance for growth and explore future collaborations with the host of that show like repeat invites or a or joint content. Maybe you have a podcast that you're going to start, have them on your show. There's a lot of different things you can do, but definitely keep the door open. This is a relationship and I'm on a mission in 2026 to collect as many people as possible. I could collect a little like salt and pepper shakers, but why I'd much Rather collect people and I love connecting with people. So when you come on my show, I want to be in your world years later and still be sending you emails and still following you on social and leaving you comments and being part of your world. I don't want this to be a one and done. I want this to be a relationship with us. So when you come on my show, you're not just a guest, you're not just a guest co host, you're. You are now community member for me and I love having time with you. That's going to come across when you're a great guest on somebody's show. If you want to practice being a guest on a podcast, you've never done this before or you want to improve, go to my calendar on HowToPodcast CA. You click right on it and in the comment section say, I want to practice being a guest or something like that and put it in there. And I will know that, that we're going to get together for 30 minutes. We're going to. You're going to mock up a fake interview. I'll interview you and we'll kind of discuss maybe how we can make your interviews better from a guest perspective. Happy to do that. It's always on my website. It's always free. There's no funnel. There's. I'm not trapping you into buying anything. It's right there on my, on my website. If it, if it wasn't there, it's because I don't want to talk to you. I want to talk to you. So please use it as often as you want and, and we can practice so that when you go to your first interview or your next interview, you feel more confident, more put together, your answers are more succinct. You, you don't ramble and you're not, you're just, you're more calm because you've had time to practice. It's all it takes. Practice, practice, practice. So if you want to do this and you have a new interview coming up in the next few weeks, you're like, ah, I'm really kind of nervous about this. I mean, all sweaty. Then reach out to Dave, right? I'd love to have you on. We'll just do this privately. It doesn't go out to the world. It's just you and me and we'll practice together anytime, all the time. HowtoPodcast ca. I'd love to help you. Thanks for being part of this and good luck on your next interview. I know you're gonna be amazing. Thanks for being here. Hey, thanks for being here. Thanks for being part of the show. We, we offer lots of support for people who want to be guests on podcasts, people who want to be a host and interview guests on your show. And you're like, I just need to sit and talk with Dave for a little bit and figure out my course of action, how I'm going to get started, how I'm going to continue, how to find better guests, how to ask better questions. I've got so many things I'd love to talk about. Go to howtopodcast ca. You'll find my link right there on there on my website. There's a calendar link. You can come on my calendar anytime and as often as you wish. It's there, it's free. I'm gonna sell you anything and we'll get together, have a virtual coffee, talk about whatever podcasting question you have. It's my gift to you and I'm happy to do this. I love meeting podcasters. I love talking through and kind of coming up with some creative ways to get around some of the obstacles that you might be facing in your podcast. So if that's you and you're like, dave, I just need some time, can we just get together? Yeah, anytime. HowtoPodcast ca. I'd love to meet you there. Grab a spot in the calendar, send me a speak pipe, send me an email, whatever you got. I'd love to meet with you at howtapodcast CA if you want to be a guest on this show. I'm always looking for a guest to come on and talk about your podcast journey, even if you're just starting. Don't even have an episode yet. Come on, get on the show. Let's talk through because there's somebody else out there who's at the exact same spot that you're at and they'd love to hear an answer to the same questions that they have, the same questions that you have. We can do that here on the show. You've been podcasting for 20 plus years. I'd love to have you on your knowledge, your experience, your background, the stories. Oh, the stories you could tell. Come on the show and share your journey as an old school podcaster. Come on. It's the how to Podcast series. We're here to support the podcasting community. Never podcast alone. Go to how to Podcast ca. Thanks for being here. Take care.
Episode E620: Practical Tips to Shine on Any Podcast as a Guest – Guest to Great, Maximizing Your Podcast Experience
Host: Dave Campbell (Ontario, Canada)
Date: March 9, 2026
This episode of The How To Podcast Series is the first part of a mini-series focusing on excelling as a podcast guest. Dave Campbell shares practical, actionable advice drawn from his experience as both a veteran host (2,000 episodes, ~1,000 interviews) and a guest, aiming to help listeners maximize the impact and enjoyment of their podcast guest appearances. While the core is aimed at guests, the episode also contains wisdom beneficial to podcast hosts.
