You’ve been asked to be a guest on a podcast!
Congratulations!
I mean that sincerely. You may think, “oh sure, everyone and their spirit animal has a podcast these days, it’s no big deal.”
OK, that may be true, but over 46 million Americans listen to podcasts on a regular basis. While we’re not all Marc Maron or Ira Glass, podcasts reach a lot of people. I’ve hosted 4 different podcasts and produced 3 out of those. I’ve also been a guest on 5 different podcasts. I still produce, host and I’m still asked to be a guest.
And I love all of it.
I’ve been on both sides of the seats and you know what, some people just are awful, shitty, terrible podcasts guests. Here’s what you need to know so you won’t be “that guy”.
Communicate: if you’re asked to do a podcast, please reply promptly. Waiting 3 months will make the producer/booker hate you. I don’t care if you’re “OMG SOOOOO BUSY!!!!” but a simple reply of “yes, send me details” or “no” is all you need. It takes two seconds to reply, you can do it waiting in line, in an elevator or during a really boring power-point presentation. Just please communicate with us.
Don’t Be Flakey: Maybe you think you’re “too good” for a podcast. Which is fine. Good luck masturbating to yourself. But if you do decide to take up the offer and be a guest, commit! Don’t flake out and if you need to change the day do so as ahead of time as possible. Your time is no more valuable than ours. Respect our time and effort!
Warn Us About What You Definitely Don’t Want To Talk About: This isn’t TMZ or US Weekly, we aren’t there to try to make you look bad. But if there is something you don’t want to talk about, tell us beforehand so we won’t even go there. Most non-live podcasts will edit out something if you ask them after, but better safe than sorry and just help the hosts avoid that moment of awkwardness.
Promote, Just a Little: Again, podcasts don’t usually try to make you sound bad. We spend a lot of time planning, promoting, editing, etc. The LEAST you could do is retweet or share it with your Instagram or Facebook following. We don’t expect you to promote it on all your social media platforms, but one would be nice. We all work really hard at this, the least you could do is help us out.
On a final note, to be a good podcast guest is really just being yourself. Just be courteous and be a fucking adult about it.