Dave structures his guidance around three key phases of the guesting process:
He underscores the importance of preparation, engagement, energy, and ongoing relationship-building with hosts and their communities.
(Starts ~03:00)
"It's beneficial if you have an idea of what the podcast sounds like... By being a listener of the show, you are actually part of the community." (04:50)
“Telling the story about the time your bird flew away is great... but if there’s no relevance to an accounting podcast, then probably we don’t need the story.” (06:55)
“If you’re going to do podcast guesting often, my suggestion is, grab a microphone... Being heard is key.” (09:09)
“As hosts, we get nervous sometimes when we screw up the name of our guest...” (13:09)
(~17:10)
"Treat every recording as a natural conversation you would have with a friend.” (17:20)
"You don’t need a 20-minute answer to a one-minute question." (08:22)
"Bring up things you love about the show, about the host, the tone of the show, past guests..." (21:10)
“I love a guest who comes on that asks me a question back. That’s called a conversation.” (22:40)
"We're not here just to sell the book. We're here to connect with people and add value to the audience." (23:35)
“…Don't show up like in a rush. Have some time before you come on to prepare yourself and be prepared.” (24:58)
“Dave, thank you so, so much. I’ve been enjoying the show, listening to it, and just following you along the way. And again, so thankful to be here and excited to add some value together today.” (Alex Sanfilippo, 25:09)
“…an episode of your podcast… ‘From Command to Connection’… September 30, 2024… you talked about instead of a call to action, having a path to action. And man, that stood out to me…” (Alex, 25:55)
(~19:40, ~28:25)
"If you have an interview-based show, you should be on PodMatch... So many tools built in..." (19:50, 28:25)
"We remove the friction that's involved to simplify the process... what really matters in podcasting is impacting the lives of listeners." (Alex Sanfilippo, 19:45, 28:50)
(~29:10)
“You can do personalized things like sending out an email within a few hours of the recording, referencing a specific moment.” (29:15)
“Grab your phone, do a quick face to camera recording for a minute, put it up on your stories and you’re done.” (30:10)
“You could also go live with a host after or even before the episode and have a conversation live where your community blends with their community.” (30:45)
“Track the results and debrief your performance for growth and explore future collaborations with the host... This is a relationship.” (31:30)
On Preparation:
"If you want to connect with the community of the podcast that you're going to be on, then be in the community." (04:28)
On Audio Quality:
"If you're going to be a guest on shows, being heard is key. It's so important to be heard." (09:09)
On Host-Guest Dynamics:
"We as hosts, we want to do this right. We don't want to make a mistake on your name, so don't hide it from us." (13:09)
"Hosts get nervous when we hit record—we're like, oh my gosh, we're recording. So you might feel nervous, but we also feel it as well." (13:45)
On Valuing the Audience:
"If you don't value my audience, you just want a spot to speak... That doesn't sit well with me because I want somebody to come on my show that values the people who listen." (24:20)
On Post-Episode Relationship:
"When you come on my show, you're not just a guest... You are now community member for me, and I love having time with you." (32:04)
Practice Offers:
"If you want to practice being a guest... go to my calendar on HowToPodcast.ca... and we'll kind of discuss maybe how we can make your interviews better from a guest perspective. Happy to do that. It's always on my website. It's always free." (33:00)
Dave’s language is warm, conversational, and supportive—focused on creating a sense of community and ongoing relationships. He mixes humor, personal anecdotes, and direct, actionable advice, encouraging both new and experienced guests to approach guesting as more than a transactional exchange, but as an opportunity for authentic connection.
This episode offers a wealth of actionable advice for anyone looking to shine as a podcast guest:
The episode is a must-listen (or summary read!) for anyone seeking to level up their guesting game and forge meaningful podcasting connections.